Treatment decision-making capacity in psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development and pilot-testing of a structured protocol for assessing and formulating impaired treatment decision-making capacity among patients with psychosis: a case series
IRAS ID
193177
Contact name
Philip Murphy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 5 days
Research summary
The assessment of treatment decision-making capacity (TDMC; the ability of a person to make a decision about their treatment) has become increasingly important with the shift away from the paternalistic role of healthcare professionals towards a greater emphasis on a person's own treatment decisions. Although reliable assessments of TDMC have been developed, no attempts have yet been made to develop a formulation-driven assessment of TDMC among people with psychosis. Since formulations provide a framework for drawing together a range of different factors that might affect a given problem (Kinderman, 2005), such an assessment might be used to explain the factors that help or hinder TDMC in these people which might in turn inform intervention strategies. To address this gap in the literature, the overall aim of this study is to conduct a case series to develop and pilot test a structured protocol for assessing and formulating impaired TDMC among patients with psychosis. More specifically, this study will examine the acceptability, feasibility, utility and safety of psychological assessment and formulation of impaired TDMC among these patients, and generate hypotheses regarding psychological and contextual factors that might help or hinder TDMC in these patients.
The study will aim to recruit patient participants who are diagnosed with non-affective psychotic disorders. Patients from wards in NHS Lothian and Grampian will be contacted and invited to take part in the study. They will be asked to take part in a semi-structured interview and to complete a set of structured assessments. They will also be invited to attend a brief post-interview assessment. Moreover, clinicians involved in the care of participating patients will be invited to take part in the research process. Their participation will be limited to providing feedback on the utility, safety and acceptability of the assessment and formulation process.
REC name
Scotland A REC
REC reference
16/SS/0180
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion