APTT version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding and improving Assessment Processes for Talking Therapies (APTT)
IRAS ID
166690
Contact name
Angela Sweeney
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint Research and Enterprise Office, St George's University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 1 months, 4 days
Research summary
This research aims to explore talking therapy assessments from clinician and service user perspectives in order to understand dyadic experiences and generate good practice guidelines.
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme currently provides talking therapies to nearly one million people each year, with this set to expand to 1.5 million by 2020/21. Talking therapies are also delivered through NHS and community-based psychotherapy, counselling and other services. Whilst huge numbers of people receive talking therapy assessments annually, little is known about how they are experienced, whether there are any associated harms, how assessors understand and avoid potential harms, and how trauma is discussed.
A systematic review of service users’ experiences of talking therapy assessments is near completion and the literature on trauma-informed assessments has been reviewed. These reviews will underpin qualitative interviews with up to 12 dyads of service users and assessors. Dyads will be interviewed separately, with each person consenting to the participation of the other. Interviews will be conducted in two NHS IAPT services and three secondary talking therapy services (NHS and community based). We will seek people who are aged 18 and over, can give informed consent, and who differ in terms of socio-demographics. Interviews will be audio-recorded, last approximately one hour and focus on issues such as: service user involvement; information; therapeutic alliance; discussing trauma; and the availability of support. Thematic analysis will be used to explore dyadic data, with Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis used to gain an in-depth understanding of service users’ lived experiences of assessments. Participants will be invited to remain involved in the study. Literature reviews and qualitative work will lead to the development of draft good practice guidelines for conducting talking therapy assessments, with the guidelines finalised through a modified Delphi study.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0077
Date of REC Opinion
8 Mar 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion