Family intervention for Africans and Caribbeans with psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect on relapse of Culturally-adapted Family Intervention (CaFI) compared to usual care among African & Caribbean people diagnosed with psychosis in the UK: Phase 1 Qualitative Study
IRAS ID
254857
Contact name
Dawn Edge
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Around 15 people per 100,000 are diagnosed with schizophrenia in England every year (Kirkbride et al., 2009). Black people are much more likely to receive this diagnosis than other ethnic groups (Kirkbride at al., 2009). They have longer periods without receiving treatment (Morgan et al., 2005). This can increase stress and family conflict. Family Intervention (FI) is a ‘talking treatment’ that helps reduce conflict. Service users receiving FI stay well longer. NICE recommends FI for families affected by schizophrenia. However, Black families are less likely than others to be offered talking treatments.
Previously, we worked with Caribbean families, community members, and healthcare professionals to develop a culturally-appropriate FI. We called it ‘Culturally-adapted FI’ - ‘CaFI’ for short. We changed an existing FI to make it ‘less White’, including how things like racism and spiritual beliefs affect people’s experiences of schizophrenia. People liked CaFI. Of 26 family units that started CaFI, 24 completed all 10 sessions. CaFI therapists also liked it. Service users, therapists and families all said that CaFI should become available to everyone, especially Sub-Saharan African people.
Before we do this, we shall update CaFI to make it suitable for both African and Caribbean people by carrying out discussion groups (also called ‘focus groups’) with Sub-Saharan African & Caribbean service users diagnosed with schizophrenia/psychosis, their relatives/carers and health professions. The groups will aim to help us refine CaFI content and method of delivery to make it relevant to both African and Caribbean people. This updated version of CaFI will then be tested in another study.
N.B. This focus groups study (Phase 1) will last 12 months. This application is only for this qualitative study. Thus, it does not include the Internal Pilot or the RCT that are included in the same grant. The attached protocol is for all phases of the grant.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0385
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion