A randomised controlled study of face-to-face versus internet-based teaching of CBT skills for healthcare professionals in Sudan

Abstract

BackgroundA need has been identified for affordable and scalable methods for disseminating cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) to countries with barriers to traditional methods of teaching.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the effectiveness of internet-based teaching versus face-to-face teaching in improving the CBT theory, assessment, and formulation skills of a group of mental health practitioners in Khartoum, Sudan.MethodParticipants (N = 36) were randomly assigned to (a) a 3 h live lecture, or (b) a computer-based multimedia recorded lecture of the same duration. Participants were rated before and after training for their ability to assess a simulated patient and construct a CBT formulation of the presenting difficulties. Participants also rated the feasibility and acceptability of the training they had received.ResultsBoth teaching methods resulted in significant improvements in participants’ abilities to carry out the assessment and formulation tasks. However, participants allocated to computer-based teaching performed better than those allocated to live teaching (between-groups effect size d = 0.26–0.74). Both teaching methods were rated as highly acceptable and feasible by participants.ConclusionsComputer-based teaching could offer a cheaper and effective method to help disseminate CBT to countries with limited resources and expertise, replacing and supplementing other costly traditional methods such as face-to-face teaching.