Outcome feedback feasibility study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Outcome feedback in psychological therapy: a feasibility study
IRAS ID
188341
Contact name
Jaime Delgadillo
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Recent studies have demonstrated that regularly monitoring symptom changes and response to treatment can help to identify patients who are more or less likely to benefit from psychological interventions. ‘Outcome feedback’ studies track individual patients’ progress using brief questionnaires that measure symptom severity, and the results are plotted into a chart that shows changes from session-to-session. The individual patient’s symptoms are routinely compared to a chart showing the expected rate of improvement over the course of treatment, which is derived from treatment records for a comparable clinical population. Depending on how close the patient’s progress matches the expected recovery chart, cases are flagged up as ‘on track’ or ‘not on track’, and feedback about this is provided to clinicians and patients. This feedback system can be integrated within existing electronic clinical information systems used in routine practice to keep case notes and client data. Research in this field demonstrates that using outcome feedback systems can help to improve quality of care for patients at risk of poor progress.
Although outcome feedback has been shown to be effective in other healthcare systems (USA, Europe), this technology has not yet been tested in mainstream psychological services in the UK. Our study aims to assess the feasibility of using this technology in a psychotherapy service as part of routine practice. We will ask a group of therapists to pilot an outcome feedback system during 6 months, and we will interview them and their patients to learn from their experiences. We will also explore the feasibility of gathering clinical outcomes data to inform future research in this area.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0675
Date of REC Opinion
12 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion