m-Resist: Mobile health for people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Twelve institutions from 7 different countries are taking part, including universities, hospital centres and companies. The m-Resist funding is part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program.

“It is a very innovative project as it is the first time in Spain and Europe that work is being done to develop the therapeutic project for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia with the help of mobile health tools,” assures Dr. Iluminada Corripio, who is leading the initiative in the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

Running since 1 January, m-Resist will last around three years and will be a question of implementing a model of analysis to move forward in understanding treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The project will also be of help in predicting the behaviour of the disease and of the patients, in creating protocols to give support to the professionals and in analysing patterns of behaviour to identify the risks and shortcomings of the treatments.

Therefore, as Dr. Asaf Caspi, director of the Outpatient Psychiatry Service of the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, says, “They hope that the m-Resist will prove to be of true benefit for schizophrenic patients by expanding the area of application of personalised pharmacological and psychological treatment, the continuity of the healthcare and the participation of the carers”.

Between 30% and 50% of people suffering from schizophrenia in Europe are treatment-resistant cases, who therefore live with highly persistent symptoms, require long periods of hospital attention and are at greater risk of mortality and multi morbidity.