Click the image to download the report.

27/09/2016: The King’s Centre for Military Mental Health Research has completed a service evaluation of PTSD Resolution client outcome data. (www.ptsdresolution.org)

Professor Neil Greenberg and Dr Howard Burdett compared treatment outcomes in 504 PTSD Resolution clients with data from the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.

Differences in definitions, measures and recording methods make direct comparisons with the IAPT service difficult, but a number of preliminary conclusions from the report appear encouraging. The report was clear that, as the service evaluation was not comparative and was not able to account for unmeasured factors which might account for change scores, the results should be treated with caution. However, with these caveats in mind, comparing the PTSD Resolution data with the IAPT data:-

·         The rates of recovery and reliable improvement appear comparable
·         The drop-out rate after one session appears lower
·         Resolution clients tend to present with high levels of distress, but this does not appear to affect treatment use or outcomes

These results are only preliminary and the next step will be to carry out a formal comparative trial to investigate the true origin of the reported improvements in patients’ health.

However, at first sight there appears to be encouraging signs that PTSD Resolution is doing well by its 1392 clients to date, appearing to achieve similar outcomes to the national IAPT services. Also, it appears that the drop-out rate for Resolution clients is thankfully lower than for IAPT and the intervention appears to be as useful for distressed patients as those who are less symptomatic.

The next phase of research will be considerably more expensive than this simple service evaluation – we will now be seeking funding for a study that could yield important new insights into the treatment of distressed veterans, including those with post-traumatic symptoms.

For further information contact PTSD Resolution direct.