Live Clinical and Health Research Studies

Improving shift patterns for nursing staff

Aim:

Look to improve shift patterns for all nursing staff

Eligibility:

A nursing member of staff

Work 12 hour shifts on an in-patient ward

What's involved?

A series of focus groups and interviews

£20 shopping voucher for your time

Please email us to get involved and find out more here:  Shift_patterns_recruitment_poster_H&W.pptx [pptx] 640KB 

   

 

 

NEW:

EDGI: Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative

What is this study about?

To better understand the genetic & environmental links to eating disorders & help develop better treatments.

Who can take part?

• Have experienced, or have been diagnosed with an eating disorder
• Aged 16 & above
• Lives in England

What is involved?

• Complete the online questionnaire: https://edgiuk.org/
• Provide a saliva sample

 

Coming soon:                                  

SUSTAIN: Managing the hunger side effects of antipsychotics

What is this study about?

To co-develop, with service users, carers and professionals, a feasible, acceptable non- pharmacological intervention to enhance self-management of antipsychotic induced hunger

Who can take part?

• aged 16+
• currently taking antipsychotics
• currently living in the UK

What is involved?

• 30-minute online survey
• qualitative interview with 25-30 participants who have reported a change in hunger since switching onto an antipsychotic drug in the last 12 months
• £10 shopping voucher available for participants

 

The SPaCE Project: Support for Parent Carers in England

What is this study about?

To find out how parent carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who are experiencing mental health problems, access support or treatment across England.

Who can take part?

• Parent carers of children with  (SEND)
• Health and social care professionals
• School staff including SENCOs and family support workers
• Staff from charities or community and social enterprises offering mental health support to parent carers of children with special educational needs or disabilities

What is involved?

• Online questionnaire: https://bit.ly/spaceprofessionals
• May be contacted to take part in an interview

 

OPAL: One-to-one Peer support for family members and friends of patients treated under the mentAL health act (OPAL) – Intervention implementation

What is this study about?

• Whether a carer peer support intervention is feasible in England? -Can the intervention use a “train-the-trainer” approach?
• What are the potential benefits? -Are there risks and unintended consequences?
• What are the implementation costs?

Who can take part?

• Carer Peer Supporters (CPSs): Experience of being a carer for someone treated under the MHA in the last 10 years , 18+, willing to provide informed consent. First to approach Expert by Experience/Volunteers already working within the Trust, as DBS and Occupational Health will be required to be completed.
• Carers: Will have a relative/friend currently being treated under the MHA, 18+, willing to provide informed consent.
• Service Users: 18+, able to provide informed consent. To complete an interview with study team, exploring wider experiences of the impacts of carer support. Will receive £20 voucher.
• Professionals: 18+, willing to provide informed consent. To complete an interview.

What is involved?

The 3 CPSs will be trained by CPSs who have previously completed the training. The training will be provided in two classes of 6, co-facilitated by two CPSs each. Likely to be delivered online/remotely (dependent on feedback from stage 1). CPSs will then go on to deliver the peer support to Carers.

Please contact us for further about this study and what's involved for each party involved.

 

Alzheimer’s including dementia

We don't have any studies in this field at the moment. However please go to the Join Dementia Research webpage to find out more about their service which allows people to register their interest in participating in dementia research and be matched to suitable studies.

National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH)

What is this about?

We are trying to understand why some people experience problems with their mental health. The purpose of this study is to collect information and samples for genetic, biological, psychological and clinical research. This will allow us to look for genes and other factors which make some people more likely than others to become ill. We hope that our study will improve understanding of these conditions and help find better treatments in the future.

Who can take part?

• If you or one of your relatives have experienced a mental illness
• If neither you nor your relatives have experienced a mental illness

By comparing information from people who have experienced a mental illness with information from people who have not experienced such problems, we hope to learn more about the factors that may make some people more susceptible to these illnesses.

What is involved?

• A meeting with a member of the research team to complete a 30-60 minute assessment including patient consent
• A blood sample or if taking blood is not possible a saliva sample
• Look at your medical records to gain further details about the kinds of symptoms and treatments you have had. With permission to look at your records in the future to see if there has been any change in your health.
• May ask you if any other members of your family would like to take part as this enables us to acquire a wide base of family genetic information. However, we would only contact your relatives with your full agreement.
• For further information visit: https://www.ncmh.info/

 

GLAD: Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression 

What is this study about?

Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health disorders worldwide. In the UK, 1 in 3 people will experience symptoms during their lifetime. The GLAD Study aims to better understand depression and anxiety in order to find effective treatments and improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders.

The study explores how our genes and the environment influence the development of anxiety and depression in order to improve future treatment. Involvement in GLAD also involves joining the NIHR Mental Health BioResource, a central library of information about people’s health made up of genetic and clinical data.

Who can take part?

Anyone over the age of 16 who has experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression in their lifetime. There is no age limit, and participants can be NHS patients, parents/relatives/carers of patients and self-referred volunteers.

What is involved?

There are 4 simple steps to signing up to the GLAD Study:

1. Register on the website and read the information sheet
2. Provide consent
3. Complete a 30 minute questionnaire to see if you are eligible
4. Send a saliva DNA sample through the post

Once you have signed up to the GLAD Study, you will be able to see information on the website about a number of optional questionnaires or other research studies that are being carried out. You will be able to choose to take part in these studies should you wish to.

You can stop taking part in the GLAD Study at any time.

How to get involved?

To access the study go online here to learn more and to sign up. Remember to say you heard about the survey through Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.

 Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN)

What is this study about?

The BDRN team are conducting research into the causes of bipolar disorder and related mood disorders. The main aim is to identify susceptibility genes for bipolar and other related mood disorders. The study is hoping to improve the understanding of the causes of mood disorders and help find better treatments for the future.

Who can take part?

Participants will be eligible if they are aged 18+, have had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (or a related mood disorder) and have experienced one or more episodes of mania or hypermania at any time in the past.

What is involved?

Taking part involves an interview (either in person or over the phone), completing a set of questionnaires and providing a blood sample.

Mapping and Evaluating Services for children with Learning Disabilities (LD) and Behaviours that Change (BtC) (ph.2)

What is this study about?

Find out about community based services across England that support children with a learning disability and behaviours that challenge, and their families.

Who can take part?

For services: included in ph.1 and no significant change to their service model since ph.1

For children: 0-15 years; has LD defined administratively; been referred at least in part for BtC; parents can give informed consent

What is involved?

Questionnaires for families on sign up and 12 months later.

Detailed information gathering of services and service users.

Maternal Wellbeing, Mental Health, and Life Experience

What is this study about?

To explore the factors that may have an effect in pregnancy and in the first year after childbirth i.e. exposure to certain life events and the effects of COVID-19 on the perinatal period.

Who can take part?

ALL women aged 18 or over who are currently within the perinatal period (currently pregnant or up to 1-year postpartum)

What is involved?

- Basic assessment online

- 2 short follow up questionnaires – date for when these are completed is dependent on when the lady was recruited either when pregnant or postnatally

To find out more please click here.

Currently we have no studies in this area. However we are always looking to expand our research portfolio so if you have any ideas for research in this area we’d love to hear your suggestions. Still want to learn more about getting involved in research? 

NEW:

Understanding anger and aggression: A Questionnaire study

What is this study about?

• The aim of this study is to develop a new psychological treatment to reduce aggression by forensic patients with psychosis after discharge
• Understand what psychological factors ‘drive’ aggression (i.e. keep them going) in patients

Who can take part?

• Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
• Identifies as male
• Aged 16 years + 
• Diagnosed with non-affective psychosis (i.e. schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, psychosis not otherwise specified) and/or affective psychosis (i.e. bipolar disorder).
• Using adult secondary mental health services, including forensic services (inpatient or community)

What is involved?

• 45 minute questionnaire
• Provide some brief demographic information (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, diagnosis, and criminal history).
• Around 10% of participants will be asked to repeat some of the measures again one week after initial participation, in order that test-retest analysis on these new measures may be conducted
• Participants will be offered £15 for their time

To find out more please contact us

 

ADEPP: Antidepressant for the prevention of DEPression following first episode Psychosis trial

What is this study about?

• The aim of the ADEPP trial is to establish the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of an antidepressant medication (sertraline) for the prevention of a depressive episode following first episode psychosis (FEP).
• The study aims to recruit up to 508 participants over a period of 32 months from Early Intervention in Psychosis Services in the NHS Trusts across the UK.

Who can take part?

• Patients aged between 18-35 years of age
• Diagnosed with FEP (First Episode of Psychosis)
• Within 3 months of initial treatment for FEP

What is involved?

This is a multi-centre randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial with an internal pilot study.

To find out more please contact us