Methods and Protocols (Feb 2023)

Augmenting Mental Health Support for Patients Accessing Different Degrees of Formal Psychiatric Care through a Supportive Text Messaging Program: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Raquel da Luz Dias,
  • Reham Shalaby,
  • Belinda Agyapong,
  • Gloria Obuobi-Donkor,
  • Medard K. Adu,
  • Ejemai Eboreime,
  • Samuel Obeng Nkrumah,
  • Sanjana Sridharan,
  • Patryk Simon,
  • Bryanne Taylor,
  • Neal Henderson,
  • Mathew D. White,
  • Hugh Maguire,
  • Gerald Gray,
  • Faisal Rahman,
  • Janah Fair,
  • Nadine Wadden,
  • Mutiat Sulyman,
  • Olugbenga Williams,
  • Oluseye Akinkunmi,
  • Dorothy Edem,
  • Pamela Arenella,
  • Jason Morrison,
  • Mahmoud Awara,
  • Anand Natarajan,
  • Abraham Nunes,
  • Tomas Hajek,
  • Claire O’Donavan,
  • Rudolf Uher,
  • JianLi Wang,
  • Benjamin Rusak,
  • Lori Wozney,
  • Tara Sampalli,
  • Doris Grant,
  • Gail Tomblin Murphy,
  • Jordan Warford,
  • Samantha Hodder,
  • Rachel Boe,
  • Vincent Israel Opoku Agyapong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/mps6010019
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1
p. 19

Abstract

Read online

Patients feel more vulnerable when accessing community mental health programs for the first time or after being discharged from psychiatric inpatient units. Long wait times for follow-up appointments, shortage of mental health professionals, lack of service integration, and scarcity of tailored support can weaken their connection to the health care system. As a result, patients can present low adherence, dissatisfaction with treatment, and recurrent hospitalizations. Finding solutions to avoid unnecessary high-cost services and providing tailored and cost-effective mental health interventions may reduce the health system burden and augment patient support. We propose implementing an add-on, supportive text messaging service (Text4Support), developed using cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) principles to augment mental health support for patients attending to or being discharged from psychiatric care in Nova Scotia, Canada. This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of Text4Support in improving mental health outcomes and overall mental well-being compared with usual care. We also will examine the intervention’s impact on health services utilization and patient satisfaction. The results from this study will provide evidence on stepped and technology-based mental health care, which will contribute to generating new knowledge about mental health innovations in various clinical contexts, which is not only helpful for the local context but to other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad that are seeking to improve their health care.

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