Oracle Field-Test
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Oracle App: Field-test of a dynamic feedback system for psychological therapy
IRAS ID
294725
Contact name
Jaime Delgadillo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Recent studies have demonstrated that regularly monitoring symptom changes and response to treatment can help to identify patients who are more or less likely to benefit from psychological interventions. ‘Outcome feedback’ studies track individual patients’ progress using brief questionnaires that measure symptom severity, and the results are plotted into a chart that shows changes from session-to-session. Traditional outcome feedback systems compare an individual patient’s symptoms to the expected rate of improvement over the course of treatment, which is derived from treatment records for patients who entered treatment with a similar baseline severity of symptoms. Depending on how close the patient’s progress matches the expected recovery chart, cases are flagged up as ‘on track’ or ‘not on track’, and feedback about this is provided to clinicians and patients. Research in this field demonstrates that using these outcome feedback systems can help to improve outcomes for patients at risk of poor progress. We have developed a new dynamic outcome feedback system (‘Oracle app’) that improves upon the existing systems by learning from an individual patient's prior progress in therapy to provide a personalised probability of recovery after therapy. Rather than basing treatment predictions on baseline information alone, the new system continues to use information acquired during treatment and updates the predictions as treatment progresses. Our study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using this new technology in a psychotherapy service as part of routine practice. We will ask a group of therapists to pilot the outcome feedback system, and we will interview them and their patients to learn from their experiences. Findings related to the usability and acceptability of the technology to the intended users will be used to inform the final version of the app that can be tested in a randomised controlled trial.
REC name
Wales REC 1
REC reference
21/WA/0139
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion