Depression is a major health problem. The majority of people with depression receive care from their GP. However, lots of people experiencing depression would also like to receive a "talking treatment" (counselling or psychotherapy). Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) seems to be the most effective type of talking treatment for depression but is not always immediately available in the NHS due to lack of therapist resources. More recently, a form of CBT has been developed that can be delivered by a computer (computerised CBT), which might make it easier to access this form of treatment. Different computerised CBT packages have been developed, some of which are freely available on the internet and others which are commercially produced and need to be paid for by the NHS. At the moment we do not know which of these packages works best for people with depression. REEACT is a randomised controlled trial which aims to compare two types of computerised CBT packages (one free-to-use and one commercial) to see if there are any additional benefits of offering this treatment to the care that people already receive from their GP. The study will also examine whether the commercial package is better than the free-to-use package and whether the extra cost of the commercial package is justified. We will also determine whether computerised CBT is an acceptable form of treatment for people with depression.
Download the REEACT research summary (PDF , 1,206kb).
To view the REEACT protocol click here REEACT Protocol (PDF , 547kb).
Funder(s): | NCCHTA |
Start Date: | 01-May-2009 |
Expiry Date: | 31-Oct-2013 |