TAMM - Talking About My Medicines
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving shared decision making in conversations about psychotropic medication use by patients with learning disabilities: developing an evidence-based communication training intervention for clinicians.
IRAS ID
322548
Contact name
Deborah Chinn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 3 days
Research summary
Background: This project focuses on Shared Decision Making (SDM) between doctors and patients around prescribing psychotropic medication (medicines that are designed to impact mood and behaviour) for people with learning disabilities. The NHS STOMP (Stopping Over Medication of People with a learning disability) campaign was launched in 2016 in response to evidence that psychotropic medications are being prescribed unnecessarily and against clinical guidance, putting patients at risk of negative medicine side effects and worse health. The campaign recommends that patients with learning disabilities and their carers are fully involved in SDM about taking, reducing, or stopping their medication.
Aims and research plan: We want to help doctors talk about psychotropic medication with patients with learning disabilities and their carers in a way that means that they feel involved and decisions are made in a genuinely collaborative manner. We will first get an accurate picture of how decision-making works in this context by video recording and analysing real life medical consultations involving around 15 specialist learning disability NHS psychiatrists and pharmacists and their patients in community outpatient settings over a period of six months. We will share these findings with a group of people with learning disability, carers, clinicians and education experts. This group will co-design a resource with us to train doctors in how to involve patients and carers in discussions about psychotropic medication. We will share our design for the resource with groups of patients and clinicians to get their feedback.
Patient and public involvement: The proposal has been developed with our co-applicant who is a parent of a person with learning disabilities who has been prescribed psychotropic medication. People with learning disabilities and carers will be part of our project Advisory Group and will contribute to co-designing the training resource.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
24/IEC08/0023
Date of REC Opinion
30 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion