Meeting the unmet need for depression services with psycho-educational self-confidence workshops: preliminary report
Open accessAbstract
Background: The prevalence of depression has not fallen despite effective treatments being available. Aims: To examine the effectiveness of a psycho-educational intervention designed to be easily accessible. Method: Large-scale, self-referral ‘How to improve your self-confidence’ workshops were run in a leisure centre at weekends. The day-long programme used a cognitive–behavioural approach. A randomised controlled trial design using waiting-list controls was employed. Three months after the workshop, results of workshop participants were compared with those of the waiting list control group. Results: Among 120 people who self-referred, 75% of participants had General Health Questionnaire scores of 3 and above. Over 39% had never previously consulted their general practitioners about their depression. At 3-month follow-up, members of the experimental group were significantly less depressed, less distressed and reported higher self-esteem. Conclusions: Workshops were shown to be accessible and effective; a larger, more rigorous trial is now needed.
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Self-referral psycho-educational CBT workshops were originally set up in Birmingham and further developed in south-east London.
“Self-referral psycho-educational CBT workshops were originally set up in Birmingham and further developed in south-east London.46,48”
From Can a self-referral system help improve access to psychological treatments? (2010) · cites this paper as [46]
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- Authors
- Brown, J. S. L., Elliott, S. A., Boardman, J., Ferns, J., & Morrison, J.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Greenwich University (PK)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, June S. L.
- ORCID
- Brown, June S. L.
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2004-12
- Volume
- 185
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 511-515
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2148758835
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- depression, psychoeducational intervention, self-confidence, self-referral, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-esteem, unmet mental health needs, access to mental health care
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, London, Male, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Patient Education as Topic, Psychotherapy, Self Concept, Socioeconomic Factors, Treatment Outcome, Needs Assessment
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