Development of Grip self-help: An online patient-tailored self-help intervention for functional somatic symptoms in primary care

Judith G. M. Rosmalen*, Anne van Gils, M. Angelica Acevedo Mesa, Robert A. Schoevers, Rei Monden, Denise J. C. Hanssen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
66 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Functional Somatic Symptoms (FSS) are somatic symptoms for which no somatic cause can be identified despite adequate diagnostic testing. FSS are common, costly, and disabling, and treatment options are limited.

Psychotherapy is one of few evidence-based treatments for FSS. Yet, this form of therapy is not widely used, since it is usually reserved for severe symptoms, requires a highly trained therapist, and is not well accepted by patients.

The current paper describes the development of the online intervention 'Grip self-help' and provides a description of the intervention itself. Grip self-help is an early intervention for mild to moderate FSS in primary care, which aims to reduce somatic symptoms and improve quality of life.

In the Grip self-help intervention, patients fill out a set of online questionnaires exploring unhelpful cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and social factors associated with the symptoms. Using this information, a personal profile is generated, identifying factors that might maintain FSS in that individual. As a next step, patients are offered online self-help exercises that are tailored to these factors. Guidance is offered by a primary care professional. The intervention will ultimately result in a personalized self-help guide, composed of texts that are extracted from the exercises patients found useful during the intervention.

Grip self-help is the first intervention for FSS combining the concepts of e-health, self-help, and personalized medicine. Guided by a primary care professional, patients are offered an easily accessible, yet highly personalized treatment. Grip self-help thus has the potential to meet the needs of the large group of patients with mild to moderate FSS.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100297
Number of pages8
JournalInternet Interventions
Volume19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar-2020

Keywords

  • Functional somatic symptoms
  • Medically unexplained symptoms
  • Somatoform disorders
  • Somatic symptom disorder
  • Self-help
  • E-health
  • Patient-tailored
  • MEDICALLY UNEXPLAINED SYMPTOMS
  • COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY
  • DISORDER

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Development of Grip self-help: An online patient-tailored self-help intervention for functional somatic symptoms in primary care'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this