Extract

Background and study aims Psychosis is a serious mental disorder in which thought and emotions are impaired, causing a person to lose touch with reality. The main symptoms of psychosis are experiencing hallucinations (hearing and/or seeing things that aren’t there) and delusions (holding strong beliefs that aren’t shared by others, such as believing people are trying to harm them). People experiencing psychosis need help with their mental and physical health and daily activities (e.g. shopping, finances). Care is mostly provided by family/friends, often in their 70s or 80s. Caregiving limits caregivers’ own leisure activities and availability to work/volunteer, causing additional stress, poor health and financial problems. The Department of Health recognise that supporting caregivers ultimately also helps the people they care for, but current recommendations are hard to access and time-consuming. Positive Written Disclosure (PWD) is a type of therapy which involves writing about positive life experiences. Studies have shown that it can reduce health/complaints and feelings of anxiety depression in many different groups of people. The aim of this study is to find out whether PWD is helpful in older adult caregivers of people experiencing psychosis, and if the therapy is acceptable. Who can participate? Caregivers over 60 years old who are caring for someone with psychosis. What does the study involve? Participants are randomly allocated to one of three groups. Those in the first group take part in PWD. This involves spending 20 minutes a day for three days engaging in positive writing exercises. Instructions are provided to help guide people through the activity, in which participants are asked to think of a positive memory, and write about their deepest thoughts and emotions in relation to this memory. Those in the second group take part in a writing task that does not involve PWD for 20 minutes a day for three days. This involves looking at a series of images and writing down what can be seen in the pictures factually. Those in the third group are asked to continue as normal and do not take part in a writing activity. At the start of the study and then again after one, three and six months, participants in all groups complete a number of questionnaires to assess their mood and mental wellbeing. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Participants may benefit from trying a new treatment, and all participants will have the opportunity to provide their feedback on the study and interventions. This feedback will inform the next steps of the research programme. There is a small risk of participants not finding any benefit from the intervention; and participating in the study will involve participants giving up some of their own time i.e. to complete the questionnaires. Where is the study run from? Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (UK) When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? January 2017 to October 2018 Who is funding the study? The Dunhill Medical Trust (UK) Who is the main contact? Miss Cassie Hazell [email protected]

Inclusion criteria

• Specialty: Mental Health, Primary sub-specialty: Study not assigned to a MH Clinical Studies Group; UKCRC code/ Disease: Other/ General symptoms and signs

Links

• isrctn