Dr Daniel Greer Discusses the Evolution of CBT Capabilities in Chronic Insomnia

With cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) now accessible through smartphones, its evolution to a more user-friendly approach now provides access to effective treatments for chronic insomnia across populations nationwide, said Daniel Greer, PharmD, BCPP, clinical assistant professor, Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

Transcript

How have the capabilities of digital CBT evolved and how has this influenced patient outcomes?

The capabilities of digital CBT evolved by having more access and more user-friendly programs and applications. So, many people these days, even underserved patient populations, all sorts of patient populations, have access to a smartphone and are able to get WiFi, whether it be in public spaces, coffee shops, things like that, and they're able to charge their phone in these same settings.

So, the capabilities–the first capability of digital CBTi [CBT for insomnia] is that the access has been expanded where so many people have access to it. The capabilities have also improved by the technology becoming a little more user-friendly, and a little more streamlined. So, some of the early CBTi apps or CBTI programs were a little bit clunky, hard to get from tab to tab, section to section, and it led to not a rewarding user experience, which could contribute to people kind of giving up on the app or the program and maybe looking for other treatments.

But the capabilities have really improved by making these apps more user-friendly. So they're just easier, simpler, more direct to use–so you're not switching all over the place. And with many people, even like I was saying, underserved people having access to smartphones, it's really come together nicely where digital CBT apps are accessible and can be used.