The National Health Service (NHS) in England to roll-out nine online cognitive-behavioural therapies (CBT) for adults with anxiety or depression

Online depression therapy given go-ahead in England (BBC News):

Nine online talking-therapy treatments for anxiety or depression have been given the green light to be used by the NHS in England.

… The new digital therapies are delivered via a website or an app and use cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

They provide an alternative way of accessing support, which may be more convenient for some, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says. They could also free up resources and help reduce the wait for care.…

Mark Chapman from NICE said: “One of our priorities is to get the best care to people fast while at the same time ensuring value for money for the taxpayer — these digitally enabled therapies do both.”

… NICE will look at the evidence from their use over the next few years to work out how cost-effective they are.

The Announcement:

Eight digitally enabled therapies to treat depression and anxiety in adults conditionally recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence):

These digitally enabled therapies, some of which are already in use, are conditionally recommended for use following a formal assessment with an NHS Talking Therapies therapist, as they may not be the right choice for everyone.

Mark Chapman, interim director of medical technology and digital evaluation, at NICE, said: “Our rapid assessment of these eight technologies has shown they have promise. Developed using tried and tested CBT methods, each one has demonstrated it has the potential to provide effective treatment to the many thousands of people who live with these conditions. We want these new treatment options to be available for people to use as quickly as possible and we also want to make sure they are clinically effective and represent good value for the NHS. The additional evidence collected during this period will help us do that…”

Six technologies were conditionally recommended for helping adults with anxiety disorders.

For body dysmorphic disorder (BDD):

- Perspectives with support provided by a high intensity therapist trained in treating BDD.

For generalised anxiety symptoms or unspecified anxiety disorder:

- Beating the Blues and Space from Anxiety (SilverCloud) with support provided by a psychological wellbeing practitioner or high intensity therapist.

For post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

- iCT-PTSD and Spring with support from a high intensity therapist trained in treating PTSD.

For social anxiety disorder:

- iCT-SAD with support provided by a high intensity therapist who is trained in treating social anxiety disorder.

For depression, the committee conditionally recommended the use of three online CBT programmes Beating the Blues, Deprexis, and Space from Depression (Silvercloud) as treatment options.

Digitally enabled therapies in NHS Talking Therapies services must be delivered with practitioner or therapist support including regular monitoring and management of patient safety and progress.

News in Context:

• Recommendations: Health technology evaluation | Reference number:HTE9 | Published: 16 May 2023
• NICE in the UK issues recommendation for Sleepio app, the digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia by Big Health
• CVS Health: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) apps may help you more than sleeping pills
• A call to action: We need the right incentives to guide ethical innovation in neurotech and healthcare

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