From November 2019, there has been a doubling of the number of patients who have used CheckWare in digital self-reporting. And since November last year, 100,000 additional respondents have been registered. Patient number 500,000 was a participant in Remote-based treatment of gambling addiction at Innlandet Hospital. - It is gratifying to see the development in the wide area of application where the solution is used, says CheckWare COO, Frode Næss.
At the beginning of August, we reached more than half a million respondents in CheckWare, and a cake has already been sent to Innlandet Hospital. It was happily received by advisor Jo Andreas Rolstad and two clinicians at Remote-based treatment of gambling addiction (Department for TSB), Division of Mental Health Care.
- It was a little surprising that it was us, organizationally we are relatively small with only two clinicians. So far this year, we have just slightly more than 225 registered participants, which will be a small proportion of 500,000. Our collaboration with CheckWare started before the pandemic, but it was only in December last year that we really got started with this treatment type, he says.
Innlandet Hospital offers a treatment that consists of written assignments and therapeutic telephone calls. The clinician calls at the agreed time once a week. The target group is people over the age of 18 who have problems with gambling. The treatment is national and free. All treatment takes place by telephone, and with the help of online assignments.
Lowers the threshold for signing up for treatment
- The modern platform we have now established with the help of CheckWare increases engagement. There are expectations for ease of use when digitizing a service. New technology and a "fresher" presentation affect the first impression and leave a feeling that the treatment is professionally up-to-date. In our case, this seems to have been effective and can help to lower the threshold for participants to sign up, says Rolstad, who states that there are people of all ages and social classes who struggle with gambling problems.
Gambling addiction dominates the life of the person affected and often has consequences for both family, work and social activities. The problems can cause saved funds to disappear, and accounts to be emptied. Bills remain unpaid and increasing debts weigh down the situation further.
- The growth we have experienced after opening up after the pandemic has been formidable. There is a waiting period, and we struggle with the capacity to offer treatment to everyone who wants. I am quite sure that one of the reasons comes from the fact that people of all ages have had the opportunity to sit at home for over two years, he says.
CheckWare contributes
- This is a new milestone for us, and it is exciting that the group for gambling addiction is contributing to the growth. We are concerned with delivering the best possible quality at all stages, and the increase shows that the confidence in using the solution is increasing among the user base. With the wide area of use that we now see, for example through the group of patients who use remote-based treatment of gambling addiction, we see that CheckWare fits into larger parts of the users' everyday working life, and we adapt the solution to the purposes, says CheckWare's Frode Næss.
Easy to transfer to new areas
The treatment, which consists of therapeutic telephone conversations with the clinicians combined with tasks that CheckWare contributes with, harmonizes very well with the principles and values of CheckWare for distance treatment.
- Patients can answer when they want, the pace is adapted to their life situation, while we can tailor the treatment programs with digital solutions adapted to each participant. The Bank ID login also secures the identity of the participants. They feel that it is safe to use the digital solution. We are very concerned about privacy and IT security, says Rolstad.
- CheckWare has delivered well and supported us right from the start of the project, says the advisor, who started in the position in February 2020
- The nice thing about the new platform is that there are opportunities for further development into other forms of treatment, such as aftercare and computer game addiction. If I could be granted a wish, it would be that CheckWare makes it easier to further develop the treatment types in the software itself, so the threshold can be lower to broaden the variety of treatments, he says.