Introduction: Disengagement from mental health services in young adults\nwith schizophrenia has been associated with dissatisfaction and unmet needs.\nStriving to improve engagement, we invited service users recently diagnosed\nwith schizophrenia to be co-designers of a smartphone technology that will be\nresponsive to their needs. Aim: This paper reports the first phase of a threephased\nparticipatory design process. The objective was to identify needs of\nsupport in young adults recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and to generate\nideas of how the needs could be accommodated using smartphone technology.\nMethods: Participatory design guided the research process and a qualitative\napproach was used to generate and analyse the data. Data were generated\nby means of participant observations (n = 45 hours) and interviews (n =\n6) with young adults from a first episode psychosis program in Denmark.\nFindings: Low levels of knowledge and high levels of uncertainties are characteristic\nof young adults recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, bringing about\na vast need of support in order for them to gain power over their new life situation.\nOur study suggests that the smartphone may be used to foster empowerment\nby guiding the young adult�s actions in situ, providing comprehensive\nand easily understood information on the go, allowing for recovery\ntracking, and notification of mental health changes, providing medication\noverview and giving easy access to healthcare providers. Conclusion: Young\nadults recently diagnosed with schizophrenia require comprehensive support\nin order to become empowered to confidently manage their new life situation.\nThe smartphone holds this potential by offering flexible collaboration and\ntimely access to self-management resources.
Loading....