Remote DIALOG+ Feasibility Testing (WP5)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility Testing of Remote DIALOG+ in Community Care Settings with Service Users with Psychosis
IRAS ID
328149
Contact name
Philip McNamee
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East London NHS Foundation Trust (Noclor)
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 30 days
Research summary
Research Summary:
DIALOG+ is an existing mental health treatment developed to make routine meetings in mental health care more therapeutic and structured. Previous studies have shown that using DIALOG+ helped patients improve their quality of life and reduce symptoms. However, despite these positive outcomes it is currently only offered face-to-face. There are numerous potential benefits of being able to offer evidence-based treatments, remotely (meaning when the clinician and service user are not in the same room), such as increasing access to mental health services, improving scheduling of appointments, and reducing travel times and costs to services. Software, called “Remote DIALOG+” has been developed which allows DIALOG+ to be delivered online. This software has been developed with input from service users and clinicians to ensure it is fit for purpose. The software has gone through different versions and a full prototype is now ready to be tested by clinicians and service users to see if it is feasible to use it in community care for people with psychosis. Service users with psychosis will be invited to pilot the Remote DIALOG+ software and will be given the opportunity to “opt out” and instead receive their normal treatment. We aim to recruit 20 service users to trial Remote DIALOG+ and they will receive treatment for 3 months. Service users and clinicians will answer questionnaires at the start of the study and after 3 months. In addition, we will also look at how much it costs to deliver to investigate if there is potential for cost saving. We will also ask clinicians to complete an online survey to share their experiences of using the software. A survey will also be given to those people who opt out of using Remote DIALOG+ to see the reasons for not wanting to use remote care.
Summary of Results:
Over five years, a team of experts from different backgrounds (psychiatrists, computer engineers, developers and researchers) have developed a new website, called Remote DIALOG+. This website allows for the completion of DIALOG+ , an intervention used to assess quality of life and improve clinical conversations, even when the service user and the clinician are not in the same room. This study involved testing the new website within NHS mental health services to understand how clinicians and service users felt about using the new technology. Overall, participants found that Remote DIALOG+ was a useful and convenient alternative to face-to-face care in certain circumstances, though it should not fully replace in-person care. The website helped service users to feel more independent and in charge of their wellbeing through leading care sessions, mapping their progress and accessing the website between sessions.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0229
Date of REC Opinion
13 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion