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.

Virtual reality to help depression?

A new therapy has been tested where people beaing treated in the NHs for depression wore a headset that projected an adult avatar of the person onto a mirror as well as a crying child. The project is part of a study at University college London and is working in collaboration with ICREA - University of Barcelona. 
The most recent research has been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open.

The aim is to carry out a larger scale clinical trial in the future.


You can read more about this in a BBC article here. 

Adopt a Care Home in the News

The Adopt a Care Home scheme was featured on Channel 4 News just before Christmas.

The Adopt a Care Home scheme links care homes with local schools. The Adopt a Care Home scheme was set up to enable people with dementia to become more involved in their local community, to feel better about themselves and to teach children about dementia. Laura Di Bona and Sheila Kennedy  from the University of Sheffield carried out an evaluation of the pilot of  the Adopt a Care Home scheme. One care home and one school took part in the pilot and its evaluation. Forty-one children aged nine or ten were taught about dementia in school. Sixteen of them went on visits to their local care home to meet people with dementia. The children and people with dementia made “Lifestory” booklets together, in which they shared information about themselves and their lives.

The findings of the evaluation suggested the Adopt a Care Home scheme increased dementia awareness in children.  The children knew very little about dementia at the beginning but knew more by the end of the scheme. The findings also suggested that participating in the Adopt a Care Home scheme was enjoyable for many of the people with dementia . None were upset by the experience. The school and care home felt the scheme went well and are carrying on with it.

Channel 4 news presenter Christine Oldfield interviewed Laura Di Bona about her evaluation and collaborators from Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Trust and Prince Edward Primary School about the scheme. The Channel 4 news feature showcased the scheme in action with children talking to people with dementia in a care home and then discussing their learning about dementia back in the classroom.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the scheme, its evaluation and future plans should contact Laura Di Bona: l.dibona@sheffield.ac.uk

For further information about the Adopt a Care Home scheme and to read a copy of the Adopt a Care Home evaluation report please visit this link.

To view the Channel 4 News feature please go to the channel 4 news link here. Alternatively you can visit YouTube.

Is computerised therapy for adults with depression the way forward?

Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) was initially developed due to the demand for face-to-face CBT. There are many arguments for and against this method of therapy.

A recent trial "Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (cCBT) as treatment for depression in primary care (REEACT trial): large scale pragmatic randomised controlled trial" looked at the efficacy of cCBT.

View the article published in the BMJ here.