New online therapies could help at least twice number of patients recover
Press Release
By:
Ref: University of Oxford
Published: 07/31/2024
New therapies developed by Oxford experts offer online support for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders
- Four internet-based therapies developed by experts at the University of Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology and Department of Psychiatry are proving helpful for patients with social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorders and for children with anxiety disorders.
- NICE Early Value Assessment (EVA) recommended these digitally enabled programmes as therapist-assisted treatment for adults, adolescents and children. The digitally enabled therapies, which can be accessed 24/7, will be provided by Koa Health working with NHS partners to ensure easy access to treatment from home.
- Trialled in clinics across the U.K., the four new online therapies require less therapist time to deliver excellent patient outcomes and will help reduce the burden on the NHS by increasing the availability of efficient, sustainable solutions that can help solve the mental health crisis.
Oxford, UK, July 31st 2024: Urgent treatment solutions are needed for children, adolescents and adults with mental health conditions. Despite the government committing to spending 8.9% of all NHS funding on mental health treatment last year, the pipeline to build new facilities and train new staff will take years and, on their own, are insufficient to meet demand.
A suite of online therapies, developed and clinically validated by expert teams at the University of Oxford’s Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry Departments, is now available to help close this gap in care, and tackle anxiety disorders and mental health conditions across all age groups from children through to adolescents and adults. Patients work through a series of online modules with the brief support of a therapist through short phone or video calls and messages.
Randomised clinical trials by the University of Oxford team have demonstrated the impact of all four of the online platforms. Excellent results led to a new commercial licence partnership negotiated between Oxford University Innovation and Koa Health, a company well placed to leverage this cutting-edge technology and research. Koa Health looks forward to making the programmes available to patients across many NHS services, beginning in West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, Bradford, North Tyneside, and London.
Dr. Simon Warner, Head of Licensing & Ventures, Oxford University Innovation said, “These four mental health digital therapies are a fantastic example of the world class expertise within the University of Oxford which has enabled us to launch cutting edge therapies with our industry partner Koa Health. The therapies are tried and tested and now readily available to help change the lives of people suffering from mental health conditions.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) early value assessment recommended 9 online therapies for use across the NHS. The therapies developed by the University of Oxford team, with funding from Wellcome and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), represent 4 of the 9 selected therapies and will now be made widely available across NHS Trusts, mental health facilities, schools and colleges
One in five children and young people in England aged eight to 25 have a probable mental disorder and one in four adults in England experiences at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any given year.
Professor Cathy Creswell, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, whose team developed the childhood anxiety programme explains, “Recent surveys suggest ongoing increases in the number of children and young people that are experiencing anxiety problems. Our online platforms, which were developed with support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC), provide practical tools with guidance and support to help tackle issues from home.”
Professor David Clark, University of Oxford, whose team developed the social anxiety disorder programme adds, “Social anxiety disorder starts in childhood and is remarkably persistent in the absence of treatment. Internet programmes that deliver optimal treatment for both adolescents and adults have the potential to transform lives and enable people to realise their true potential at school, in the workplace and in society”.
Professor Anke Ehlers, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, and OH BRC Co Theme Lead for Psychological Treatments who led the work on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) says: “We’ve tested the digital therapy with patients who have PTSD from a broad range of traumas. Recovery rates and improvements in quality of life are excellent. Our clients value being able to work on the treatment from home at a time convenient to them.”
The team at the University of Oxford, Koa Health and Oxford University Innovation will work together to maximise the adoption of all four therapies adopted across NHS Trusts and schools over the coming year.
Oliver Harrison, CEO at Koa Health said: “Koa Health is committed to delivering scalable, evidence-based interventions for mental health. The programmes developed by the Oxford teams can lower the barriers to care, deliver excellent outcomes, and reduce the cost to health services. In short, this means that our NHS is able to treat more people and improve mental health across the population. With an impeccable evidence base and approval by NICE, we see great potential to expand these programmes worldwide, helping children and adults.”
Dr John Pimm, Clinical and Professional Lead for Buckinghamshire Talking Therapies, said: “People using our Talking Therapies services had been successfully using internet-based cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder as part of the research trial and we are now pleased that our therapists will be able to offer this innovative treatment to more people using the Koa platform.”
Dr. Jon Wheatley, Clinical Lead, City and Hackney, NHS North East London, said: “City and Hackney Talking Therapies are looking forward to embracing digital technology in response to increasing patient demand. We are proud to be working with Koa Health as an early adopter of these innovative solutions that enable therapists to deliver gold standard evidence-based treatments through internet programmes that are engaging and empowering for patients.”
Prof Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, said: “These important online therapies have arisen from more than three decades of thorough science. Digital therapies have the potential to transform millions of people’s lives around the world. We look forward to supporting more digital innovation in the years to come.”
END
Notes for editors:
Contact for interview requests with Oxford University, Koa Health or Wellcome Trust:
Andrea Stewart, Head of Communications & Marketing, Oxford University Innovationandrea.stewart@innovation.ox.ac.uk +44 7528 132489
University of Oxford: Professors David Clark, Anke Ehlers, University of Oxford.
Koa Health: Oliver Harrison, CEO, Koa Health
Images:
Credit – Christian Hume (Unsplash).
Credit Surface - Unsplash
Therapies short description
Online Support and Intervention for Child Anxiety (“OSI”) treatment in 5-12 year old children (CO CAT and OSI Grows), led by Cathy Creswell
OSI (Online Support and Intervention for child anxiety) is a therapist-supported, parent-led online care programme that helps children ages five to twelve years old overcome problems with fears, worries, and anxiety.
Internet cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (“iCT-PTSD”) in adults, led by Anke Ehlers
iCT-PTSD (Internet Delivered Cognitive Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) combines on-demand access to clinically proven resources with regular support calls with your therapist.
Internet cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder (“iCT-SAD”) in adults, led by David Clark
iCT-SAD (Internet Delivered Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder) combines on-demand access to clinically proven resources with regular support calls with your therapist.
Internet cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder (“OSCA”) in adolescents, led by David Clark
OSCA, (Online Social Anxiety Cognitive Therapy for Adolescents) combines therapist sessions with on-demand access to educational modules developed by experts at Oxford
Funding support for the development of the tools and clinical trials came from the Wellcome Trust, the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Health Research Centre, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley (ARC OxTV). Academic partners include the University of Reading and King’s College London.
Published papers
Prof Cathy Creswell et al (2024). Digitally augmented, parent-led CBT versus treatment as usual for child anxiety problems in child mental health services in England and Northern Ireland: a pragmatic, non-inferiority, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness randomised controlled trial
Clark, D.M., Wild, J., Warnock-Parkes, E, Stott, R, Grey, N., Thew, G, and Ehlers, A. (2023). More than doubling the clinical benefit of each hour of therapist time: a randomized controlled trial of internet cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder. Psychological Medicine, 53, 5022-5032.
Ehlers, A., Wild, J., Warnock-Parkes, E., Grey, N., Murray, H., Kerr, A., Rozental, A., Thew, G., Janecka, M., Beierl, E.T., Tsiachristas, A., Perera-Salazar, R., Andersson, G., & Clark, D.M. (2023). Therapist-assisted online psychological therapies differing in trauma focus for post-traumatic stress disorder (STOP-PTSD): a UK-based, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry, 10, 608-622.
Leigh, E., & Clark, D.M. (2023). Internet-delivered therapist-assisted cognitive therapy for adolescent social anxiety disorder (OSCA): a randomized controlled trial addressing preliminary efficacy and mechanism of action. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64 (1), 145-155.
NICE recommendation details:
May 2023: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/hte9.
Feb 2023: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/hte3.
About Oxford University Innovation
Oxford University Innovation (OUI) is the research commercialisation office of the University of Oxford, recognised worldwide for its ability to engage academic prowess through licensing, catalyse innovative solutions through consulting services, and support the creation of spinouts, start-ups, and social ventures. OUI is dedicated to showcasing these transformative technologies on the global stage, bridging the realms of academia and the commercial world, thereby weaving a future where knowledge, innovation and partnership drive forward solutions to global challenges. Find out more:
About Koa Health
Grounded in clinical excellence, and available to more than 3 million users worldwide, Koa Health provides evidence-based mental health care that is as personal as an individual’s experience and comprehensive to manage at the population level, spanning from preventative digital tools to clinical support and therapy. Backed by leading investors such as Morningside, Ancora Finance Group, Wellington Partners Life Sciences, and MTIP, with operations in Barcelona, the US and the UK, Koa Health partners with leading clinicians and academics, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Oxford University, University College of London, the London School of Economics, and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. For more information on these therapies, please visit the Koa Health product page.
About Wellcome
Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.
About the NIHR Oxford Health BRC (Biomedical Research Centre)
The NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR OH BRC ) led by Professor John Geddes is based at the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. The NIHR OH BRC is run-in partnership with the University of Oxford and involves 11 additional partner university and NHS Trusts across England. Support for infrastructure is provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for 11 research Themes focused on brain health.
About the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:
- Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
- Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
- Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
- Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
- Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
- Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.
NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK international development funding from the UK government.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the research partner of the NHS, public health and social care, as well as a major funder of global health research and training.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the research partner of the NHS, public health and social care, as well as a major funder of global health research and training.