Should MH services provide support around romantic relationships?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Should mental health services provide support around romantic relationships? Views of people who experience psychosis
IRAS ID
251661
Contact name
Filippo Varese
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to find out how people with psychosis feel about romantic relationships and what help, if any, they want from mental health services. This is important because whilst it is generally accepted that supportive social contacts benefit recovery, less is known about romantic relationships specifically (despite research indicating the people with psychosis are very dissatisfied with this area of their lives and associate romantic relationships with recovery). Currently interventions regarding the intimate relationships of people with psychosis and other serious mental illness, tend to focus on sexual health rather than the formation and maintenance of healthy romantic relationships and there are no known studies within the UK that have delivered a psychosocial intervention around romantic relationships to people with psychosis. If mental health services want to provide support to address this area of unmet need then it is important to understand what service users would want this support to look like.It is hoped the findings will help inform the design of romantic relationship interventions in the future.
People will be eligible to take part in this study if they are: 1)have a diagnosis of psychosis or meet eligibility criteria for EIS, 2) over the age of 16 3) able to speak English fluently 4) currently receiving support from community based mental health services in England, 5) be able to give consent 6) be willing to take part in an interview that will be audio recorded 7)willing to give permission for their medical records to be accessed by the research team. Participants will be recruited from NHS services (e.g. Early Intervention and Community Mental Health Teams), third sector/voluntary organisations/charities, community centres and online. Participation will involve taking part in an interview (either face to face or over the phone). Interviews will then be transcribed and analysed to identify common themes.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0755
Date of REC Opinion
21 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion