Brain in Hand
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychological and quality of life impact of Brain in Hand - A mixed methods study
IRAS ID
297441
Contact name
Rohit Shankar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The Brain in Hand App (BiH) has been awarded a Small Business Research Initiatives competitive grant to develop and test new technologies for the NHS https://braininhand.co.uk/news/brain-in-hand-wins-sbri-healthcare-award/ .
A cohort study is needed to robustly test the BiH technology to evaluate the influence, understand its capabilities, users’ experiences, and the effect of clinical impact by looking to align or use the NICE Evidence Framework for Health Digital Technologies, to reference the strengths, weakness, and limitations of BiH specifically around psychological wellbeing and by extension, quality of life. This is the purpose of the study.There are more than 700,000 autistic people in the United Kingdom. Autism research has focused on causes of autism and largely missed opportunities to discover what helps autistic people. Research highlights that autistic people experience poor mental and physical health, which go unrecognised. Autistic people have very high rates of comorbid physical disabilities as well as mental health conditions that are impacted bilaterally by the social environment. ASD is unique to the person, so person centred support is needed, and a digital solution may offer the best solution in terms of privacy and cost.
NHS England recently reported autistic people have high levels of unmet needs and existing health and social services do not usually cater for this complex group, to deliver person centred support. BiH has developed remote person-centred support with self-management tools with 24/7 helpline that encompasses a wraparound healthcare service. This has recently acquired a further interesting dimension as remote interventions have facilitated enhanced accessibility to healthcare during the pandemic.
The study participants will complete two questionnaires: The self-reporting Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the quality of life, Health of the Nation Scale for people with Learning Disabilities. The questionnaires will gather baseline data and then three months later the same questionnaires will be repeated to understand change. Semi-structured questions will be utilised on a randomly selected sample from the main cohort to gain a user’s experience of clinical need and safety.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/SW/0066
Date of REC Opinion
26 May 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion