ComBAT
Community-based support for depression focuses on general advice about wellbeing and is inconsistent. The unique feature of BA is that, for adults, it has been successfully delivered by non-specialists in the community. BA has shown promising results for adolescents, but only when delivered in specialist clinics and evaluated in small research projects.
Depression affects children of all ages, but it is more likely to start and escalate in adolescence. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) offer interventions for depression, but their resources are prioritised for severe, complex or high-risk depression. What follows is that, adolescents who experience mild-to-moderate depression, and do not reach the "threshold" for entry into CAMHS, are supported in the community, such as in schools and in youth organisations.
ComBAT stands for Community-based Behavioral Activation Training for Depression in Adolescents. ComBAT is a 5-year research programme that will develop, implement and evaluate BA for young people aged 12-18 years with mild to moderate depression.
We need to find out whether BA can be effectively used on a large scale in the community to tackle mild-to-moderate depression in adolescents before they deteriorate and need to enter CAMHS.
As part of ComBAT, the team has adapted BA so that it can be supported by a wider group of professionals in schools and other community settings, such as young people’s charities, youth justice services and social care. ComBAT will evaluate the benefits, acceptability and value for money of BA compared to usual care.
ComBAT is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research (PGfAR) Programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR201174).