title: Experience of implementing an adult educational approach to treating anxiety disorders.
abstract: This paper describes the background to the development and delivery of a self-help package for anxiety disorders. Evidence of effectiveness is summarized. The paper outlines the intervention and describes the experience of two mental health nurses, who set out to assess its acceptability, evaluate its outcomes in routine clinical practice and assess the feasibility of its delivery by mental health nurses. Acceptability of the intervention was high, judged by retention and attendance rates. The pilot study produced promising clinical outcomes, especially for people with depression secondary to anxiety. Clinical measures showed significant improvements from pre-course to 6-month follow-up in anxiety, psychological well-being and depression. The outcomes suggest that appropriately trained mental health nurses could deliver the intervention as a routine treatment. The paper concludes by discussing future plans, including a randomized controlled trial and implementation in primary care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liaison Psychiatry, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. woodsd@cf.ac.uk
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Kitchiner
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Bisson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires