Tinnitus E-Programme Becomes Therapist-supported

Published by Debbie Featherstone in Archive · Tuesday 03 Jul 2018
Tags: tinnitustherapy, therapistledtinnitusmanagement

On 1st July 2018, the Tinnitus E-Programme became a therapist-supported course of Tinnitus Management following 9 years of being self-directed.

The decision has been made as a result of a 6 month pilot project running a Therapist-Support Opt-in. Thank you to all for participating in this project - without you, the 'new' Therapist-supported Tinnitus E-Programme would not have been possible.

A potted history of the Tinnitus E-Programme:

2009 Tinnitus E-Programme was launched online
2016 Independent Evaluation by NIHR NHBRC completed
2017 (July) New TEP website including THI submission and registration by all Users
2017 Opt-in paid (£60.00) for TEP Therapist-Support pilot
2018 Tinnitus E-Programme change from self-directed (self-help) to Therapist-supported

What Has Been Learned to Inform the Decision to Make the TEP Therapist-supported?

92% of self-directed users have not progressed beyond Module 2 of 5 modules
100% of users who made use of therapist-support completed all 5 modules AND reduced their THI distress score by either 1, 2 or 3 categories. Much depends on how high the THI tinnitus distress score is to begin with – the highest THI scores were 98%
15% of those opting for therapist-support were unable to make use of the support because of either a) Long term illness/poor health or b) Undisclosed reason

The above lack of engagement (92%) for self-directed users is in-keeping with similar findings in the published research into efficacy of health-related online self-help strategies, although 92% is particularly high. A major factor for this is likely to be that 52% of the self-directed users of the TEP score in the severe (56%+) THI categories making the Tinnitus E-Programme as a stand-alone online self-help intervention unsuitable

The 5% attrition of those opting for but not making use of online therapist-support is also reflected in the published research

As a result of the above evidence, the Tinnitus E-Programme has been made a Therapist-supported online course of Tinnitus Management from 1 July 2018

I wish you every success if you are embarking on the Tinnitus E-Programme – The Pathway to Managing Your Tinnitus!

Debbie Featherstone MSc

Hearing Therapist & Psychotherapist

Founder of the Tinnitus E-Programme 2009-2018

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