Using Mobile Technology to Enhance Early Psychosis Treatment Delivery

This project tests the feasibility of implementing a smartphone application - Ginger.io - in the UC Davis Early Psychosis Program, and investigates whether mobile health technology can improve treatment delivery and outcomes in individuals with early psychosis. Ginger.io is a smartphone application that utilizes methods of passive data collection (i.e. data gathered without active interaction/contribution from the user) to gather communication, movement, and interaction data from smartphone devices to model individuals' social, physical, and mental health. These models are used to infer health-related outcomes and could inform treatment. By implementing the Ginger.io application in the UC Davis Early Psychosis Program with an integrated clinical and research infrastructure, the investigators will be able to quickly determine its feasibility for use in early psychosis populations, while simultaneously developing its ability to systematically capture aspects of relapse and recovery that are unique to this patient population. Objectives: This project has three principle objectives related to early psychosis care: 1) improve treatment delivery, 2) improve patient outcomes, and 3) lower treatment costs. The project will target individuals in the early stages of psychotic illness, including individuals at high risk for developing a psychotic illness (termed "clinical high risk" or CHR) and individuals within three years of their first psychotic episode (termed "first episode psychosis" or FEP). The early stages of psychotic illness represent a critical period for intervention; early identification of clinical deterioration and subsequent targeted intervention is crucial for rapid remission of symptoms and reduced relapse rates. However, without the information necessary to identify patients in need of such intervention, providers are limited in their ability to respond rapidly. Within the UCD Early Psychosis Program, a mobile health application such as Ginger.io has the