Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) can significantly improve outcomes for people with body dysmorphia, suggests a new study. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
"An innovative new app might provide a more effective form of birth control than the contraceptive pill," The Sun reports.
The Natural Cycles fertility app combines the use of a thermometer to measure body temperature with calendar calculating methods – often referred to as the rhythm method – to work out the days when a woman would be at high or low risk of pregnancy.
More than 4,000 women were included in this Swedish study looking at how effective the app is at preventing pregnancy.
My Health Guide is an app for iPads and Android tablets, as well as a web service, that puts adults with learning disabilities at the centre of their health care.
My Health Guide enables people who struggle to communicate to have a voice, and to be empowered about their health care.
It lets adults with learning disabilities capture what’s important for them and helps them manage their health care.
Families and friends can keep in touch using the web interface, and healthcare professionals can stay on top of what’s happening in the lives of learning-disabled adults.
In this review, we discuss feasibility, content, and where possible efficacy of ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) in psychiatry. EMIs adopt mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants or smartphones, for the delivery of treatments in the daily life of patients. We will discuss EMIs in the field of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression disorder, as well as one generic, transdiagnostic EMI. You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you requesting.
Two hundred patients from Humber NHS Foundation Trust’s Learning Disability service will be taking part in the trial of the ‘My Health Guide’ app, designed and developed by UK software firm Maldaba Ltd and inspired by the heartwarming story of “Matthew’s Book”.
“Matthew’s Book” is an iPad-based, multi-media guide that accompanies Hull-based Matthew Prosser wherever he goes. Matthew has profound and complex needs and his book allows carers and healthcare professionals to understand essential aspects of his care and what good practice means for him.
The app, commissioned and funded by NHS England and SBRI Healthcare, enables users to capture video, audio, images and text in a single, user-friendly format and share selected information with carers, guardians and health professionals.
An app to facilitate discussion about female genital mutilation (FGM) between health professionals and the people they serve is currently being tested across Oxfordshire.
Telehealth interventions include telephone-, internet-, and app-based services and support. The evidence base for the benefits of telehealth interventions so far has been relatively inconsistent and difficult to draw firm conclusions from (Flodgren et al., 2015; Wootton, 2012).
A new paper recently published in Lancet Psychiatry, led by Professor Chris Salisbury (2016), describes a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a specific telehealth intervention (The Healthlines Service) for depression.
Open access. Persecutory delusions may be unfounded threat beliefs maintained by safety-seeking behaviours that prevent disconfirmatory evidence being successfully processed. Use of virtual reality could facilitate new learning.
Aims- To test the hypothesis that enabling patients to test the threat predictions of persecutory delusions in virtual reality social environments with the dropping of safety-seeking behaviours (virtual reality cognitive therapy) would lead to greater delusion reduction than exposure alone (virtual reality exposure).
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal (Jun 20, 2016).
Objective: Individuals living with serious mental illnesses are key stakeholders in user experience design and the development of the WorkingWell mobile app to enhance on-the-job follow-along support. In this study, Individual Placement and Support (IPS) consumers identify challenges in sustaining employment, provide data regarding their use of technology, and suggest technology-based solutions for coping on the job to inform app development. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Purpose: Decades of research exist supporting various types of self-operating prompting systems, including picture, audio and video to help students with disabilities acquire skills, especially to teach life skills. While many facets of life skills are important to target for instruction for secondary students with intellectual disability, one receiving declining attention is grocery shopping. You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Objective: Little information exists regarding how individuals with serious mental illness use technology and whether this usage facilitates social connections. This study contributes to filling this knowledge gap by examining ways in which a sample of persons with serious mental illness use cell phones and the Internet. NB - US study. Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Panic disorder (PD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. Web-based self-help treatments for PD have had promising results. These online treatments seem to have larger effect sizes (ESs) when professional support is added. However, the amount of support or how it should be administered is not yet clear. The aim of this trial was to study two ways of administering psychological support provided by phone as a part of Internet-based self-help treatment for PD based on cognitive behavioral therapy. Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Reports, on an open-access basis, so it is free to read online.
The UK media reported on these results accurately and included quotes from the study authors expressing their disbelief in what they saw. "In virtually every one of these patients, the brain had erased the notion of having legs. You're paralysed, you're not moving, the legs are not providing feedback signals." said Professor Nicolelis, he went on to say: "By using a brain-machine interface in a virtual environment, we were able to see this concept gradually re-emerging into the brain."
App Review. Developed by charity Alzheimer’s Research UK, and guided by people living with different forms of dementia, this app aims to give an insight into the everyday life of people suffering from dementia. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The projects, one which looks at managing physical healthcare problems for mental health patients, and the other, an online training package for health professionals to help improve the care planning process, have both been given the accolade ‘highly commended’.
Dr Jaspreet Phull, has developed an interactive app for service users to complete, which includes a questionnaire relating to their physical healthcare needs. This enables mental health professionals to have a full picture of the kind of care plan required for patients accessing mental health services.
Objective: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a narrative would motivate increased Advanced Video Game play, though a feasibility study that investigated the motivational effect of adding a previously developed narrative cutscene to an originally nonnarrative AVG, Nintendo Wii Sports Resort: Swordplay Showdown.