Loneliness and Connection in Acute Adult Mental Health Inpatient Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring and Understanding Loneliness and Connectedness amongst Service Users in Acute Adult Mental Health Inpatient Care: A qualitative study using Grounded Theory.
IRAS ID
211238
Contact name
David A Oakley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 2 days
Research summary
There is increasing evidence that loneliness is a very significant factor affecting both mental and physical health. There is also evidence to suggest that our social connections have the potential to affect our sense of loneliness both positively and negatively.
Individuals who are admitted to an Adult Mental Health Inpatient Unit are experiencing a time of acute distress, but also find themselves in a different environment, with different people and possibly a different perspective of the world around them. There is clear potential for factors of loneliness and social connection to play a role in the difficulties that led to admission, but also to be affected by that admission.
This study aims to explore these factors, and how inpatient admission may have affected them. It will do so by giving service users the opportunity to describe their experiences of loneliness and social connection, as well as their journey through services. Using a research method called “Grounded Theory” (based on a version by Kathy Charmaz in 2006), this process will involve hour long interviews with service users, and observations of daily events in the mental health unit. The approach will also include the interpretations of the chief investigator, who is both a third year Trainee Clinical Psychologist working at the unit, and a former service user who has attended an inpatient unit in the past.
The study will aim to recruit service users who have made some steps already in their recovery and feel ready to reflect on their experiences. It is hoped that these reflections will aid our understanding of how service user difficulties are influenced by loneliness, assist inpatient service planning, and potentially provide helpful insights to aid recovery for the service users themselves.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
16/WA/0328
Date of REC Opinion
27 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion