Understanding service responses to self-harm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do clients and clinicians make sense of service responses to self-harm in a secondary care community setting?
IRAS ID
344879
Contact name
Maisie Satchwell-Hirst
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Self-harm is a prevalent problem in Scotland and often represents significant distress for those experiencing it. People who experience self-harm often request referrals onto follow-up support with community mental health services. There is limited research into how these services then respond to future self-harm, and how these responses are experienced. These services are important in the prevention of self-harm and suicide, meaning research into how they respond and how these responses are experienced is essential.
The plan for this project is to understand how self-harm is responded to in community mental health services, and how this response is understood both by clients receiving the service and clinicians providing the service. It will consider what clients want from their interaction with services and how they hope the service would respond. It will also consider what the clinician believes the client wants from their interaction. Similarities and differences between clinician and client perspectives will be explored.
The plan is to interview both clinicians and clients about how they make sense of these experiences. Open-ended questions will be used to allow participants to fully explore and express their thoughts and feelings about these issues. Other sources of data will include: NHS case notes of the participants; NHS policy documents relating to self-harm and suicide; and relevant materials given to clients.
A method of data collection and analysis called Grounded Theory will be used. A theory about how self-harm is responded to and how these responses are made sense of within these mental health teams will then be developed. It is hoped that this theory will be able to positively impact policy and practice in the NHS for people experiencing suicidal ideation and self-harm.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SW/0003
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion