Telemedicine for Women with Bipolar: Patient Preferences and Outcomes

This application addresses the public health problem of low engagement into evidence-based treatment for women with Bipolar Disorder (BD). We plan to investigate the extent to which telephone-based administered treatments for BD offer clinical and functional relief when contextualizing these therapies to the needs of female patients across the lifespan. The interventions are two options: (1) Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT), which focuses on regulating biological factors of sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disruptions, and (2) Bipolar Disorder Collaborative Care (BDCC), which focuses on medication initiation or optimization of the existing medication regimen. Specific Aims include: 1) To adapt face-to-face treatments into a 12 week (12 session) telephone-administered formats for women with BD (all subtypes); 2) To compare the acceptability of each phone-based treatment option (IPSRT and BDCC) and to identify factors associated with acceptability; and 3) To examine the moderating effect of health disparities (education, socioeconomic status) on outcome. This investigation connects the expertise of the research team: clinical psychologists, Jackie K. Gollan PhD, and Denada Hoxha PhD and perinatal psychiatrist Katherine L. Wisner MD, MS, with a community psychologist, Darius Tandon, Ph.D., and a Bipolar Disorder telemedicine researcher, Evan Goulding MD.