Psychological Therapies
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies: a stepped care approach to managing anxiety and depression
On 10th October 2007, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced a £170 million expanxion of psychological therapies to provide better support for people with common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Read his speech in full here.
The National Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme was established to deliver on the Government's commitment to provide improved access to psychological therapies, or 'talking therapies', for people who require the help of mental health services.
The IAPT programme's main aims are to:
- Improve individual's well-being, satisfaction and choice
- Improve access and support to maintain people in work and to help them to return to work
- Develop clinical protocols to ensure clinically effective treatments are available to people in primary and community locations
- Develop service models for delivering integrated, stepped-care for people requiring access to psychological therapies across the spectrum of services
- Reduce waiting lists for accessing psychological therapies
- Develop a workforce plan for rolling out the increases in capacity tested by the pilot sites that is sustainable, realistic and affordable.
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies "Is the most important development we have taken in health care" said Health Secretary Alan Johnson when its Implementation Plan - National Guidelines for Local Delivery, were launched in February 08. Read the full story on the mental health choices website.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Pilot Project
Guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved the use of two CBT packages - Beating the Blues and FearFighter. A pilot project evaluating the provision of computerised CBT (cCBT) - Beating the Blues - in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber and the North West, is currently udnerway. For more information on the pilot project, click here.
Click here for links to useful cCBT references, information and resources.
Demonstration Sites
Doncaster and Newham are the two national demonstration sites, testing the effectiveness of providing significant increases in evidence based psychological therapy services to people with 'common' mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, in providing improvements in health, well-being, and in maintaining people or supporting people to return to employment and community participation.
- Doncaster 12 month report (draft)
- Newham 12 month report (draft)
Commissioner-Led Pathfinder Sites
In order to build on the success of the Demonstration sites, the scope and range of the IAPT pilot programme has been extended and 11 Pathfinder sites established. The approach to the IAPT Pathfinder programme is based on the following core principles:
- Flexible, evidence-based service models within a defined national IAPT Stepped Care framework of evidence based interventions
- Working with and harnessing local innovation
- Moving towards a standard national IAPT outcome framework
Read more about the national programme here. The two Pathfinder sites in our region are East Riding PCT and North Tees & Hartlepool PCT. Click here to find out more about our regional Pathfinders.
Airedale NHS Trust Mental Health in the Workplace Demonstration Site
CSIP invited Airedale NHS Trust to become a regional demonstration site to develop, implement and evaluate a mental health in the workplace model - the report is due for publication in March 2008.
Occupational Health nurses have been trained in basic CBT/case management and are using the NICE Stepped Care approach for anxiety and depression. They now offer a range of interventions to staff, including CBT, computerised CBT, plus a choice of complementary therapies such as aromatherpay, reflexoloby and Indian head massage.
Why tackle mental health in the workplace?
- Work related mental illness accounts for over a third of all new incidences of ill health
- Each case of mental ill health leads to an average of 30.9 working days lost
- In 2004/05 (latest figures) a total of 12.8 million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety that produced an estimated loss of 12.8 million working days
- There are approximately 6400 new cases of work-related mental health problems in Britain annually (HSE 2006)
- A number of diseases and disorders (including coronary heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders and mental illness) are related to psycholsocial conditions in the workpalce (Marmot et al; 1991)
- In the short term, stress, anxiety and depression often reduce a person's capacity to do their job effectively and left unaddressed it can become a major problem leading to absence from work. Therefore access to appropriate support in the early stages is fundamental
- After a long-term absence from work it can be difficult to return to work, event when the original health problem has been addressed or is controlled
NICE is currently working on guidance for employers on promoting mental wellbeing through productive and healthy working conditions, due for publication in October 2008. Visit the NICE website for further information.
Carole Hirst from North Lincolnshire has developed a podcast about her work on Improving Access to Psychological Therapies.
