Peer support experiences of neurodivergent adults.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experiences of neurodivergent adults of a short-term, online, unstructured, peer support group.
IRAS ID
369908
Contact name
Maurita Murphy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 11 days
Research summary
Currently there is very little support available in Cornwall and across the UK for neurodivergent adults, despite people wanting support and the Government acknowledging this could be beneficial. Research evidence also suggests that peer or group support can have positive effects such as an increase in confidence and wellbeing, with a sense of social support being gained from meaningful interaction with others whom people can relate to.
The researcher is a Psychotherapist within Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CFT) and also autistic and ADHD. As part of a project for a Doctorate in Clinical Research with the University of Exeter, adults who are autistic and/or ADHD (diagnosed or self-identifying) will be invited to join an online group with around 7 other neurodivergent adults, which the researcher will facilitate.
Before the group commences, each individual will be able to have a 1-1 chat with the researcher/facilitator in order to ask any questions or express any concerns. The group will be conducted once per week online on Microsoft Teams for 8 weeks and each session will last 2 hours, including breaks. The content of the sessions will be decided by the group members.
The point of the research is to find out about peoples’ experiences of the group in a 1-1 chat when the group has finished. The involvement of participants is likely to last no more than 4 months until interviews are completed. Each conversation from the interviews will then be transcribed and anonymised, ensuring it does not contain any personally-identifiable information and stored securely on a NHS secure server. The researcher will analyse transcripts from all the interviews to look for themes of opinions and some anonymous quotes from the transcripts will be included as part of writing up the findings from the study.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SW/0073
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion