Street triage decision making V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Street Triage: how do practitioners make decisions?
IRAS ID
271944
Contact name
Maxine Bell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Beckett University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Background: Street Triage practitioners are mental health professionals who work collaboratively with police officers to support individuals who are experiencing mental distress. Street Triage practitioners make important decisions regarding mental health service user care, treatment and liberty, yet little is known about how practitioners make such decisions.
Aim: To explore how Street Triage practitioners make decisions in their everyday practice.
To examine what factors impact on these decisions.
To identify what challenges street triage practitioners encounter when making decisions and explore how they prioritise in the face of such challenges.Methods: The study will recruit practitioners from a street triage team in one NHS Trust, consisting of nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, Approved Mental Health Professionals and support workers
The research aims will be met through two methods of data collection; qualitative observations and semi-structured interviews. Ethnographic observations will be undertaken in practitioner’s clinical environments to observe decisions as they are made in everyday practice. This will include observations of practitioner’s everyday routines, team meetings, discussions, practitioners taking referrals and discussions following a telephone or face to face street triage. Up to 15 practitioners will be selected for this.
Semi-structured interviews will take place with up to 15 Street Triage practitioners and each interview will last up to 90 minutes. The interviews will focus on practitioners perceptions and understanding of how they make decisions in practice, including what factors they consider salient when making decisions and what relevant factors influence decision making in practice contexts.
The research is being undertaken as part of the researcher’s PhD with Leeds Beckett University being the sponsor.
Outputs: The findings form part of a PhD study and will be written up within the researcher’s thesis. The findings will be shared with the relevant trust. There are plans to disseminate the research in journal articles and at conferences.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0316
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion