Brief COVID-19 Intervention for People With Serious Mental Illness and Co-Morbid Medical Conditions

The proposed study will be the first to compare two commonly used but substantially different, evidence-based self-management interventions. Integrated Illness Management and Recovery (I-IMR), is an individually-tailored, 16-session, integrated program combining both physical and mental health self-management specifically developed for people with SMI. In contrast, the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) is a group-based, 6-session, chronic disease self-management program largely focused on physical health self-management alone. I-IMR is delivered by community mental health providers or by community outreach workers, while CDSMP is co-delivered by two peers or by a health professional and a peer. Both programs have been widely recommended, disseminated, and used. The proposed parent study will randomize people with serious mental illness to I-IMR (n=300) and CDSMP (n=300).

The COVID-related Enhancement will involve enrolling 150 participants from the parent project to an evaluation of an additional I-IMR module compared to usual care during the pandemic. The I-IMR module will be delivered by trained interventionists in 3 calls over 3 weeks to n=75 I-IMR participants. The I-IMR participants and CDSMP participants will continue to receive Usual Care, consisting of generic support calls from clinicians at the study sites. Baseline, and 6, 9, and 12 week assessments will evaluate the effectiveness of the COVID-19 module that will be added to I-IMR.

Inclusion criteria

• Serious Mental Illness (diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or chronic depression with moderate impairment in functioning) receiving services at Centerstone(KY and TN)
• Diagnosis of a chronic medical condition increasing risk of early mortality from cardiovascular or respiratory disease (e.g., diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, COPD, heart failure, tobacco dependence, obesity), and at least 1 ER visit or hospitalization within the past year or judgment by the treatment team of substantial need for illness self-management training.

Exclusion criteria

• Consumers who do not speak English
• Consumers with either no, or a well-controlled medical condition will not be included
• Individuals residing in a nursing home or other institution
• Evidence of significant cognitive impairment as indicated by a Mini Mental Status Examination score <24, will be excluded

Eligibility for the COVID -related substudy is dependent on enrollment and participation in the parent project (NCT03966872).