JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Interventions addressing enhancement of ill health self-management skills in adults diagnosed with a bipolar disorder may be considered as important elements of healthcare systems worldwide.

Objective:

This protocol describes the study “Management of my Bipolarity” which aims to develop an educational intervention for adults with a bipolar disorder and assess its effectiveness. Objectives include: a) a literature review on bipolar disorders educational programs, b) qualitative exploration of the educational needs of people with a bipolar disorder, c) development of an educational program based on a and b objectives [MoB educational intervention (ΜοΒ ΕΙ)], d) exploration of the effectiveness of the MoB ΕΙ regarding participants’ knowledge on their mental health condition and enhancement of ill health self-management skills.

Methods:

The effectiveness of the acquired knowledge and self-management skills will be assessed according to the degree of a) cognitive functioning, b) impulse control, c) adherence to pharmacotherapy, d) relapse prevention, d) improvement of quality of life. The proposed study is a combination of a qualitative and a quantitative, interventional design (mixed methods study). A focus group and content analysis will be implemented for the qualitative assessment of the educational needs of adults with a bipolar disorder. The MoB EI will be developed according to the qualitative data and relevant literature, aiming to include combination of face to face (F2F) and technology-based interventions via design of a Digital platform. The effectiveness of the MoB EI regarding the acquired knowledge and self-management skill will be assessed via structured instruments in the quantitative part of the study using descriptive and inferential statistics (SPSS version 24.0).

Results:

A total of 13 patients with a bipolar disorder have been interviewed (8 females, 5 males) to identify educational needs to be covered from an educational program. Moreover, a literature review on bipolar disorders educational programs has been completed. These data have been incorporated to the design of the MoB F2F EI and the digital platform. The digital platform is live, while the development of MoB F2F EI is still ongoing; expected to be completed by the end of 2020. The recruitment of the participants of the interventional group (40 patients) and the control (40 patients) is expected to begin by the first semester of 2021. Moreover, by tracking the platform for one and a half year we have recorded that 2180 users have visited the platform with an average session duration of almost 2 minutes. 70% of the visitors are using mobile and tablet devices.

Conclusions:

Since new parameters regarding educational interventions will be explored, the findings are expected to provide evidence if participation in structured education programs gives patients the opportunity to improve adherence to pharmacotherapy and increase their quality of life, including important parameters, such as cognitive functioning, impulse control and relapse prevention. Clinical Trial: Trial registration: This protocol has been approved by the Cyprus National Committee of Bioethics [ΕΕΒΚ/ΕΠ/2018/27]; and it has been registered at the Research Committee Review board of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus [5.34.01.7.6Ε/0490/2018].