Development and application of criteria to evaluate written CBT self-help interventions adopted by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services

Abstract

Abstract Guided CBT self-help represents a low-intensity intervention to deliver evidence-based psychological therapy within the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Best practice guidance highlighting characteristics associated with CBT self-help is available to help services reach decisions regarding which interventions to adopt. However, at present a single process to evaluate written CBT self-help interventions informed by guidance is lacking. This study reports on the development of a standardised criteria-driven process that can be used to determine the extent written CBT self-help interventions are consistent with guidance regarding the fundamental characteristics of low-intensity CBT and high-quality written patient information. Following development, the process was piloted on 51 IAPT services, with 23 interventions identified as representing free-to-use written CBT self-help interventions. Overall, inter-rater reliability was acceptable. Following application of the criteria framework, 14 (61%) were considered suitable to be recommended for use within the IAPT programme. This pilot supports the development and potential utility of an independent criteria-driven process to appraise the suitability of written workbook-based CBT self-help interventions for use within the IAPT programme. Key learning aims (1) To recognise the range of written low-intensity CBT self-help interventions currently used within IAPT services. (2) To identify separate criteria associated with high-quality written CBT self-help interventions. (3) To use identified criteria to develop a framework to evaluate written workbook based low-intensity CBT self-help interventions for use within the IAPT programme. (4) To evaluate inter-rater reliability of the criteria framework to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of written workbook based low-intensity CBT self-help interventions used within IAPT services.