The development and research testing of digital mental health therapy homework utilising the Dr Julian Platform to improve compliance of homework and outcomes of therapy

世界卫生组织强调了一个痛苦的事实，即每八个人中就有一个患有精神障碍，而且患病率正在上升。朱利安博士医疗集团的在线平台使用视频和文字将训练有素的治疗师与患有抑郁和焦虑等精神疾病的患者联系起来。我们支持25个NHS组织，提供C。每个月有3，000次治疗，并且还在快速增长。在需求不断增长的情况下，数字方法对于增加谈话治疗的可及性至关重要。新冠疫情封锁后，需求有所增加，c. 160万人在NHS IAPT等候名单上（增加获得心理治疗的机会）。然而，经过培训的治疗师的数量并没有以同样的速度增长。IAPT的特点是结果存在显著的地理差异，平均治愈率为c。百分之五十通过朱利安博士平台的恢复率为c.57%，但我们已经确定了一种显著改善恢复和加快治疗过程的方法。该项目我们的治疗师为每位患者设置了家庭作业，但参与度很低，只有c.40%的人完成了作业。其中一个主要原因是因为家庭作业是通过电子邮件发送的，研究表明，参与整个治疗过程的患者有更好的康复机会，而且康复得更快。研究还表明，数字化工具可以提高参与度。目前任何在线心理健康平台上都不存在数字家庭作业工具，因此我们将对家庭作业工具进行数字化并研究其有效性。我们希望证明它们是否：* 提高参与度 * 改善结果，帮助患者更快地恢复 * 减少所需的治疗次数 * 节省NHS资金这些工具是：* 行为激活调度，用于严重抑郁症 * 思想记录表，以支持认知行为疗法 * 担忧识别，治疗广泛性焦虑症 * 行为实验，治疗焦虑症我们将设计，构建，验证，测试，部署和评估这些新的数字化工具与1000名NHS患者。实验组（数字作业+标准作业）500人，对照组（仅标准作业）500人。Unity Insights还将进行健康经济评估，以确定可能为NHS和社会带来的直接和间接成本节约。如果结果是积极的，我们将整合这些工具以增强我们自己的平台，但也将其作为独立产品提供，可以用于改进其他平台和服务。

The World Health Organisation has highlighted a painful truth that one in eight people live with a mental disorder, with prevalence increasing.Dr Julian Medical Group's online platform uses video and text to link trained therapists with patients experiencing mental ill health such as depression and anxiety. We support 25 NHS organisations, providing c. 3,000 therapy sessions each month and growing fast.Digital approaches are essential to increase the accessibility of talking therapies at a time of growing demand. Post-Covid lockdowns, demand has increased, with c. 1.6m people on NHS IAPT waiting lists (Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies). However, the number of trained therapists has not increased at the same rate.IAPT is characterised by significant geographical variations in outcomes, with the average recovery rate c. 50%. Recovery via the Dr Julian platform is c.57%, but we have identified a way to significantly improve recovery and speed up the therapy process.The projectOur therapists set each patient homework, but engagement is low, with c.40% of people completing it. A major reason for this is because homework is emailed, and patients need access to a printer to complete it on paperResearch indicates that patients who engage with the entire therapeutic process have a better chance of recovery, and recover quicker. Research also shows that digital tools improve engagement.No digital homework tools currently exist on any online mental health platform, so we will digitise the homework tools and research their effectiveness. We want to evidence if they:* Improve engagement* Improve outcomes, helping patients to recover quicker* Reduce the number of therapy sessions needed* Save the NHS moneyThe tools are:* Behavioural Activation Scheduling, for severe depression* Thought Records Sheet, to support cognitive behavioural therapy* Worry Recognition, to treat General Anxiety Disorder* Behavioural Experiment, to treat anxiety disordersWe will design, build, validate, test, deploy and evaluate these new digital tools with 1000 NHS patients. 500 in the test group (digital homework + standard homework) and 500 in the control group (standard homework only). Unity Insights will also conduct a health economic evaluation to identify possible direct and indirect cost savings to the NHS and society more broadly.If the outcomes are positive, we will integrate the tools to enhance our own platform, but also make them available as stand alone products that can be bolted on to improve other platforms and services.