The voluntary sector role in mental health crisis care in England ver1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the role of the voluntary sector in mental health crisis care in England
IRAS ID
211953
Contact name
Karen Newbigging
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmigham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study aims to understand what the voluntary sector (VS) provides for people in a mental health crisis and how this fits with NHS and Local Authority crisis support. Research and national reports have shown that access to the right kind of support at the right time for people in a mental health crisis can be a problem. The VS provides support for people in a mental health crisis, including helplines, peer support, and crisis houses. VS support is highly valued but how available such services are and how they fit with NHS or Local Authority services is not well understood.
The aims of this study are to: (a) investigate the range of VS crisis support in England; (b) identify the strengths and weaknesses of different types of VS services and (c) make recommendations about how NHS and Local Authority crisis services can work with VS services better. It involves: (1) identifying which VS organisations offer mental health crisis support and what they are providing; (2) exploring how different VS services are working in practice and (3) investigating the experience of crisis care from the perspective of service users and carers. Methods include interviews with leading charities and service user organisations, commissioners, mental health staff, VS staff, and service users and carers; a questionnaire, and analysing key reports to gather views on the quality of VS crisis care and outcomes for service users. The research team includes people with experience of a mental health crisis and academic researchers.
Our results will be used to produce guidance on how the NHS can work effectively with VS organisations to improve mental health crisis care in England. This will benefit people experiencing a mental health crisis, their families and carers.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
18/WS/0022
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion