Illness beliefs and self identity in long standing psychosis (OA)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring illness beliefs and self-identity in older adults with long-standing psychosis
IRAS ID
251511
Contact name
Danielle Wilson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
This research aims to understand the experiences of older adults (for the purpose of this study, individuals aged 55 +) who have long-standing and recurrent psychosis. Psychosis is a mental health condition that results in an individual experiencing reality differently to those around them, for example through hearing voices or holding unusual beliefs. Currently, there is very little understanding of psychosis from the viewpoint of an older person who has experienced this throughout their lifetime, and treatment relies on adapting interventions aimed at younger people, who may have different social/cultural experiences of their diagnosis and of mental health difficulties in general.Participants will be people aged 55+ who have experience of psychosis of 20 years or longer. They will have had input from a community mental health team or long stay hospital for their illness. Participants may be residing in the community, supported accommodation or long stay hospital, with the research taking place where participants usually receive their care. Participants will be recruited via the community mental health team within which they receive their care, identified as eligible in the first instance by their key worker. A second recruitment stream aims to recruit from the patient council of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Participants can self-identify following attendance by the researcher to provide information on the study.
Participants will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire with the researcher about their symptoms, and then undertake an audio recorded interview with the researcher (of approximately 30-60 minutes) about their experiences of their illness, and how their experiences may have influenced their self-identity. Interviews will be semi-structured, with participants able to direct with what they feel is most important. Participants will be asked for feedback on the resulting themes following analysis of their interview.
The study is sponsored by the University of Edinburgh.
Summary of Results
Thank you to the participants who gave their time to be involved in this study, titled From Powerless to Empowered: A Grounded Theory Approach to Chronic Psychosis in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. This study was sponsored by The University of Edinburgh as part-fulfilment of a doctoral qualification.
This study looked at the experiences of people over the age of 55 with a long-standing psychosis. Interviews were carried out with 6 participants to gain a deeper understanding of what they had experienced during their first contacts with mental health services. It also looked at how they feel about themselves now, following their experiences. It aimed to see if getting older whilst managing a long-standing mental health condition changed how people felt about their mental health and about themselves over the course of their lives.
Interview were analysed for recurrent themes and sub-themes, in order to build an understanding of people’s experiences. The results showed that people with chronic psychosis had been made to feel powerless and not in control of their own health during the early stages of their illness, by both services and other people around them (such as social supports). However, as people got older, they felt better able to manage their illness themselves by becoming familiar with it. People felt more able to make their own decisions and communicate these to professionals in a way that led to feeling more in control.
It will be important for services to be mindful of people’s earlier mental health journeys, and how they may have experienced treatment by services and others, to increase safety, security and trust in those providing their care. Working actively together with service users to increase trust and respect, whilst reducing stigma, is important. There is a need for treatment models that increase self-kindness and compassion in people experiencing these difficulties. Communication of services when working with older adults with long-standing psychosis is a very important part of this process.
Further information and full write up of this study can be found within The University of Edinburgh’s Research Archive.
URL: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fclick.pstmrk.it%2F3ts%2Fera.ed.ac.uk%252Fbitstream%252Fhandle%252F1842%252F37884%252FWilsonD_2021.pdf%253Fsequence%253D1%2FNBTI%2FgfO3AQ%2FAQ%2Faf5dbf7e-48f9-4b0b-b591-9f87221ee3dd%2F1%2FVbUGH9O-Ne&data=05%7C02%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7C58ac165129064096f58808dcd27adae2%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638616672303537968%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RFq8IUZTdjImBtiv%2BIfweEKjClcaMOTMPfi7%2BwrAMX0%3D&reserved=0REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
19/SS/0046
Date of REC Opinion
22 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion