My Story, Our Future: Early Intervention in Psychosis – Life Stories
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The life-stories of people accessing Early Intervention for Psychosis services, and the experiences of carers.
IRAS ID
195839
Contact name
Vanessa Pinfold
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Office of London CCGs
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
16/LO/0492, London-Camberwell St Giles
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
This in-depth qualitative study aims to understand in detail the life-stories of people in South London who are using local Early Intervention for Psychosis (EIP) services, and to explore the experiences of carers of this group.
We will conduct in-depth narrative interviews with 10-12 service users – all of whom will have used EIP services within the last one to three years in a South London community. Their life-story will be taken over a series of up to three meetings between researcher/s and participant, which will allow time for them to build rapport and prepare for subsequent interviews. We will also conduct 6 depth interviews with carers of people who have used EIP services (but not carers of people who have participated in life-story interviews). Participants will be recruited through local EIP services and carer groups.The project will employ three ‘peer’ researchers who have lived experience of psychosis, and who are from one of the three London boroughs from which participants are drawn. The peer researchers will be involved in every stage of the research process, ensuring that the research reflects the experiences and priorities of the people it aims to help. They will be supported and supervised by a Senior Researcher at the McPin Foundation.
By focusing on people’s lives up to and including the point at which they make contact with EIP services, and including the experiences of carers, the research team aim to produce a set of recommendations which could be used to develop new ways of supporting people with psychosis – both within and outside of mental health services. This project also aims to capture participants’ narratives using creative methods such as film, to provide accessible and powerful ways to communicate the research findings to commissioners, practitioners and the wider community of South London.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0492
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion