Dr Damon Ashworth discusses with Dr Ben Buchanan how psychologists can use NovoPsych to not only track patient’s mental health, but also check in with themselves.
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How clinicians use NovoPsych to their own mental health
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Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)
Here at NovoPsych we’ve just added a new assessment to the test library to assist in the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While the prevalence of ASD is only 0.7% in the community, among patients presenting for mental health services the prevalence is 10 times that (7.8%, Fraser et al, 2011). This statistic shows how important it is to consider Autism in general mental health settings. We hope the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and NovoPsych’s advanced metrics helps with screening and diagnosis.
Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)
The AQ is designed for adults and adolescents aged 16 years and over with normal intellectual functioning to screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Ehlers et al, 1999). The AQ is intended to make up a component of a thorough diagnostic assessment. It measures five symptom clusters important in understanding the profile of strengths and weaknesses for individuals with Autism:
– social skill deficits
– attention switching problems
– attention to detail
– communication difficulties
– imagination deficits
Here is an example of the 50 self-report questions
When administered through NovoPsych, scores will be automatically calculated and graphed, including enhanced metrics. Data for gender related norms are provided as a percentile rank, with a diagnostic cut-off score included (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001).
The sample results below shows a respondent’s percentiles compared to people who have been diagnosed with ASD. This individual’s Total AQ percentile score is about 50, indicating that their scores are typical of someone with ASD. Higher scores on each sub-scale indicate more neurodivergence. For example, compared to others with ASD, these scores show few problems in Imagination (a percentile of 5 means they have less problems with imagination than 95% of people with ASD.) On the other hand, scores show a percentile of 90 on Attention to Details, indicating significant neurodivergence in that area.
The sample results below shows a respondent’s percentiles compared to people who have been diagnosed with ASD. This individual’s Total AQ percentile score is about 50, indicating that their scores are typical of someone with ASD. Higher scores on each sub-scale indicate more neurodivergence. For example, compared to others with ASD, these scores show few problems in Imagination (a percentile of 5 means they have less problems with imagination than 95% of people with ASD.) On the other hand, scores show a percentile of 90 on Attention to Details, indicating significant neurodivergence in that area.
We hope you find the AQ useful with your adult clients. If you’re seeking to do an initial ASD screener with children, NovoPsych also includes the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ), which can be used with children as young as 6.
To start using the AQ, we’d recommend practicing by logging into your NovoPsych account and administering the assessment to a dummy client.
To start using the AQ, we’d recommend practicing by logging into your NovoPsych account and administering the assessment to a dummy client.
References:
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
Ehlers, S., Gillberg, C., & Wing, L. (1999). A screening questionnaire for Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders in school age children. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 29(2), 129-141.
Fraser, R., Angus, B., Cotton, S., Gentle, E., Allott, K., & Thompson, A. (2011). Prevalence of autism spectrum conditions in a youth mental health service. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45(5), 426-426.
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
Ehlers, S., Gillberg, C., & Wing, L. (1999). A screening questionnaire for Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders in school age children. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 29(2), 129-141.
Fraser, R., Angus, B., Cotton, S., Gentle, E., Allott, K., & Thompson, A. (2011). Prevalence of autism spectrum conditions in a youth mental health service. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45(5), 426-426.
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Burnout among psychologists: The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)
I’ve heard from a lot of mental health professionals about times that they’ve been close to burnout, and I want to take the time to share with you how to measure your own professional wellbeing. You’re probably used to administering questionnaires to clients, and I reckon it’s also a good idea to check in on yourself occasionally. The Professional Quality of Life Scale is a new addition to NovoPsych and ideal as a self evaluation tool.
Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)
Used with: Anyone in a helping profession (psychologist, nurse, teacher, first responders, social services workers)
Measures: Compassion Fatigue, Work satisfaction, Burnout and Secondary Trauma
Helpful for: Checking in on yourself a few times a year to see how the stress of work is impacting you.
As a concept, “professional quality of life” are the feelings one has in relation to one’s work as a helper. Both the positive and negative aspects of doing one’s job influences work satisfaction. The ProQOL has three sub-scales:
- Compassion Satisfaction (pleasure you derive from being able to do your work well)
- Burnout (exhaustion, frustration, anger and depression related to work)
- Secondary Traumatic Stress (feeling fear in relation to work‐related primary or secondary trauma)
So I’d like to invite you to take a moment to reflect on how you’re doing professionally, by:
1. Logging in to NovoPsych here
2. Creating a client under your own name
3. Administer the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) to yourself
4. Take a moment to reflect on your results. Consider what aspects of your work are causing you stress. Are there support structures that you can enlist? Have you been keeping up with your self-care routines? Do you need a break?
