Mixed-methods study demonstrates strong acceptability and utility of digital symptom tracking in mental health outpatients, highlighting the need for personalized monitoring protocols.
Key Points
To evaluate service user and clinician perspectives on the feasibility, usability, and clinical utility of a 30-day transdiagnostic experience sampling method (ESM) protocol paired with on-demand ecological momentary interventions (EMI).
Enrolled 89 service users in a 30-day ESM monitoring period within the DISCONNECT project, with 84 participants completing a post-monitoring debriefing questionnaire.
Conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 service users and 10 outpatient clinicians, analyzing data via content analysis and thematic content analysis.
Service users and clinicians reported ESM was acceptable and clinically valuable, demonstrating improvements in self-awareness, symptom understanding, psychoeducation, and clinical communication.
On-demand EMI received favorable qualitative appraisal but was used infrequently, prompting participants to request greater personalization, flexible scheduling, and context-sensitive interventions.
Implementation barriers included monitoring-related participant burden, clinician time constraints, and broader organizational challenges in outpatient clinics.