Extrait

Background and study aims Young people with mental health difficulties need support to ensure their voice is heard during therapy. Evidence suggests that young people want to be actively involved in their care and in decisions about their treatment (shared decision making), but this does not always happen in practice. There are a number of barriers to young people being involved in shared decision making in mental health services. The process of shared decision making is sometimes perceived as too time consuming by clinicians and there is also a lack of age appropriate resources to support the process. Many young people already use technology as an informal complement to treatment. More research is required to better understand how best to incorporate this type of technology into services. In response to this a smartphone app has been developed, which aims to support young people, aged 11 -19, who are in the initial stages of therapy. The Power Up app provides young people with six tools to use within and between sessions with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The aim of these tools is to empower young people to be more actively engaged in their care and decisions about their care by supporting them to record their experiences, questions, opinions and tasks or actions related to their care. The aim of this study is to find out whether it would be feasible and acceptable to conduct a study looking at the effectiveness of Power Up within a CAMHS service. Who can participate? Young people (aged 11-19 years) who have recently been referred to a participating CAMHS with emotional difficulties who own an iPhone. What does the study involve? The study is made up of two phases. In the first phase of the study, 60 participants are recruited and asked to continue to receive treatment as usual from the CAMHS. At the start of this phase and then three months later, participants complete a number of questionnaires to measure shared decision making, empowerment, patient activation and symptoms of emotional and behavioural difficulties. In the second phase, 60 new participants are recruited and are given access to the Power Up app as well as their usual CAMHS sessions. The Power Up app includes a range of tools to use within and between CAMHS sessions. At the start of the phase and then three months later, participants complete a number of questionnaires to measure shared decision making, empowerment, patient activation and symptoms of emotional and behavioural difficulties. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? There are no guaranteed benefits of taking part. One advantage is that young people will get to help shape a tool that clinicians, young people, and their families may use in future. Most people find taking part in research rewarding, as they contribute to the development of knowledge that may benefit other people in the future. There are no notable risks involved with participating. Where is the study run from? 1. Tavistock and Portman CAMHS (UK) 2. Barking and Dagenham CAMHS (UK) 3. Tower Hamlets CAMHS (UK) When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? September 2015 to March 2018 Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (UK) Who is the main contact? Dr Julian Edbrooke [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Specialty: Mental Health, Primary sub-specialty: Anxiety - emotional; UKCRC code/ Disease: Mental Health/ Behavioural and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence

Liens

• isrctn