What is an intervention? Flashcards
What are the APA definitions for an intervention
an action ( on the part of a psychotherapist) intended to interfere with and stop or modify a process - atreatment undertaken to stop, manage or alter the course of the pathological procedss of a disease or disorder
An expiremntal manipulation in a research design
What is the point of an intervention?
To attempt to solve a problem
How can theory be used to decide what factors are important to focus on, to help to solve a problem?
It gives a basis for how the condition occurs (how it may develop) & follows what we can potentially use to stop the condition / problem occuring
What else does theory do in terms of intervention?
Helps us indetify key variables which may be important to target during an intervention to help patient improving
How do we evaluate interventions to see wether they work?
(RCTs) - compare the intervention against somehting else ( usual care, no intervention or another active intervention) to see wether intervention is better or worse (in terms of patient outcomes)
What is Change4Life (PHE) an example of?
A public health behaviour change intervention
What did change4life aim to do?
Redudce childhood obesity
Who did change4life target?
parents & primary school children
What are the advantages of public health campaigns?
- Widely accessible
- Raises awarenss
- Reaches minorities
- Can encourage change on a societal level
- Can reach a lot of people at the same time
- Cost effective
What are the disadvanatges of public health campaign?
- No link nto physical, intellectual, emotional & social needs
- Barriers to making changes (not being able to afford healthy food)
- Messagaes may not reach everyone
- Vague & easy to ignore
- Not personalised
Why was change4life introduced - what were the problems?
– 61% adults & 28% Children were obese
– Overweight & obesity = associated w a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart diseases & certain cancers
– Obesity related health problems cost the NHS >£5 billion every year
What was the intervention for change 4 life?
- Encourage people to be more active & eat & drink healthier ( calorie info on menues, food packaging)
- Sugar Tax
What was the point of the intervention (Change4Life)?
To reduce weight & therefore redyce associated health problems ( reduce MHS treatment costs)
Was change4life really effective?
- Evidence = hard to find
- Difficult to evaluate public health campaigns - hard to fund a control group that wasn’t exposed to the intervention
What did Croker et al do (2012)?
RCT of Change4Life campaign - he found increased awarenss, but little change in attitude or behaviour
Who did a quasi experiment study - in which short term behaviour change found “smart swaps” but may not be sustainable?
Wrieden & Levy (2006)
What iis behaviour activation?
A form of CBT - focuses more directly ono the behavioural aspects of a condition
Where is behaviour actuvation usually used?
NHS - way of treating depression & can be used for other mental & physical health conditions
What is an example of BA for depression?
- Analysis of the person’s problem
- Shared understanding and addressing the ‘problem’ behaviours = keep the person in the depresive cycle
- Shared identifcation of meaningful, goal-oriented behaviour
What was the problem that led to using BA
- Clinical depression = recurrent, debilitating condiotion w a global prevelance of 6%
- In the UK - annual costs of depression & anxiety are arounf £17bn
What is the intervention for Dep?
BA = Simple - easy for patients to understand & operationalise
How do we know BA is effective?
- Compare it against something else & measure patient outcomes
- Randomised controlled trial BA v CBT COBRA trial (Rhodes et al)
What were the groups like (in the CBT v BA experiment)?
- 440 participants randomised
- 221 BA
- 219 CBT
- Each group was assesed at 6, 12 & 18 months
How were results found?
- Depression scores at 12 months follow up were compared
What was found in the COBRA trials?
- No difference was found betwwen the groups ( both CBT & BA = equally effective)
What are the advantages of individual level interventions?
- Allows for understanding of the individual & can target specific behaviours
- Personalised = more effective in treating subjective experiences
- Easier to change specific behaviours ( bc it = tailored to specific behaviours)
- Ppl = happier being honest ab their problesm & motivation in an individual setting
What are the disadvanted of individual level interventiionns?
- Therapist may not have indight into individuals life & circumstances
- More costly
- Relies on client therapist relationship
- May feel targeted
- Time consuming
- Less cost effective - one therapist per person
- Other factors may impact an outcome
