Family Intervention for Africans and Caribbeans with Psychosis Trial
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: a Randomised Controlled Trial
IRAS ID
266123
Contact name
Dawn Edge
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN12622538
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 30 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 African people.We shall test CaFI compared to usual care with 386 people from Sub-Saharan African/Caribbean/Mixed backgrounds. Each service user and their family will have a 50% chance of getting CaFI. The other 50% will continue with their usual care. All participants will complete questionnaire assessments and interviews at four time-points in the study. The study will run for 42 months across 7 NHS Trusts in Northwest, Midlands, London, and South West England. Testing CaFI will help us discover if it works and is good value for money. The study will also help us
understand how to make CaFI part of everyday care.REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SC/0607
Date of REC Opinion
23 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion