The National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE) in the UK has recommended the use of Avatar therapy in the National Health Service (NHS; the UK’s public health service) to help people who hear distressing and persistent voices. This will allow more people to benefit from this promising therapy whilst researchers evaluate its impact in a real-world setting. This is an exciting step forward in the development of Avatar therapy.
Who are NICE?
NICE is a public body that provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care in the UK. It is internationally recognised as providing evidence-based recommendations to ensure that people who use the NHS receive the best and most cost-efficient care.
What does this new guidance mean?
The new guidance is part of an assessment of digital health technologies to help people with psychosis. The guidance recognises that Avatar therapy currently has enough evidence from research studies and clinical trials to suggest that it is safe and helpful for people who hear voices.
Dr Thomas Ward, Clinical Lead for the Avatar therapy trial in the UK, said “the next step is to establish whether the powerful impact observed in clinical trials can translate to diverse NHS settings. We hope that by meeting the complex challenges of implementation at scale Avatar therapy can deliver real-world impact.”
Over the next three years Avatar therapy will be tested in the NHS whilst more evidence is generated. This is an exciting step in the development of Avatar therapy.
How does it relate to the AMETHYST trial in Australia?
Access to psychological interventions for hearing voices varies and is very limited in some areas of Australia. At present, Avatar therapy is only available within research studies, like the AMETHYST trial. We hope that the AMETHYST trial will help to build on the evidence to date and support it to be more widely available in Australia in the future.
The AMETHYST trial will also help us to answer two key questions that will support the future of Avatar therapy:
How does Avatar therapy work in a telehealth context? Our trial is the first to provide Avatar therapy only via videoconferencing. This means we are able to work with people all over Australia and reach those in remote areas where it can be challenging to find the right support.
How does it compare to standard therapy? Our trial is the first to compare Avatar therapy to the current best-practice therapy (cognitive behavioural therapy for voices). We hope to see which is most helpful.
If you want to find out more about Avatar therapy and the AMETHYST trial then please visit the About pages on our website, register your interest here or get in touch with us using the contact information at the bottom of this page.