Turkish Women’s Experiences of Psychological Therapies for Chronic Pain

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Turkish Women’s Experiences of Psychological Therapies for Chronic Pain

  • IRAS ID

    238023

  • Contact name

    Gozde Arslan

  • Contact email

    gozde.arslan.2@city.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    City University London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 4 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    This qualitative study aims to explore the subjective experiences of female Turkish patients with chronic pain experiences that have presented for psychological treatment at Locomotor service. As the UK becomes increasingly ethnically diverse, health care professionals are more likely to care for people from backgrounds that are different from their own. It is therefore important for providers and allied health professionals delivering psychological treatment to have a better understanding of culturally sensitive beliefs and attitudes. There is a large population of Turkish-speaking immigrants in London and number of studies has shown Turkish-speaking women to underutilise mental health services. Majority of research in this area is quantitative and mainly focuses on identifying barriers and facilitators for psychological treatment for chronic pain. Qualitative studies on the other hand focused on reasons and motives but did not capture the experience of undergoing psychological treatment for chronic pain, leaving a big gap in the literature. For the proposed study, data will be collected using open¬ended, semi-structured interviews with eight female Turkish patients who have received psychological treatment at the clinic. Data will be analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. This small scale study seeks to identify some of the unique needs of female Turkish patients so as to improve service delivery and develop new treatment programmes to reduce attrition rates and increase cost savings. First-hand accounts from females can be combined and collated with information from previous studies to devise new ways of reaching and engaging this population.

  • REC name

    South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/SC/0163

  • Date of REC Opinion

    3 May 2018

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion