EMERALD:Exploring severe mental illness and diabetes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EMERALD: Exploring severe mental illness and diabetes: a qualitative study with patients, relatives and healthcare professionals.
IRAS ID
235328
Contact name
Michael Barber
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of York
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 29 days
Research summary
Severe mental illness describes illnesses (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) in which ‘psychosis’ occurs. Psychosis describes the loss of reality a person experiences so that they stop seeing and responding appropriately to the world they live in. People with severe mental illness have poorer physical health and a shorter life expectancy by around 20 years compared to the general population. We know diabetes is partly to blame; people with severe mental illness are 2-3 times more likely to develop diabetes, and get more complications because of their diabetes (such as blindness, kidney problems, strokes and death).
There may be several reasons for this, including the individual’s mental illness, its treatment, unhealthy behaviours (e.g. lack of exercise, smoking) and poverty. However, we do not know how patients, the relatives or friends who support them and healthcare staff view the importance of each of these factors in increasing the risk of developing diabetes and its complications; what the challenges are of accessing appropriate diabetes care; and how best to support people with severe mental illness to manage their diabetes themselves (self-management).
In this interview study, we will explore views about the contributory factors for developing diabetes, good/poor diabetes outcomes, experience of diabetes care and barriers to accessing care, including support for diabetes self-management, using face-to-face or telephone interviews with patients, family members or friends who support them and healthcare staff.
We will use findings from interviews in joint workshops with patients, relatives and healthcare staff to consider how diabetes care for people with mental illness can be modified.
We will make findings available and accessible to people with mental illness, and people who work and make decisions in the NHS via events to share results, research publications and reports shared on our project website and across our mental health and diabetes networks.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0005
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion