The EMPOWER study published in The Lancet Psychiatry, June 2022, uses the CareLoop Health app and platform blended with clinical triage and peer support, to detect and prevent relapse in schizophrenia and was conducted by a research team from University of Glasgow, lead by Professor Andrew Gumley PhD.
The research was conducted over a 12 month period and was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.
“The results of this two-centre randomised trial show that in a group of 89 service users helped by peer support workers, those that used the CareLoop app within the EMPOWER programme had relapse rates reduced by half: 24% over one year, compared to 46% in the standard care group.” says Prof Shôn Lewis, MD co-founder and Chief Medical Officer at CareLoop Health.
He continues “This is a ground-breaking finding and the first time that a digital therapeutic has been shown to reduce relapse with its potentially awful consequences. In addition to the personal benefits of recovery, scaling these results up would save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds per year due to less inpatient admissions. “
The full results can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215036622001031)
