mHealth for Early Psychosis Caregivers in Statewide Program Outreach

The purpose of this study is to pilot the delivery of an mHealth intervention for caregivers to young people with early psychosis within a network of early psychosis intervention programs in the state of North Carolina. The investigators will examine the feasibility of recruitment through program outreach, develop North Carolina specific outreach resources to be used with the mHealth intervention and evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention for reducing caregiver psychological morbidity and improving family communication. The investigators will also collect pilot data to inform recruitment and development of implementation strategies for delivering Bolster within a statewide early psychosis network.

The team aims to pilot test the delivery of an mHealth intervention for caregivers to young people with early psychosis within a network of early psychosis intervention programs in the state of North Carolina. This will involve (1) examining the feasibility of recruitment through program outreach, (2) developing and optimizing state-specific outreach resources and recruitment approaches to be implemented for this mHealth intervention, and (3) evaluating the effectiveness of this intervention in reducing caregiver psychological morbidity and improving family communication. Participants will be caregivers to young people experiencing early psychosis within the state of North Carolina. Remote recruitment resources will be developed and distributed through the EPI-NC outreach program (i.e. network of UNC-based early psychosis clinicians and stakeholders aiming to raise awareness of early psychosis and specialty programs). Recruited participants will complete baseline measures and be given access to the Bolster mHealth intervention, which provides self-guided psychoeducation and communication coaching for early psychosis caregivers. The investigators will collect baseline and post-test data and evaluate within-subjects changes in proposed targets and outcomes including primary outcomes of caregiver psychological morbidity and family communication.