Janssen, a pharmaceutical company of the Johnson & Johnson Group, which has always been involved in the area of Mental Health, launches a new digital solution aimed at helping people suffering from schizophrenia in achieving their daily goals. Is called ISY – Together with you and it is an intuitive and engaging platform that aims to support patients in planning their daily life, a fundamental element in the rehabilitation phase, facilitating the doctor-patient relationship in order to improve the quality of life of those affected by this pathology. This new digital solution benefits from the patronage of the SIP (Italian Society of Psychiatry).
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that strongly affects the ability of the individual to distinguish between reality and imagination, making him unable to take care of himself if not properly treated. To date, thanks to advances in therapies, this pathology can be managed effectively. There schizophrenia is considered one of the more debilitating and severe mental disorders, capable of creating a huge social and economic impact for patients, caregivers and society. In Italy, there are almost 304milacpeople with this disease (20 million worldwide) whose economic impact corresponds to 2.7 billion euros, equally divided between indirect and direct costs (of which 10% are drugs and 81% are hospitalized). Also, in the world over 69% of patients do not receive appropriate care[3] and 75% experience relapses, often for the non-compliance or abandonment of the agreed treatment plan.
“Schizophrenia is a pathology with a complex and multifactorial impact for patients and caregivers and a modern, effective and scientifically evolved management by specialists is fundamental – he claims Massimo Di Giannantonio, President of the Italian Society of Psychiatry, which granted patronage to ISY – This range of integrated therapeutic interventions must be continuous from the onset of the disease and persist constantly during the stabilization phases, in the approach and in the project of achieving recovery. It is in the patient construction of therapeutic objectives that the golden standard of treatment resides, which arrives in the final stages at a particular therapeutic alliance between patient operators and caregivers, capable of producing the optimal result, that is the achievement of the widest level of autonomy and independence. “
Based on this evidence and data on this serious disease, Janssen Italy, with the collaboration of Human Insight, gave birth to ISY – Together with You a practical and intuitive solution that allows patients, from receive support in the daily planning of activities and in achieving their daily goals. Having access to ISY is simple: for each medical center interested in activation, it is necessary to fill in a form and send the data of each professional who will use the platform. Once registration is complete, the psychiatrist can engage patients by simply sharing the link to the app with each of them.
“In taking care of people with schizophrenia, the objectives of the treatment must be meaningful and shared by the patient: positive expectations, responsibilities and concrete opportunities are the ingredients of the recovery paradigm that is gaining space among innovative practices at an international level. The ISY app is aimed precisely at favoring on the one hand the organization of daily activities in the areas of leisure time management, social relations and the performance of productive activities, which are the main themes of the patient’s rehabilitation paths, from other contributes to favoring the active involvement of patients but also of their families and operators in the co-construction of these paths, which is the dimension without which it becomes impossible to concretely implement the recovery of the person and the substantial improvement of his quality of life ” . Declare Antonio Vita, Director of the Mental Health and Addiction Department, Brescia.
But what are the functions of ISY? The specialist, who accesses the platform from a PC, will be able to keep the patient involved and motivated at any time of the day, send him requests for documents and reminders for visits, chat via chat with other colleagues from his clinic for a quick exchange of information and access the facility’s virtual bulletin board. The patient instead, you can download l’app on your mobile, view the personal planning agenda, make requests for help to your caregiver in case of difficulty and have in-depth content and support – such as reading, advice on various topics – and entertainment. Through a’efficient organization of activities, doctors will be able to guarantee constant assistance finalized to the rehabilitation of the person.
“Janssen has been involved in mental health for over 60 years. Since then, our research has not stopped because there is still a lot to do in the fight against mental illness. It is news in recent days that the WHO has included our molecule for the treatment of schizophrenia in the list of essential drugs for humanity ” – he claims Loredana Bergamini, Medical Director of Janssen Italy – “Our commitment, however, does not only translate into the research and development of new and effective therapeutic options, but also takes the form of being alongside all the interlocutors of the ecosystem to bring benefits in many aspects of patients’ lives. Among these initiatives, today there is also ISY, a digital solution that, we are sure, will facilitate the relationship between doctor and patient, essential in the management of this pathology and in achieving daily goals “