Improving clinical management of mental illness using technology assisted Experience Sampling Methods.

As a research tool, experience sampling method (ESM) has enabled researchers to gain novel insights into the mechanisms of mental illnesses. With new developments in digital technologies to support health care delivery and management, application of ESM to clinical settings has become more feasible. By providing clinicians and patients with detailed information about how mental states of the patient fluctuate in daily-life, ESM can aid the understanding of individual symptom- and behavioural patterns, and thus become a valuable tool for improved clinical management. Working together with IT developers, we have built an ESM platform, consisting of a smartphone app and an electronic feedback dashboard, designed to meet the needs of clinician working within psychiatry and their patients. To evaluate the impact of using ESM in clinical management of mental illnesses we will conduct a pragmatic randomized controlled trial, aiming to resemble real-world clinical practise, and include a heterogeneous study population. This trial will include clinicians working in psychiatric departments in Flanders and their patients. The trial consists of one ESM-intervention arm and one control arm (treatment as usual). Clinicians in the intervention arm will be able to schedule individually tailored ESM assessment modules with eligible patients willing to participate in the study. The questionnaire content, length and prompting intensity can be adjusted to fit patient’s daily schedule. The effect of using the ESM platform in psychiatric clinical practice will be evaluated throughout the study and will focus on outcomes believed to be important precursors for long-term mental health improvements such as patient empowerment and social functioning.