One thing I’ve setup for myself is to schedule NovoPsych to send me an email every month so that I can check in on my professional well-being as well as other aspects of personal wellbeing (DASS-21 and Valuing Questionnaire). I’d encourage you to do that same.
The ProQOL is particularly useful for professionals to self-monitor their satisfaction and as a prompt for self-care. In addition service managers seeking to facilitate staff wellbeing can use the ProQOL to track professional quality of life over time to help inform workload, leave and support decisions.
As mental health professionals we’re often systematically tracking the wellbeing of our clients, but I hope you’ll invest time in looking after yourself too. Because your wellbeing is worth the time.
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Predictors of Career Satisfaction Among Psychologists
Are mental health clinicians satisfied with their careers? I’ve been seeking to understand factors that relate to high levels of career satisfaction. Of course burnout is a major consideration, and NovoPsych has self assessment tools for burnout and compassion fatigue. But broadly the good news is that practicing psychologists, as a whole, are very satisfied with our careers (Rupert et al., 2012)! According to the data here are the top empirical predictors of career satisfaction among psychologists.
- Control and sense of autonomy around treatment decisions
- Work-life balance
- Administrative ease (not having to worry about paperwork or client payments)
- The opportunity to discuss work frustrations with family or a confidant
- The career-sustaining behaviour of reflecting on satisfying work outcomes
NovoPsych’s mission is to help mental health services use psychometric science to improve client outcomes. So let’s take a moment to use some science to reflect on the how satisfying it can be to have good outcomes!
Psychologists make a real difference in people’s lives!
- You probably helped 80% of the people who sought your assistance. In most studies of psychological treatment the average treated person is better off than 80% of those who did not receive treatment!
- Psychological therapy is a powerful treatment for mental disorders (Cohen’s d = 0.8: Wampold, 2002). In fact, it is as effective as pharmacological treatments for COVID-19 (Cohen’s d = 0.83: Lee, 2020).
- Psychological interventions are 32 times more cost effective than money at making us happy (Boyce & Wood, 2010). Money doesn’t buy happiness, but therapy might!
And to further reflect on the meaningful impact you’ve had with your clients, just check out the below graph. It shows the typical depression score changes for people in psychological treatment versus no treatment (Dobkin et al., 2011). As you can see, people that didn’t receive psychological therapy remain depressed, even at 6 months follow-up, while people in the therapy group received a great deal of benefit from treatment, to the extent that by the end of treatment they were below the clinical cut-off for depression!
My sense is that we don’t often reflect on the treatment successes at work, probably because when a client succeeds they often end therapy and we don’t hear from them again. We tend to ruminate on the difficult cases, the tricky presentations where we feel stuck. But, just for a moment, I’d like to invite you to think about a specific client who’s had a good outcome.
- What were the moments when you realised that they’d recovered?
- What did you do that contributed to their improvement?
So finally, I hope that you’ll find time to routinely reflect on the positive change that your work inspires. In 2021 I hope the team at NovoPsych can help you do that (you can email me about program evaluation). After all, reflecting on positive outcomes is associated with sustainable work satisfaction!
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| Dr Ben Buchanan BA (Hons), GradDipPsych, DPsych, MAPS Co-founder & Director of NovoPsych Pty Ltd Ben@NovoPsych.com www.NovoPsych.com Psychologist |
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How can I get the results from NovoPsych on my computer or practice management software?
How can I get the results from NovoPsych on my computer or practice management software?
When a client takes a test the results are automatically emailed in PDF to the clinician’s nominated email address. If accessing results via email, you will need to enter your email address and password to gain access to results. If you enter the wrong password or get an error, exit your internet browser (e.g. Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer) completely and try again.
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When I try to login to the WebApp I get a blank screen or two forward slashes ( // )
When I try to login to the WebApp I get a blank screen or two forward slashes ( // )
To resolve the // error your browser’s cache will need to be cleared. Below are guides for how to clear your cache for major browsers:
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Is NovoPsych available in North America?
Is NovoPsych available in North America?
