Blended care in in-patient acute psychiatric care. The example of a group training for social competences in adults—A pretest–posttest feasibility study

Abstract

Introduction: Deficits in social skills can be an important modulating factor in the development and progress of various mental disorders. However, limited resources in inpatient care often impede effective social skills training. This study investigates the feasibility of a blended group training for social skills (SST) in an inpatient psychiatric setting. Methods and Analysis: For this one-group pretest–posttest trial, inpatients with a diagnosed mental disorder were recruited. Participation in the blended SST lasted four weeks and took place within usual inpatient psychiatric care. The blended intervention comprised four face-to-face group sessions and three complementary online modules within four weeks. Assessments took place before (t1) and after (t2) the training. Feasibility outcomes (use, acceptance, satisfaction, implementability into usual psychiatric inpatient care) and effectiveness outcomes regarding social skills were assessed. Results: N = 15 participants were recruited. Most patients completed all questionnaires (93%) and all modules of the blended SST concept (60%). All participants (100%) would recommend the blended intervention to a friend. Regarding social skills, exploratory analyses revealed a non-significant medium-sized effect (Cohen’s d = 0.5 95%CI 0.3 to 1.25, p = 0.08). Discussion: This trial shows that a blended care SST is feasible for the use in acute psychiatric inpatient care setting. Although the wards were acute, with high turnover and change of inpatients, 60% of participants were treated per protocol over four weeks. Overall, the evidence on blended care concepts in psychiatric care settings is extremely poor to date. Hence, this trial should encourage intensified blended inpatient psychiatric care research.