The effect of a brief educational programme added to mental health treatment to improve patient activation: A randomized controlled trial in community mental health centres

•Patient activation is recognized as a central component in health care services.•Pre-treatment group education may be an effective way to improve patient activation.•We examined the effect of an educational intervention co-led by peer educators.•The brief educational intervention significantly improved activation at one-month.•Patient activation improved significantly at four-months compared to controls.

ObjectiveWhile there is growing interest in improving patient activation in general medical health services, there are too few randomized controlled trials in mental health settings which show how improvement can be achieved. Using the Patient Activation Measure-13 (PAM-13), we aimed to assess the effect of pre-treatment, peer co-led educational intervention on patient activation. Secondary outcomes included measures of patient satisfaction, well-being, mental health symptoms, motivation, and treatment participation.MethodsPatients from two community mental health centres were randomized to a control group (CG, n = 26) receiving treatment as usual, or an intervention group (IG, n = 26) consisting of a four-hour group educational seminar (aiming to encourage patients to adopt an active role in their treatment) followed by treatment as usual.ResultsOnly the IG improved on PAM-13, at one- and four-month follow-ups. The intervention had significant effects on patient satisfaction and treatment participation, compared to CG.ConclusionProviding pre-treatment, peer co-led education improves patient activation in community mental health care settings.Practice implicationsThe use of peers as co-educators may contribute to a different mental health care delivery, ensuring patient activation and participation in treatment. Further studies should examine peers' needs for supervision, challenges for the services, long-term and cost-benefit effects.Clinicaltrials.gov identifierNCT01601587.