Web‐based Support for Self‐Management in Bipolar Disorder: New Interventions and New Horizons

Psychosocial interventions for people living with BD are effective, but relatively few people have access to the specialised services that deliver such treatments. Self-management offers an important alternative which, as well as decreasing peoples' reliance on clinicians, also serves to empower and support a sense of agency. The internet is a potentially powerful modality for delivering self-management programs as it provides low cost, round the clock, user-friendly and self-directed support. This talk will describe a recent review of how delivery of self-management strategies online can be optimised. This review examines data and theory on BD self-management from a recovery-oriented perspective, with a particular focus on optimising low-intensity delivery of self-management tools via the internet. The review suggests that health professional and/or peer support, tailoring programs to individual needs and the thoughtful creation of a vibrant online community are important tools for increasing engagement and effectiveness of online self-management materials. Safety and risk-management issues have received insufficient attention to date. Online self-management programs for BD are becoming more common, and have great potential to fill the gap caused by limited therapeutic services. Further research is urgently required to test the efficacy of methods for optimising online self-management offerings, such as health professional and/or peer support, individualised tailoring and the development of empowered online communities with strong risk-management processes