Navigating the mental health system and digital mental health services online

@ArraDreaming @Zoe7 @Miss-wish we are also considering how in the future we could let people access Groups from outside of the Guided Service, as their own offering. What do you think of that idea? Agree on the appointments system comments, my GP uses one called HotDoc and when you log on you can see their available times and book yourself in.

The Hot Doc app is very good. It is so easy to make a GP appointment.

Are there groups through the GS? If so that must be new since I used it earlier last year. @espressologic

Hi @Birdofparadise8, groups started up in August last year, so they are fairly new. And also still a work in progress in terms of the content and schedule.

@espressologic I would love to see that rolled out but would like it to be just for Guided Service participants and forums members to begin with. The sense of community and connection we have talked about could be further enhanced in this way - then if that was successful (and funding was available) it could be expanded to other people outside the forums/Guided Service. As the groups presently stand, there needs to be some positive changes to both their delivery and the booking system. As part of those changes I would also like to see a continuation of participants from one group to another for a set time. It is often difficult for people to open up and share in one off groups or when the participants change from one group to another so to have a group meeting regularly together, that allows for trust and connection to be built. There could be scope to do both this and one off groups but I would question the efficacy of one off groups and whether they would actually make a real difference to people.

Hi @Zoe7, definitely hearing the feedback that it would be beneficial to have continuity with group members. We have a bit of logistics to work through for this, as with the Guided Service currently people enter and exit their 14 weeks at different times, which does affect who comes in and out of groups.

We are seeing positive outcomes for Guided Service participants as a whole when we look at the outcome measures collected before and after entry, but we don't know as yet what specific contribution groups are making to those outcomes as it is not separately measured. We're going to be moving towards this within the next few weeks so we can start to get an idea of how things are working for participants at the group session level (outside of qualitative feedback received, which is often positive).

Alongside this, we are also reviewing the booking process (which definitely has its issues!), the resourcing for delivering groups so we can meet demand consistently, and the content of groups. I'm confident we'll get there. 😊

@espressologic The underlying preface of the Guided Service is strong but the groups and booking system certainly need an overhaul. It will be interestoing to see what influence/support the groups have had with participants.

I would like to see some groups run with an emphasis on strategies and skills (ie. utilising DBT skills etc.) and maybe to do that we need a more consistent approach. A little more structure in these groups would also be good.