We have partnered with BetterWorld Healthcare in the American market and they offer the NovoPsych platform under the brand name BetterMind. Click here to visit their site.
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The NovoPsych iPad app has stopped working, how can I fix it?
The NovoPsych iPad app has stopped working, how can I fix it?
From time to time there may be a bug in NovoPsych that stops it from working. To fix this,
1. Press the home button to exit NovoPsych
2. Double press the home button (A bar should appear at the bottom)
3. Hold down the NovoPsych button in the bottom bar until it starts to shake.
4. Press the red icon in the top left of the NovoPsych icon.
5. Relaunch NovoPsych and log in
If this does not fix your problem please email info@novopsych.com
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How does NovoPsych protect my patient information? Is NovoPsych Secure?
How does NovoPsych protect my patient information? Is NovoPsych Secure?
We take privacy and security very seriously, and use high level 256bit encryption to protect your data. We meet or surpass the standards set out by the Australian Privacy Principles and GDPR. Learn more about our security here.
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I have forgotten my password. How can I reset it?
I have forgotten my password. How can I reset it?
If you have forgotten your password please press “forgot password” within the iPad app or via this link. It will then email you a new temporary password.
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I have changed my address. How can I update it?
I have changed my address. How can I update it?
Open NovoPsych, and once logged in, select the ‘Account’ button. Approximately half way down the screen there is a button called “edit your account details”.
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Sometimes when I’m using the iPad app, I get a notification which interrupts use. How can I stop this?
Sometimes when I’m using the iPad app, I get a notification which interrupts use. How can I stop this?
We recommend using “Guided Access” which is a setting that allows you to lock your iPad in NovoPsych and avoids interruptions from notifications.
This setting can be found by navigating from your iPad’s home screen to Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Guided Access.
For a set by step guide on how to setup Guided Access visit https://novopsych.com.au/guided_access.pdf
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How to upgrade plan?
How to upgrade plan?
Login to NovoPsych and go to the Account tab
Select Plan
Select Change Plan
INSERT PICTURE
Click on the red circle below
INSERT PICTURE
Click on Edit Subscription
Click on the green circle to open the drop-down box and select your preferred plan to upgrade to
Click on Update Subscription
Click on Done at the bottom once completed
INSERT PICTURE
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How much does NovoPsych cost?
Redirect to http://novopsych.com.au/pricing/
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How do I cancel my plan?
How do I cancel my plan?
Once you have cancelled your plan by downgrading to free, you are still able to access existing client data on your account.
To cancel your subscription:
1. Go to Account
2. Select Plan
3. Click on Change Plan
4. Click on the White Box
5. Click on Edit Subscription
6. Drop down the Green Box and change plan to Free
7. Click on Done at the bottom of the screen once you’ve made your selection
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How to change my email address?
How to change my email address?
1. Go to Account
2. Select Account Details
3. Under Email change your email address
4. Click on Update Details
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Can I use NovoPsych on Android or Windows tablet?
Can I use NovoPsych on Android or Windows tablet?
Yes, you can access NovoPsych on either your Android or Windows tablet via an internet browser. Chrome is the preferred browser.
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How do I lock my iPad into NovoPsych to ensure security?
How do I lock my iPad into NovoPsych to ensure security?
Apple has a feature called ‘Guided Access’ that allows you to temporarily restrict your iPad to a single app. You can do any of the following:
- Disable areas of the screen that aren’t relevant to a task, or areas where an accidental gesture might cause a distraction
- Disable the iPad hardware buttons
- Limit how long someone can use the app
Instructions to set up Guided Access on your iPad can be found here:
https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/ipad/ipada16d1374/ipados
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Can I change the date of an assessment?
Can I change the date of an assessment?
1. Go to Clients
2. Select your Client
3. Under Past Results, find the completed assessment that you want to change dates
4. Move your cursor to the right of the screen to find 4 icons, click on Edit Result
5. Click on Edit date of administration
6. Change to your preferred date
7. Click Save
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Can I assign an assessment to a different client?
Can I assign an assessment to a different client?
1. Go to Clients
2. Select your Client
3. Under Past Results, find the completed assessment that you want to re-assign to a different client
4. Move your cursor to the right of the screen to find 4 icons, click on Edit Result
5. Click on Assign to different Client
6. Select the client you want to assign the assessment to
7. Click Assign on the bottom right hand corner
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