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Background: High relapse rates following treatment for mental health disorders are a challenge for psychosomatic rehabilitation treatments. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptance and process-quality of a 12-week transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment (W-RENA) following psychosomatic rehabilitation treatment. Findings regarding effectiveness and moderators of treatment outcome that were already reported elsewhere are briefly summarized. Method: In a preliminary study we first assessed whether rehab patients have the technical requirements and abilities to successfully participate in Internet-based treatments. Patients expressing interest for participation in W-RENA (N=400) were compared with non-participants (N=1 789) with regard to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. In a 2-arm randomized controlled trial (N=400) we subsequently compared participants of W-RENA with participants of a treatment as usual group (TAU). Self-report measures were assessed at the beginning of inpatient treatment (t1), at discharge from inpatient treatment/start of W-RENA (t2), and at 3- (t3) and 12-months follow-ups (t4). Results: The majority of assessed rehab-patients had the technical prerequisites (78.79%) and necessary skills (79.9%) to successfully participate in an Internet-based intervention. A third of the patients (32%) which were invited to take part in the intervention (and the study) expressed interest to participate. Study participants and non-participants differed only slightly. Most participants (80.6%) reported to have gained benefit from participating. Treatment achievements as well as quality of therapist alliance were rated high from both patients and therapists. Moreover, participants of the W-RENA group could stabilize their inpatient treatment outcomes up to 3- and 12-months follow-up better than controls could do (differences in symptom change from discharge to 3-months follow-up: d=0.38; to 12-months follow-up: d=0.55). Clinical significant symptom deterioration from discharge to 1-year follow-up could be reduced by 2/3 (29.45% vs. 11.45%). We could not identify any subgroup not profiting from study participation. Patients with low education benefited particularly. Conclusion: Internet-based aftercare interventions are a feasible, accepted and effective approach to successfully sustain treatment outcomes achieved in inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation.

Internet-based health interventions (IHIs) provide a way to treat people via the Internet. The spectrum is wide, comprising interventions for mental disorders and somatic diseases as well as health and risk behavior change interventions. Numerous international studies have demonstrated the efficacy of IHIs for the aforementioned areas. Through the resource-saving applications IHIs are cost-efficient, not least suggesting their usefulness for medical rehabilitation. The present overview starts with a description of IHIs with a differentiation of technical-formal and thematic aspects. In doing so, the focus lies primarily on cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches, as the best scientifically investigated IHIs to date. An overview of the empirical evidence of IHIs is given, followed by a discussion of the implementation possibilities in medical rehabilitation. Internetbasierte Gesundheitsinterventionen (IGIs) stellen eine Möglichkeit dar, Betroffene im Internet zu behandeln. Das Spektrum von Einsatzbereichen ist vielfältig und reicht von Interventionsangeboten bei psychischen Störungen, körperlichen Erkrankungen bis zu Maßnahmen zur Veränderung von Gesundheits- und Risikoverhaltensweisen. Zahlreiche internationale Studien belegen die Wirksamkeit von IGIs für verschiedene Anwendungsgebiete. Durch die ressourcenschonenden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten erweisen sich IGIs als kosteneffizient, was ihren Einsatz nicht zuletzt für die medizinische Rehabilitation nahelegt. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über den Gegenstandsbereich von IGIs mit einer Differenzierung technisch-formaler und thematischer Aspekte. Dabei wird hauptsächlich auf kognitiv-behaviorale Behandlungsansätze als bislang am besten untersuchte IGIs fokussiert. Anschließend erfolgt ein Überblick zur empirischen Evidenz von IGIs, gefolgt von einer Diskussion des Nutzungspotenzials von IGIs in der medizinischen Rehabilitation.