CATCH PhD student presents research at NHS Mental Health Services conference in Bristol

Matthew Bennion, CATCH PhD student attended the Facilitating Digital Innovations for NHS Mental Health Services conference in Bristol, 18th May 2017 and presented his recent research around E-therapy usage in the English NHS.

CATCH Academics’ article published in BMJ Open

A paper by members of CATCH is published in the current issue of the BMJ Open under the category of Mental Health.

The article: E-therapies in England for stress, anxiety or depression: what is being used in the NHS? A survey of mental health services is authored by CATCH PhD student, Matt Bennion and CATCH academics Dr Abi Millings and Professor Roger Moore who have been joined by Professor Gillian Hardy from the Department of Psychology at the University of Sheffield.

The study aimed to document the range of web and smartphone apps used and recommended for stress, anxiety or depression by the NHS in England.

It found that there were 13 different web apps and 35 different smartphone apps for depression, anxiety or stress available through either referral services or the online NHS Apps Libraries. The apps used and recommended vary by area and by point of access.

The paper concludes that future research is required to establish the evidence base for the apps that are being used in the NHS in England.

You can read the article and share it with your networks here http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/e014844. For more information about this study, please contact Laura Murray.

The Use of Technology for Health Care Provision by Care Homes for Older Adults: Survey Results

On the 12/02/16 849 surveys were sent out to all care home managers across Yorkshire and the Humber as part of a PhD project. The survey aimed to help me obtain a better understand of how technology is being used in care homes, what it was being used for and to provide a better understanding of the care home contexts in which staff are working. 

Of those that replied only 12 homes reported using videoconferencing as a method of health compared to 106 homes that were not using it and approximately 2/3 (64%) of respondents had heard of videoconferencing being used as a method of health care provision. Most respondents had heard of videoconferencing being used for advice (46%), this was followed by assessing (42%) and being used as a triage/ gateway to other services (34%).

 

Respondents were also asked to tick which statement best described how they felt about implementing videoconferencing in the care homes they work in. Here  44% of respondents reported that they would consider it, but would need to know more, followed by 18 % saying they are not sure it would be worthwhile as they already have a system that works well, another 13% said they think it would be unnecessary and 12% saying they would sign up for it today if they could.

Of those that were using it, all rated the system overall as being good (45%) or very good (55%). With 73% of homes reporting using it less than once a week, 18% less than 3 days a week and 9% using it once a year.

Overall, respondents rating the system as having the biggest impact on staff confidence.

For more information, please contact:

Louise Newbould (PhD Student): LKNewbould1@sheffield.ac.uk

Written by Louise Newbould

In-Touch: exploring apps for people living with dementia around the world

In-Touch is a project looking at iPad apps for people living with dementia to enjoy fun and meaningful activities.

Initially funded by the Netherlands Science Programme, the In-Touch project has gone through several phases with a number of international partners.
Building on previous work which demonstrated that people with dementia are able to learn to use touchscreens to play digital games, the launch of iPads inspired the In-Touch project to see if these small touchscreen devices could also be used by people who have dementia.
In Phase 1, partners at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, and three large Dutch care organisations - Humanitas, Aafje, and Laurens, tried out 10 existing iPad apps with people living with dementia in day centres and care homes. This demonstrated that people with dementia, including many who were not previous computer users, could learn to use iPads.

Phase 2 started in Sheffield with two apps that represented a familiar game – card game Solitaire – and an unfamiliar ‘tile-matching’ type game, Bubble Explode. Thirty people attending day care or living in care homes played one or other on three separate occasions and we filmed how they interacted with the iPad. From this study we learnt that familiarity is not the most helpful feature for being able to play a game as people completed Bubble Explode more easily than Solitaire. However, both groups enjoyed playing the games, even if they could not complete them.

 Also in Phase 2, funded by the Ontario Shores Foundation, 30 people in Ontario, Canada, have been trying out Bubble Explode and a jigsaw puzzle app to discover what makes games enjoyable and engaging for people who have dementia. Videos from Sheffield and Toronto are being used to identify the features that make touchscreen apps easy to learn and play.

In Phase 3, new ‘dementia-friendly’ versions of Solitaire and Bubble Explode are being tested to examine the effect of increasing the ‘accessibility’ features of the apps. The makers of the two apps implemented these accessibility changes and we are hoping to use the evidence to help make more dementia-friendly apps.

The international element of the project is critical for several reasons. First is to highlight how much of the experience of living with dementia and the challenges people face are universal. It is also important to demonstrate that the findings apply across countries, cultures and languages so that they can be more readily accepted. The partners in the In-Touch study span a wide range of disciplines and experience and have worked together to produce something of growing relevance across the world.
From this initial project several strands have grown. First is AcTo Dementia, a CATCH PhD project which is evaluating apps in the iTunes store for suitability for people living with dementia. Second is Let’s Connect, a project funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to the Oshawa Seniors Centre to develop a training package for people with dementia to use tablets at home. Third is the development of a personal activity package for people living in care homes funded by the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging.

In CATCH, we’re committed to the UK remaining a welcoming home of global scholarship and we will continue to ensure our research knows no geographical boundaries.

To find out more about the #WeAreInternational campaign and to show your support, visit http://www.weareinternational.org.uk/