Service Users’ Conceptualisations of Compassionate Care in IAPT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Service Users’ Conceptualisations of Compassionate Care in an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Service: A Grounded Theory Study
IRAS ID
258341
Contact name
Claudia Alonso Soriano
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
2 - U1325917, Proposed plan after feedback (registered through University of East London)
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
Treating patients compassionately has been shown to have wide-ranging benefits, including improving their well-being, satisfaction, clinical outcomes as well as the quality of information gathered. In line with this, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services currently include ‘compassionate care’ in their policies, manuals and training schemes. However, there is not an agreed definition for the concept and practitioners are often unsure about what they should be doing to provide ‘compassionate care’, particularly in the context of a psychological service. It is accepted that knowledge of relational aspects of care, such as compassion, can only be elicited through exploration of individual experiences and perceptions (Cornwell, 2011), thus it is essential to incorporate the definitions and views of service users in order to understand ‘compassionate care’.
This study aims to find out what service users in an IAPT service consider compassionate care to involve and how it has been demonstrated through their individual experiences using the service. Participants will be asked to share their thoughts, perceptions and insights into compassionate care in semi-structured interviews. It is hoped the study will not only add to the theoretical knowledge base but it will also have practical implications for service development, staff training and therapeutic interventions.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0312
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jun 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion