Studies Completed in 2009: Regional, National and International Studies Recruiting in East London
NIHR Portfolio
Genetic contributions to psychological treatment outcome in psychosis
UK CRN no. 6047
R&D ref. no. K0907/1
Chief Investigator: Dr Kathryn Greenwood - 02032282983/4274 - k.greenwood@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Do genetic variations that are linked to both psychosis and cognition contribute to the outcome of psychological therapy in psychosis?
What are the views of service users and their carers on genetic research and it's implications in psychosis?
Hyperactivity among children with moderate and severe learning disabilities
UK CRN no. 3788
R&D ref. no. N0712/1
Chief Investigator: Professor Emily Simonoff – 02078485313 - e.simonoff@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Although the benefits of stimulant medication for ADHD have been clearly documented in the general population, there remain questions about the applicability of these findings to children with learning disabilities. First, there are uncertainties about what proportion of children with learning disabilities and ADHD will benefit from medication, and whether there are clinical factors that predict good response. Second, although it is generally acknowledged that children with learning disabilities are more prone to develop adverse effects, there is insufficient knowledge to guide safe practice. There is uncertainty about the rate of serious adverse effects and how these relate to dose in this group. Third, the role of individual variation in optimal stimulant dose needs to be studied. It is well recognized that there is considerable variability in the dose of methylphenidate required for a response 16. The US Multimodal Treatment Study (MTA) 17 suggested that optimizing individual stimulant dosage was important in obtaining the best effects of medication. Under this paradigm, for many outcome measures, medication was more effective than intensive behavioural intervention and as effective as medication plus intensive behavioural treatment. However, this important trial excluded children with an IQ of < 80 and there have been no systematic RCTs using individualized dosing regimes for children with learning disabilities.
A study of in-patient and residential alternatives to hospital in-patient psychiatric care (TAS)
UK CRN no. 2154
R&D ref. no. K0605/4
Chief Investigator: Dr Mike Slade - 020 7848 0795 - m.slade@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Department of Health national policy for mental health encourages the development of alternatives to acute hospital admission. We will investigate services offering a service to standard inpatient acute mental health care - both innovative hospital services and community-based alternatives to hospital.
We seek to compare the service provided and its effectiveness and acceptability to patients at alternative and traditional residential acute mental health services in England.
The study seeks to investigate seven areas:
- To examine the social and clinical features of people admitted to alternative services and compare them to those of people admitted to standard services.
- To assess the short and medium-term clinical outcomes for people admitted to alternative and standard services.
- To understand the experiences of people who use alternative services.
- To understand the experiences of carers of people admitted to alternative services.
- To assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of alternative services.
- To investigate and compare the content of care in alternative and standard services.
- To assess and compare patients' views about their satisfaction with alternative and standard services.
Own Account Studies
Pilot study of the SCORE (Systemic Core Outcome and Routine Evaluation)self-report questionnaire as a measure of outcome and service evaluation in family therapy
R&D ref. no. N0710/1
Chief Investigator: Dr Julia Bland – 0207919238415 - Julia.Bland@slam.nhs.uk
Ethical approval is being sought to enable our group to initiate a pilot study of a questionnaire that is designed to measure family functioning and change following a course of family therapy. The questionnaire specifically asks family members to comment on whether they found family therapy useful as a way of helping them deal with their problems. It therefore provides a subjective measure of service evaluation as well as clinical change.
We are hoping to pilot the measure within other family therapy clinics throughout the UK. To date, we have 15 other family therapy clinics who have expressed an interest in piloting the questionnaire. We have been liaising closely with our colleagues in other sites and have ensured that the pilot has full endorsement from clinical teams and management.
The pilot will involve issuing the questionnaire to all family members (above the age of twelve) who are referred to services for family therapy. Forms will be issued at the beginning and end of therapy. We are aiming to obtain data from a total of 200 families from the various participating centres.
The Healers: Action Research project towards the integration of conventional and African traditional community mental health care support systems in East London
R&D ref. no. N0712/4
Chief Investigator: Dr Dione Hills - 020 7417 0407 - d.hills@tavinstitute.org
What is the potential for improving understanding of community mental health care between biomedical health and care practitioners and practitioners from African healing traditions?
Educational Projects
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of young people living with a parent with mental health difficulties
R&D ref. no. N0707/5
Chief Investigator: Miss Cassie Bromley - 01707 286322 - c.bromley@herts.ac.uk
The main objective of the study is to explore what life is like for adolescents living with a parent with mental health problems.
The following areas of interest will be explored with adolescents who live with a parent with mental health problems:
- Their understanding of their parents' mental health problems
- The impact of their parents' mental health problems on them
- Their coping strategies and resources
- The positive aspects/consequences of their parent's mental health problems
Memory Assessment Using Ability Tests
R&D ref. no. N0807/1
Chief Investigator: Mr Guney Dillioglu – 02082234567 - mehmetg55@hotmail.com
Local point of contact: Dr Sean Haldane - 02085865021 - Sean.Haldane@eastlondon.nhs.uk
We have derived memory-testing procedures for the materials presented in four established tests of cognitive ability (‘intelligence’). Pilot data collection (with a sample of normal older adult participants) has shown that for these tasks, registration and retention of the information is adequate for subsequent testing of free recall or recognition memory; and the results of these procedures have proved relatively independent of the ‘ability-level’ of the person examined.
In the next stage of the project, we will investigate the criterion validity of the test battery, by gathering further normative data, and data from persons with suspected memory deficits (attending an NHS Memory Clinic service). If the test battery is a valid measure of memory function, there should be significant and reliable differences between these two participant groups on the memory measures (though not necessarily on the measures of ability).
Growing Up with ADHD: Young people's experience of family life.
R&D ref. no. N0710/3
Chief Investigator: Ms Tracey Grant - 0773 645 9339 - traceyngrant@yahoo.co.uk
The principal objective of the study is to develop a better understanding of the way in which young people with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience their family relationships and elicit social support within this context.
This study will aim to address three research questions arising from the principle objective:
- How do young people with a diagnosis think their problems are seen by their family?
- How do they view their roles and relationships in their families?
- Who do they turn to for support and how do they elicit social support?
Exploring change processes in systemic psychotherapy with children with conduct disorder and their families
R&D ref. no. N0707/4
Chief Investigator: Dr Yuriko Morino - 0208 778 4115 - yuriko@morino.freeserve.co.uk
Identifying significant therapeutic change processes in systemic psychotherapy with children with conduct disorder (CD) and their families.
Collecting conduct disordered children and their families' views of the therapy / service they received, and what would be useful for them.
Does Structuring Clinical Judgements of Personality Disorder using the SWAP-200 aid Violence Risk Assessments based on the HCR-20?
The transition to Medium Secure Units
R&D ref. no. N0803/1
Chief Investigator: Dr Amanda Tetley - 01777880158 - Amanda.Tetley@nottshc.nhs.uk
The principle objective of this study is to gain a greater insight into the transition between high, to medium, forensic secure services for patients from the Personality Disorder (PD) Directorate at Rampton Hospital. Specifically, the study seeks to identify the problematic elements of the transition, and any successful aspects of the transfer. To achieve the study objective, there will be an exploration of i) the experiences of patients transferred from the PD Directorate at Rampton Hospital to MSUs, and ii) the experiences of the receiving clinicians who treat and manage these patients.