Stephanie Allen1; 1University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Purpose: Digital technologies offer much promise in delivering psychosocial interventions for early psychosis. However, many interventions that appear to work within the context of a clinical trial fail to become part of everyday practice. This failure to implement seemingly successful interventions into routine practice wastes money and time, and also raises concerns that people are unable to access interventions that could improve their wellbeing. Implementation can be more successful if we take greater account of users' experience and engage in collaborative practice (Gillard et al., 2016). Collaborating with service users and valuing their experiential knowledge can help anticipate structural implementation barriers relevant to service users alongside those experienced by staff. Methods: EMPOWER is a digital intervention which aims to enhance control and promote recovery for people with psychosis (including those using early intervention services) through the early identification of potential relapse. Service user involvement has been key to the development of the intervention. Implementation of EMPOWER is also supported by peer support workers. In addition, a service user researcher is evaluating the implementation process as part of an ongoing cluster randomised controlled trial. Findings: This talk will offer reflections from the service user evaluator on how direct user involvement can not only make interventions more relevant for people with psychosis but also potentially develop a more valid understanding of the implementation process. Conclusions: Service user involvement in early intervention research and development has the potential to significantly impact the form interventions take and the questions we ask in evaluating them.
