SCENE (YEAR 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a structured intervention for expanding social networks in psychosis
IRAS ID
220522
Contact name
Stefan Priebe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
This NIHR-funded study aims to develop an intervention to help people with psychosis to increase the number of people they have social contact with. Psychosis affects a large number of people (1-2% of the population), can last for decades and cause much distress to patients and carers. Although patients receive medication, practical support and sometimes talking therapies, these treatments have limited benefit and many patients remain socially isolated. This can lead to further decline in health and poor quality of life.
Research studies from other countries have been successful in helping patients to increase the number of people with whom they have social contact with; through activities that involve meeting and communicating with other people. We now want to see if we can help NHS patients in a similar way. To achieve this, we will develop an intervention to help patients (with a psychosis-related diagnosis and who are receiving secondary care mental health services) to increase the number of people they have social contact with. This will be done over 12 months and will involve 3 smaller research studies across East London, Luton, Bedfordshire, North East, and Devon.
In the first study, we will interview 300 patients using a brief survey to find out what their social networks look like, how they can be expanded, and how the internet might be used to support this. In the second study, we will discuss with up to 33 patients through focus groups and individual interviews how to improve the intervention. In the third study, we will test the intervention with 24 patients to see how it works. Over 3 months, patients will meet monthly with a mental health professional, who will support them in an activity of their choice, which will involve meeting and communicating with other people.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EE/0150
Date of REC Opinion
24 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion