Wait Less
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Wait Less: Co-designing and Evaluating An Online Self-Help Brief Psychosocial Intervention (eBPI) For Young People With Mood Related Mental Health Problems To Reduce Waiting Lists in Specialist CYPMHS.
IRAS ID
341550
Contact name
Tamsin Ford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 15 days
Research summary
Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) provide treatment for young people with poor mental health. CYPMHS are receiving more referrals, leading to very long waiting times. The increasing waiting lists for CYPMHS are a major barrier for young people trying to access mental health care. Young people on the waiting list will include some who self-harm, feel suicidal, and struggle with several types of difficulties. Whilst some receive a first assessment in 9 weeks, many others will wait over 20 weeks for their first assessment, often followed by a further 20 weeks wait for treatment. There are also big differences in the length of wait between clinics. Interestingly, 1 in 3 young people are seen only once or twice in CYPMHS despite waiting for so long. Access to support earlier might reduce their distress and free up CYPMHS capacity for those who need more treatment.
Brief Psychosocial Intervention (BPI) is an evidence-based face-to-face intervention which is recommended for the treatment of adolescent depression by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence). It is the first psychotherapy developed specifically for young people with input from young people and parents. Others are all based on treatments that were first designed for adults. Previous research has shown that face-to-face BPI works well and is value for money.
In this study, we will co-produce a digital self-service version of BPI with young people, parents and health professionals (called eBPI). We want to find out if eBPI offers rapid relief from suffering for young people with depression and mood related problems on the CYPMHS waiting list. This may mean some need less or even no further treatment.
Our research has four parts:
• Working out how to safely provide eBPI to young people on CYPMHS waiting lists
• Co-design eBPI with young people, parents with input from service providers
• Using eBPI with a small number of young people to spot snags and finalise how best to use it (user testing)
We will invite young people and parents/carers to join two advisory groups to support the researchers in this work. The advisory panels will help to design and deliver the study, including co-developing study materials, reviewing results, and working with the research team to communicate our findings in an engaging way.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
24/NS/0072
Date of REC Opinion
13 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion