Trajectories of forensic treatment response.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating trajectories of treatment response among patients at a high secure forensic hospital.
IRAS ID
312562
Contact name
Dónal Campbell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The State Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 29 days
Research summary
It is increasingly recognised that the rate and course of treatment response varies considerably within mental health inpatient populations, and that addressing this heterogeneity is essential in tailoring treatment programmes and improving outcomes. Forensic mental health services have the dual objective of decreasing the level of risk posed by patients and improving their mental health and wellbeing. In service of these aims, routine outcome measures are used on a regular basis to quantify present risk, symptoms of mental illness, and psychological state. Previous studies have identified distinct trajectories of change for variables of interest in forensic and general psychiatric populations, indicating heterogeneity in treatment response. The present study proposes to investigate the existence of distinct trajectories of treatment response as represented by measures of risk, psychosis symptomology, and psychological wellbeing, in a sample of patients at The State Hospital, the NHS high secure forensic service for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The study will also explore the key clinical and demographic variables associated with trajectory membership.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/EE/0201
Date of REC Opinion
7 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion