About

Self-Help Access in Routine Primary Care or ‘SHARP’ was a collaborative project which was initiated in 2006 with the support of the Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority, The University of Huddersfield, Wakefield Primary Care Trust and the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

The project was initially developed in response to local concerns in the Wakefield District where access to appropriate self-help material in a primary care setting was limited. A further impetus to the project was feedback from some primary care health practitioners who highlighted the lack of confidence, skill, time and resources to work with mental health issues. Given this and the fact that problems with anxiety, depression and stress are so common, the SHARP website, leaflets and training were developed to support primary care practitioners in their routine work.

The SHARP leaflets are based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). CBT based guided self-help is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for persistent subthreshold depressive symptoms or mild to moderate depression and for depression in adults with a chronic physical health problem. CBT based guided self-help is also recommended by NICE for panic disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. These interventions should be provided in a stepped care service model, so that people who require a more intensive psychological intervention have the opportunity to access it.