TOGETHER Version 1

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Trialling an optimised social groups intervention in services to enhance social connectedness and mental Health in vulnerable young people: A feasibility study

  • IRAS ID

    309287

  • Contact name

    Clio Berry

  • Contact email

    c.berry@bsms.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Sussex

  • ISRCTN Number

    ISRCTN12505807

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 5 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    'Groups 4 Health' (G4H) is an evidence-based intervention designed to support people to identify and develop connections with more social groups. Previous research has found that the intervention has helped people with their feelings of loneliness, their connections with other people, and their well-being. So far, this intervention has not been trialled in the United Kingdom with young people.

    This research will conduct a feasibility randomised controlled trial of the G4H intervention, when delivered in the context of Sussex based community, health and/or youth services to service-users aged 16-25 who are currently experiencing mental health difficulties. The research will use quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the feasibility, acceptability and accessibility of both the research trial and the G4H intervention for the service-users and service-practitioners involved.

    This project will help us to learn:

    What the experience of the intervention is like, and how we can make the intervention better, for young people who are currently experiencing mental health difficulties

    What the intervention is like to deliver, and how we can make the intervention better, for members of staff delivering the intervention

    What practitioners working with young people think about supporting social connectedness in their routine practice or through the implementation of a brief social groups intervention

    Do our plans for this research study work? (For example, do we get enough people who want to take part? Do people stay involved for the whole study?). This information will help us to learn whether we can run a larger study to test whether the intervention is helpful.

  • REC name

    South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/SC/0040

  • Date of REC Opinion

    25 Feb 2022

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion