Interview with Professor Gavin Andrews
Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression
(CRUfAD)
"Internet usage is now so general that it's wrong to think that
it's peculiar to the young. It's just that the young are peculiar,"
declares Professor Gavin Andrews.
Peculiar patients need innovative treatments - and that's what
Professor Andrews' online health programs, climategp.tv
and virtualclinic.org.au , aim to provide.
climategp.tv and virtualclinic.org.au combine education and
cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in 6 to 8 week programs to treat
depression, social phobia, anxiety and other illnesses. People can
sign up directly to be part of free, ongoing trial at
virtualclinic.org.au, where their progress is tracked by Andrews
and his team. Or people can be referred to the program by their
health practitioner on climategp.tv, where health care
professionals can purchase a prescription for patients for just $5.
Saving money and time isn't the end of it, as health care
professionals registered with climategp.tv receive emails tracking
the progress of their patients through the program. Unlike other
online CBT programs, the sites use an illustrated storyline,
allowing patients to follow, and relate to, characters in
recovery.
Programs designed especially for teenagers are also being trialled
through climateschools.tv, populated by cartoon characters going
through the kind of moody self discovery that makes Dawson of
Dawson's Creek look like a featherweight. The format gets young
people interested, according to Professor Andrews, "kids just go
'Yes, I've got it. It's real. I'll pay attention to the
rest".
Although the average age of patients in the depression and anxiety
courses is around 40, all of the climate programs are particularly
suited to younger people. After all, this is a generation more
accustomed to opening up to a computer than to - shock, horror - an
adult.
But it's not all Dear Diaries and Bacardi Breezers. Based on a
strong foundation of research (see links below), the programs on
climateclinic.tv and virtualclinic.org.au have already treated 500
people. "The most telling statistic is that 80% of people who start
complete and that's really a vote of confidence," says Andrews.
"The advantage is that people are not just getting over their
shyness or getting over their depression. They're getting over
their whole vulnerability so that in the future they will know how
to manage themselves."
In the brave new world of technology, receiving treatment over the
Internet is not only an effective, but a cost-effective, way to
treat mental illness. virtualclinic.org.au has received 2,000
applications already and expects to treat 1,000 patients in 2009.
Professor Andrews argues the program is filling an important gap,
"It really raises the issue that… health services are not
delivering what people want."
Education of the wider public needs to happen concurrently with
patient treatment, Andrews says. "You need to change the culture
around them, so that their friends understand. It doesn't matter
whether we're talking about anxiety or alcohol overuse. If the
friends understand it… they're going to support someone who is on
the edge."
The possibilities for treating illness over the Internet remain
largely untapped. Professor Andrews expects family therapy for
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and education for parents of
autistic children will follow. A program for dementia carers is
already being trialled on climategp.tv.
The Internet is no longer just a hub for social networking and
endless Googling. In the mercurial universe of technology,
Professor Andrews' climate programs are changing people's lives for
good - "The issue is not to make people better but to make them
better long term," he says.