Independent evaluation of the pilot of supported Digital CBTe within Kent and Medway All Age Eating Disorders Service

Kent and Medway All Age Eating Disorders Service piloted Digital Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBTe), supplemented by online support sessions (‘Supported Digital CBTe’), for patients who experience binge eating disorder (BED), between January and October 2024. Health Innovation Wessex (HIW) Insight team was commissioned to carry out an independent evaluation of the pilot.

Digital CBTe was originally developed by the Centre for Research on Eating Disorders at Oxford (CREDO). It is a digital programme-led psychological treatment designed for people experiencing binge eating, closely derived from Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT-E).  The programme is available as a mobile application (app) and website. It provides an evidence-informed eating-disorder-focused programme for adults who experience eating disorders characterised by binge eating.  NICE (2017) recommends that this type of programme should also be supplemented with brief supportive sessions when delivered as a first-line treatment. ‘Supported Digital CBTe’ refers to the programme being accompanied by brief supportive sessions from a health professional (such as a non-specialist support worker). The total amount of support time is around three hours, to be spaced across the twelve sessions and eight weeks of Digital CBTe. These sessions focus on helping the patient to follow the programme.

The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach comprising the analysis of standardised self-reported measures recorded within the Digital CBTe programme (Eating Disorder Examination questionnaire, EDE-Q 6, Clinical Impairment Assessment questionnaire, CIA, and Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), descriptive analysis of activity data provided by Credo Therapies Limited, semi-structured interviews with patients and two staff who acted as Supporters for patients going through the programme, and a staff survey.