Blended Digital Interventions - group and one to one

Changing the practice of nurses, midwives and AHP's through use of data and technology and addressing barriers

What is working well?

STEPPS-EI (Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving for Emotional Intensity) is originally a paper-based face-to-face group intervention for people who experience difficulties managing intense emotions, or those with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) have digitised the STEPPS-EI treatment using a digital intervention platform called Minddistrict which allows services to build their own digital content.

In 2021, delivery of the digitised version of STEPPS-EI commenced in primary care service in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT). The intervention is delivered by an interdiscplinary team of nurses, OT's and psychological therapists. An evaluation of the digitised version, conducted by SPFT and the University of Sussex (Drews-Windeck, 2022), found increased recruitment, retention and attendance rates (compared to the paper-based version), improved quality of life scores (measured via the ReQoL) and a reduction in symptoms (measured via the BSL-23), indicating that digital STEPPS-EI is clinically efficacious.

This intervention is a digitised version of the paper-based treatment, which has since been proven to be clinically effective in decreasing symptoms in a recent feasbility study (Barber et al, 2021).

As part of the evaluation, participants found that Zoom (for the group sessions) and the Minddistrict platform were both usable, and feedback was positive. Feedback from facilitators during the study was also generally positive.

This study is a great example of how a typically paper-based or in-person treatment can be digitised using the Minddistrict platform. For more information on how the content management system can be used to digitise existing treatments, or to create new interventions, please see the following page: https://www.minddistrict.com/ehealth-platform/cms

More information on the digitised STEPPS-EI intervention can be found here: https://www.minddistrict.com/catalogue/stepps-for-emotional-intensity

More information on the STEPPS-EI feasibility study and it’s results can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050922009553

What needs to change?

As a Trust we want to ensure that nursing and AHP quality improvement projects have digital tools such as Mind District available to ensure that we continue to co-produce blended digital treatments. This project was funded specifically as an evaluation for this intervention, but we plan to evaluate this across other nursing and AHP interventions within our Trust and always in collaboration with experts by experience.

What should we think about for the future?

The platform offers a number of opportunities to support individual and group interventions within mental health that are deliver by nurses, support staff and AHP's. Building on our learning from STEPPS-EI we are working with community mental health teams in multiple sites across out Trust to develop blended digital interventions. This in turn, will increase our digital competencies and abilities to transform mental health care using digital technology as a key enabler.