The primary objective of the European Mastermind project is to roll-out an on-line cognitive behavioural therapy programme as part of an integrated intervention.
Although depression affects approximately 350 million people worldwide, statistics confirm that more than 50% of sufferers do not receive appropriate treatment. This is mainly due to a lack of resources, the stigmatisation of mental disorders and inequality of access to, and waiting lists for, mental health services.
For this reason the European Mastermind programme aims to roll-out an on-line cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme as part of an integrated care model in order to analyse health outcomes, cost-effectiveness and patient perception, as well as to identify barriers and facilitators to the intervention-implementation process. The on-line TCC can be self–administered by patients, who can do this wherever and whenever they wish, while being monitored by specialists and primary care physicians without having to schedule an appointment in-person.
The project is divided into two work areas. The first of these focuses on development of the technology solution, which will take into account the need to interact with the patient and, together with Osakidetza, lKronikgune will lead the pilot phase, which will start in the Basque Country in 2015. These two bodies have agreed to develop the therapeutic contents of the programme, which will be hosted in an on-line application with other regions involved in the project, namely the, Servicio Aragonés de la Salud, Badalona Serveis Assistencials and the Conselleria de Sanidade de Galicia, Although not a partner in the European project, the Fundación Intras from the Zamora region has expressed an interest in participating and has reached an agreement by way of which it becomes a collaborating partner in integration of the therapeutic content into Osakidetza’s health information systems. The second work area concerns the integrated intervention in a population of 300 patients from different European regions.
The results obtained in Mastermind are expected to allow health systems to gain a better understanding and acquire the tools required to implement on-line cognitive behavioural therapy as a new treatment mode for patients with depression.
Call for tender for project: CIP-ICT Policy Support Programme 2013-7
To learn more about this project visit the official web site: www.mastermind-project.eu
