Annual demand for an online free talk therapy service is almost 12 times what the Health Service Executive (HSE) forecast when it launched the programme, new figures show..
In 2021, the HSE partnered with Amwell to launch SilverCloud, an online service that provides free cognitive behavioural therapy, a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.
Under the service, people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties can be referred by a GP or other approved mental health team for online treatment.
Derek Chambers, HSE lead for mental health operations, said demand for the service took off “much quicker than anyone expected”.
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“In April 2021, we anticipated there would be 1,000 licences [approved patients] a year. Now, we’re reaching around 1,000 a month,” he said.
“Capacity has been challenged, both in terms of provision and funding. But it will plateau, and it’s just about keeping up with that demand.”
The programme on Thursday launches its 2024 annual report, which looks at a 12-month period from April 2023.
There were 13,548 referrals and 9,206 account activations within this period, an 18 per cent increase in referrals and a 17 per cent increase in activations compared with the same period in the previous year.
The majority of users were female (72 per cent), white Irish (85 per cent), and aged 18-44 years (76 per cent).
The anxiety programme is the most used (47 per cent) followed by depression and anxiety programme (35 per cent) and depression programme (15 per cent).
Furthermore, 62 per cent of users with clinical levels of anxiety or depression achieved “reliable improvement”, while just over 50 per cent of users with clinical levels of anxiety or depression “transitioned to recovery”.
Dr Aoife O’Sullivan, mental health lead at the Irish College of General Practitioners, said it was great to have interventions that are “not just medicine”.
“The difficulty can be affordability and availability. This removes that. But it’s not a sticking plaster and it isn’t a replacement for in-person,” she said.
[ Managing the surge in demand for online mental health platformsOpens in new window ]
Dr O’Sullivan added that the free in-person counselling for people with medical cards has a three to six months’ waiting list.
“This is almost immediate. It is somewhat counterintuitive that people with more severe difficulties are on a waiting list while those with mild to moderate are not.”
Elaine Martin, clinical director of the service, said given the scale of mental health needs in Ireland, it is “really vital” intervention is provided at the “right time”.
“It can stop a problem snowballing and stem the tide. Not everybody needs, wants or should have intensive talk therapy,” she said.
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