
Summary: The purpose of this study to understand how patients find living in secure forensic care hospitals. We are particularly interested in whether patients find these settings restrictive, and if so, why? The study will investigate whether the restrictiveness of the hospital affects everyone in the same way, or in different ways. Furthermore, if the level of restrictiveness experienced by a patient in secure care is good or bad for their quality of life, well-being and recovery.
Contact: Dr Kristoff Bonello
Summary: The aim of the study is to find out how well Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills for Employment; (DBT-SE) helps people to gain work or to return to work after being off for a while and if it has lasting positive effects on a person’s wellbeing and employment. We are conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT). An RCT compares different initiatives to see which one gives the best outcome for participants.
Contact: Dr Janet Feigenbaum
Summary: Psychosis is a medical term to describe a mental illness which commonly includes a range of distressing symptoms including hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. Coping with psychosis is often a challenging demand for the individual as well as everyone close to them, including family and friends (referred to as “carers” who provide caring support on an unpaid basis). The “EFFIP” project is a 5-year study aiming to develop and evaluate an online resource dedicated for carers to gain information about psychosis, and glean support and advice from others in the same position.
Contact: Dr Miriam Fornells-Ambrojo
Summary: This online survey will gather the views of the public on the use of mobile technologies for managing mental health and wellbeing. The mobile devices may be used for monitoring health, setting and tracking diet and fitness goals, and supporting the delivery of medical treatment. It is hoped that these technologies will increase access to mental healthcare and allow individuals with mental health problems (such as depression and anxiety) to better manage their mental health and wellbeing.
Contact: James Sinclair
Summary: A smartphone app has been developed to support young people to make shared decisions throughout their care and treatment with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This study is expected to build on this app, named Power Up for Parents, and aim to allow parents/caregivers to communicate effectively with professionals and their child, therefore, taking a more active role in treatment/therapy.
Contact: Emma Selby
Summary: This research aims to determine current practice of professionals working in Memory Service in the provision of information on and access to AT for families living with dementia. The results from the study will be used alongside interviews with people with dementia and their carers to provide data to design information and referral pathways to help people with dementia get timely information on AT and support to access AT.
Contact: Ritchard Ledgerd
Summary: A research study aimed at validating a new measure of memory and day to day functioning. The purpose of this study is to compare the scores on this new instrument with those on existing ones already used routinely in the memory clinic. In this way we will be able to test how this new assessment, called Free Cog compares to existing ones which are currently in use.
Contact: Dr Samir Shah
Summary: Research shows that children and young people who have problems like epilepsy are more likely to have other difficulties like anxiety, low mood or behavioural problems, which can affect the young person’s overall health. We want to find the best way of treating such problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether psychological treatments are beneficial for reducing anxiety, depression and other behaviour problems in children and young people with epilepsy.
Contact: Corina O’Neill
Summary: This study will investigate into concentration, attention and fatigue in long term health conditions (LTCs). Fatigue is a common symptom across a number of LTCs. Research has also shown that people with LTCs often report attention and concentration difficulties. Therefore, the study will look into understanding these issues further, by exploring how people attend to and interpret information in their environment and comparing this to people who have no such condition. It is hoped that this research may inform the development of new and alternative treatments to address these issues for people with LTCs.
Contact: Gill Goss
Summary: 25 out of 100 persons will develop a mental health problem at some point during their life-time. Often these mental disorders are strongly linked to each other. This aim of this study is to understand the connections between certain behaviours such as, low motivation, negative emotions, and difficulties with attention, alcohol use, eating disorders and unusual experiences. The study will also look at investigating biological and social causes of mental disorders linked with such behaviours.
Contact: Dr Lucy Serpell
Summary: One way of helping to increase wellbeing and employment is to identify areas in which individuals may require extra support. In order to achieve this, we have devised a questionnaire; the Preparedness for Employment Scale for people with Personality Disorders (PES-PD). This study will investigate whether the PES-PD has good psychometric properties. Moreover, whether the questionnaire measures what it is supposed to measure (i.e. one’s preparedness for getting and keeping employment). We hope that this study will allow us to measure the outcome of interventions designed to help people gain and retain employment.
Contact: Liling Song
Summary: It can be difficult for people with tics to get access to therapy, and for their families to get support to learn how best to help their child. This is because there are limited therapists who offer treatment to children with tics in the UK. This study will use a new online delivered treatment that helps children and young people with tics and their families. The aim of the study is to investigate is how effective the new online treatment is.
Contact: Dr Ana Mendes
Summary: The aim of this proposed study is to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of a culturally adapted group psychological intervention (Positive Health Programme, PHP) in primary care for British South Asian (BSA) women with postnatal low mood compared with treatment as usual(TAU).
Contact: Nita Madhani
Summary: The human brain has an internal system known as the glutamate system which regulates processes within the brain. There can be changes to the glutamate system in people with psychosis. The purpose of this study is to find out whether people with psychosis have different changes to those who do not use cannabis and whether this affects function in areas of the brain.
Contact: Sagnik Bhattacharyya
Summary: Children who are in foster care can sometimes be withdrawn, or get easily upset or worried, or find it difficult when interacting with others, and currently there is a lack of research on which forms of support or therapy work best for these children. The aim of this study is to evaluate a new program designed to specifically address these areas of concern for children in foster care, called Video Feedback for Foster Care (VIPP-FC). The study will evaluate this new form of support compared to what is currently offered to foster families by health services and social care.
Contact: Emma Goodman
Summary: The purpose of this study is to develop Open Dialogue to make it practical for use in crisis care in the NHS and better understand how acceptable it is to service users, carers and NHS staff members.
Contact: Prof. Stephen Pilling
Summary: The ODDESSI programme is looking to assess if having an Open Dialogue model of care within the NHS will be more beneficial to patients than the current care received from mental health services. This
Phase of the research will investigate if it is possible to conduct a larger scale study for the next stage of the research. In this phase, the research will aim to find out whether or not it is possible to recruit participants for the study and to carry out a range of assessments. This information will then be used to inform the larger trial.
Contact: Dr Russell Razzaque
Summary: Research shows that engaging in pleasant activities is an effective way of preventing symptoms of low mood. This approach is known as behavioural activation. This study aims to investigate whether such an intervention would be acceptable for people with memory problems in order to test it in a larger study in the future. This will help us find out if doing these types of activities can protect people with memory problems from experiencing low mood.
Contact: Dr Lyndsay Royan
Summary: This study is investigating whether the QbTest, the new assessment improves the way healthcare professionals give medication to manage symptoms in children with ADHD.
Contact: Dr Maddie Groom
Summary: The aim of this study is to explore the help provided by social workers to people with mental health problems. The study will investigate what service users think are the most important things about social workers and the work they do.
Contact: Prof. David Challis
Summary: The study aims to investigate how to improve children’s communication skills by using a computerised game which children play with a teaching assistant or with another child. To enhance the Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication impairments.
Contact: Dr Suzanne Murphy
Summary: The purpose of the study is to compare the service users’ (and staff’s) acceptability between methods of implementation of cognitive-remediation therapy (CRT) in Early Intervention Services. The study will therefore focus on investigating how satisfied participants are with different aspects of the CIRCUITS therapy, what could be changed and in what way has CIRCUITS have helped participants.
Contact: Professor Til Wykes
Summary: Service users have created a new questionnaire measuring satisfaction with a type of therapy called cognitive remediation therapy, which is aimed at improving thinking skills. The therapy will be undertaken on a computer programme called CIRCUITS. The purpose of this study is to test this new questionnaire and to find out whether it is acceptable to service users.
Contact: Prof. Til Wykes
Summary: This study aims to investigate the differences in the brain for people with an eating disorder called Anorexia Nervosa and people who have never had an eating disorder. The study will aim to focus on differences in how the brain works when solving problems and thinking about emotions.
Contact: Dr Kate Tchanturia
Summary: Many people who have been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder find that they have difficulties with their memory, concentration and their ability to make decisions, plans and solve problems. CRT is a psychological therapy which has been shown to help people improve their thinking skills. Mostly, this therapy has been studied for people with schizophrenia, with very promising results. We hope that because of this and the fact that the therapy has applications to many real-world problems it might also be helpful for people with bipolar disorder. This study will investigate whether CIRCUITS is a therapy that people enjoy and find valuable, and whether it can improve people’s thinking skills, quality of life and achieving goals.
Contact: Professor Allan Young
Summary: A study exploring issues of quality of life for patients with neurological disease. Which primarily involves: collecting the views of patients through interviews and focus groups to find out the quality of life issues that matter to them.
Contact: Professor Carolyn A Young
Summary: Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the abnormal build-up of various proteins in the brain to form what are known as amyloid plaques. The plaques are toxic to brain cells, and eventually cause their death. This leads to the gradual decline in day-to-day memory and other mental functions. A new drug has been developed, called miridesap, which eliminates SAP almost completely from the blood and thereby stops SAP from reaching the brain. Miridesap may also remove the SAP already present in the brain. This may reduce the brain damage caused by the disease. Therefore, this study aims to add to our knowledge of the safety and side effects of miridesap treatment in participants with mild Alzheimer’s disease, and to determine whether miridesap treatment for one year provides clinical benefit as measured by the tests used to monitor the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Contact: Jo Rodda
Summary: The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have brought in a new way of working called ‘THRIVE’. This is a framework for young people’s mental health, which focuses on care on the needs of the person. It enables care to be delivered according to the needs and preferences of young people and their families. Thus the study aims to improve the services for young people’s mental health and help to provide an understanding into how well this new model works and whether it can be implemented in other CAMHS locations.
Contact: Professor Mick Cooper
Summary: The purpose of this study is to develop a new form of talking therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This will be for older people with generalised anxiety disorder that has not responded well to treatment. We would like to see how acceptable this newly developed therapy is to older people with generalised anxiety disorder, and whether it is possible to provide it in the NHS.
Contact: Jane Burgess
Summary: Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is a treatment for dementia that involves the individual with dementia taking part in activities such as a life story, discussion of current affairs, puzzles and being creative, which is designed to be mentally stimulating. There is evidence that group CST is effective in improving cognition in people with dementia in the general population. CST is now widely available for people with dementia in the general population but it is not routinely used in people with dementia who have learning disabilities. People with learning disabilities may find it more difficult to take part in group CST because the needs and abilities differ greatly between individuals and they are more likely to have visual and hearing problems that could make participating in a group more challenging. The study aims to find out if individual CST is helpful in people with learning disabilities.
Contact: Dr Afia Ali
Summary: The purpose of the study is to compare the service users’ (and staff’s) acceptability between methods of implementation of cognitive-remediation therapy (CRT) in Early Intervention Services. The study will therefore focus on investigating how satisfied participants are with different aspects of the CIRCUITS therapy, what could be changed and in what way has CIRCUITS have helped participants.
Contact: Professor Til Wykes
Summary: This study aims to investigate the brain activation patterns of people suffering from Major Depressive Disorder and compare them with healthy control participants as little is known about the neurobiology of Depression. The study design will aim to address some of these gaps in current knowledge and so enable a better understanding of the disorder and contribute toward developing more informed and effective treatments from which clients will benefit.
Contact: Professor Peter Fonagy
Summary: Psychosis and schizophrenia are common and costly mental health problems. One of the most common causes of psychosis is schizophrenia, a condition that causes a range of psychological symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions. One of the main treatment options for psychosis and schizophrenia is long-term treatment with antipsychotic medication, but many patients still find life difficult. Finding alternatives to long-term drug treatment is a priority for patients and services. Thus this study will test the effects of gradually reducing antipsychotic medication in people with schizophrenia, psychosis or similar conditions in order to see if it can help improve day-to-day functioning and how it affects their chance of suffering a relapse (worsening of their condition).
Contact: Dr Joanna Moncrieff
Summary: The study aims to understand more about children who have behavioural difficulties and in what ways they are similar or different to children who do not have these problems. Thus this study will focus on studying the brain anatomy and function in children with behavioural problems. It is hoped that the findings from this study will help us to understand child behaviour problems better and ultimately help to develop more effective ways of helping children with conduct problems and their parents.
Contact: Sara Kundu
Summary: Children with ADHD can have difficulty paying attention and concentrating. This study will be testing whether we can improve early attention skills in infants with family members with ADHD. The long-term goal of the study is to help develop early and effective interventions for infants who are more likely to develop ADHD.
Contact: Dr Riaz Fatma
Summary: A research study for young people diagnosed with eating disorders. Research indicates that people with eating disorders often face lengthy delays and hurdles in order to access specialized treatment. This can be compounded if a young person wants to go to university in a different town, where they may have to register again and join another waiting list. Delays at this crucial time may have a negative impact on the individual’s recovery. Thus, the study is designed to investigate whether offering a rapid early intervention service for people aged 16-25 years improves treatment outcomes. The study will also aim to determine the impact of such a service on both patients and their carers.
Contact: Dr Lucy Serpell
Summary: Attachment is about how we feel about our close relationships with other people, such as people in our family. Mentalising is about being able to understand other people’s points of view. The study aims to investigate if attachment and mentalising have an impact on treatment success for adolescents.
Contact: Dr Lucy Serpell
Summary: The purpose of the study is to find out the key staff and organisational factors that affect the care provided as part of Early Intervention Services for psychosis, and particularly issues that might impact the provision of Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT). CRT is a psychological therapy for people with a schizophrenia diagnosis which aims to improve thinking skills such as concentration, memory and being organised.
Contact: Jennifer Liebscher
Summary: Schizophrenia and delusional disorders are examples of non-affective psychoses. These disorders involve a wide range of symptoms, including seeing or hearing things that are not there (hallucinations), having beliefs that do not reflect reality (delusions) and distinct changes in personality or behaviour. These symptoms can be very difficult for patients to deal with, often affecting the way they live their lives and their ability to work. A new psychological treatment known as cognitive remediation (CRT) can improve both cognitive and functional recovery, including social relationships, work and studying. The ideal time to provide CRT is when a patient is being seen by the Early Intervention Services (for young people experiencing psychosis for the first time, and during the first three years following this first episode) as it is well known that it is more effective for younger people and may have larger effects on functioning if the intervention happens at the earliest opportunity. Thus this study aims to investigate whether it is feasible to incorporate CRT into routine NHS Early Intervention Services (EIS) for treating non-affective psychosis.
Contact: Ms Tjasa Velikonja
Summary: The study aims to understand if some cases of psychosis are caused by immune system problems in some people. The immune system normally controls our ability to fight infection. If the immune system goes wrong, it may cause diseases called ‘autoimmune’ diseases. However, diagnoses can be made for some of these autoimmune diseases using blood tests. The study will specifically focus on antibodies affecting the N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDA-r) or other neuronal membrane targets that may be the cause symptoms of psychosis and possibly cause some cases of schizophrenia.
Contact: Dr Belinda Lennox
Summary: To understand how psychiatric disorders can arise from developmentally abnormal maturation of brain systems.
Contact: Dr Gita Prabhu
Summary: To examine whether there are changes in response to stress, hormones, or in brain functioning, that can help identify which women are most likely to become unwell with the hormonal changes that happen around pregnancy and how these problems affect the development of the baby.
Contact: Dr Livia Martucci
Summary: Little research has investigated how the lives of adults and older people with ASD can be improved. This project aims to explore the life course experiences of people with ASD, engaging with people with ASD, their parents, siblings and partners, and meeting with them to discuss and understand more about how ASD affects people’s daily lives as they age.
Contact: Dr Oliver Mason
Summary: This study seeks to ask: are postnatal women admitted to Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) significantly less likely to be readmitted (to MBUs/Crisis Resolution Teams (CRTs)/general wards) in the year following admission compared with postnatal women admitted to general wards or under CRTs?
Contact: Dr Livia Martucci
Summary: A systematic examination of the influence of oxytocin on social and interoceptive processing in anorexia nervosa.
Contact: Dr Katerina Fotopoulou
Summary: To collect detailed clinical information on patients of mental health services who die by suicide, or commit homicide and make recommendations for policy and clinical practice.
Summary: The study aims to investigate the brain activation patterns of people suffering from personality disorders (both in adults and adolescents) or similar traits and compare them with healthy control participants. Only little is known about the neurobiology of Borderline and Antisocial Personality Disorders. The study design will address some of these which will hopefully allow us to gain a better understanding of the disorders and to develop more informed and effective treatments from which clients will benefit.
Contact: Dr Janet Feigenbaum
Summary: The primary aim is to evaluate the impact of a CRT resource kit upon service user satisfaction with CRT care.
Contact: Dr Oliver Mason
Summary: This study aims to understand how well PBS works for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour if they are provided with the treatment over a long period of time. Furthermore the study will provide adequate training to teach staff how to work with people with complex behaviour and whether using PBS can save services money and, at the same time, improve care.
Contact: Dr Ehab Khattab
Summary: The aims of this study are to trial and evaluate a brief early parenting intervention (Video-Feedback to Promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline; ViPP-SD) in 12-36 month-old children at risk of externalising behavioural problems. ViPP-SD has a strong focus on reinforcing positive parenting and is designed to improve parents ‘sensitivity in interactions with their infants and improve their ability to manage their children’s behaviour. The intervention will be compared to a control condition in which parents receive treatment as usual from their health visitors or other NHS services.
Contact: Joy Coutts
Please refer to the following website and use the corresponding UKCRN number for more details of the studies: https://www.ukctg.nihr.ac.uk