A Peer-Supported, Recovery-Focused Illness Management Programme for People With Early Psychosis

AIMS: To examine the effects of a peer-supported recovery-focused self-management of Psychosis (PRSP) modified from the Crisis-resolution-team Optimisation and RElapse Prevention (CORE) programme (Johnson et al. 2018) for psychotic patients’ recovery, mental state, problem solving ability and other patient outcomes over 18 months follow-up, compared with either a psychoeducation/treatment-as-usual group. METHODS: A assessor-blinded, three-arm multicentre RCT was conducted. A list of 198 Chinese patients with recent-onset psychosis randomly selected from four Community Centers for Mental Wellness in Hong Kong (2021–2022) and randomly assigned into one of the three study groups (PRSP, psychoeducation or treatment-as-usual group) by matching with computerized random numbers. After four-month interventions, the patient outcomes were measured at immediately, 9 months and 18 months post-intervention, and analysed on intention-to-treat basis using Generalised Estimating Equation test. RESULTS: Significant interaction (Group × Time) treatment effects of the PRSP were found on six outcomes (recovery, psychotic symptoms, functioning, problem-solving, and service satisfaction) between three groups at post-test, Wald χ2 = 7.05–21.87, p = 0.02-0.001, with moderate to large effect sizes (η2) of 0.12–0.24, compared to treatment-as-usual. Level of recovery, problem-solving and service satisfaction of the PRSP were also significantly greater improved than psychoeducation group at 9 and 18 months follow-ups with moderate effect sizes (0.07–0.10). CONCLUSION: The findings can provide evidence about the long-term effectiveness of the peer-facilitated, recovery-based self-management programme in early psychosis on improving patients’ recovery and mental condition, functioning, and service satisfaction. Self-learning of illness management through effective problem-solving strategies, together with peer-support, are increasingly useful in recovery-focused intervention for early psychosis in views of inadequate healthcare resources/staffs.