The BAY trial is looking at behavioural activation for young people with depression in specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
Dr Paula Hull, principal investigator and Consultant Clinical Psychologist with Tameside and Glossop CAMHS, has shared more info about the study below. You can also read more on the National Institute for Health and Care Research website.
"As principal investigator, it has been incredibly exciting and an absolute privilege to be so actively involved in bringing this huge and multisite randomised controlled trial to Pennine Care!
We know that rates of mental health difficulties have been reaching record levels in terms of demand over the last few years for our children and young people.
Typically waiting lists are very long and our families struggle to get the help they need when they need it most. This results in difficulties becoming more complex and chronic and with significant and devastating consequences on functioning across all areas of life, including family relationships, educational attainments and social development, to name just a few.
This trial seeks to look at the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of the BAY Programme, an eight-session manualised intervention for young people with moderate to severe depression in CAMHS, based on the principles of behavioural activation - an evidence-based intervention for depression.
What is especially exciting about this intervention is that it can be delivered by staff trained in it's delivery and under supervision, but without needing a core profession. As such it massively widens the staff base who are able to deliver it.
Moreover, it can also be delivered remotely as well as face to face, with a purpose built website to support delivery, and as such sets out to widely increase the accessibility of a much needed intervention."