Studies for people with dementia SYMBAD: Study of Mirtazapine and Carbamazepine for Agitation in Dementia We are carrying out a research project to find out about the best way to help people who have agitation and memory problems. We will use the results to try to improve the treatment and care of people with such problems. We are inviting people with memory problems who have problems with agitation to take part. For more information, please contact DementiaResearchUnit@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk New learning techniques in adults recruited from Memory Assessment Service clinics: The way that learning occurs in the brain is still not yet fully understood. Furthermore, there appear to be different ways in which someone can learn new information and each of these ways may rely on different processes in the brain. In many individuals with memory problems, including those with Alzheimer s disease, it can be difficult to learn and remember associations between things. For example, it might be difficult to remember the association between a particular person and their name. Clearly this kind of memory loss can be quite disruptive to daily life, so it is important to identify techniques that can help make this less of a problem. Recently, a technique based on how children learn new words was shown to be effective in helping adults with memory problems. Our study aims to build on these findings. People who have been referred to a Sussex Partnership Memory Assessment Service may be able to take part. For more information, please contact DementiaResearchUnit@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk Time for Dementia: Time for dementia is a ground-breaking educational initiative to develop, deliver and evaluate an innovative approach to learning about dementia for undergraduate health professionals. The programme uses the longitudinal clerkship model which enhances undergraduate learning by providing on-going contact with an individual with a long term condition. By regularly spending time with people with dementia and their carers, Time for Dementia aims to provide students with a unique opportunity to understand what it is like to live with dementia and from this develop a more positive attitude towards the illness as well as in-depth knowledge of the condition. In addition it will enhance skills and offer an understanding of the emerging challenges of an aging population, multi-morbidity and long term conditions. For more information, please contact DementiaResearchUnit@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk or visit the website: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20105/engagement_and_participation/501/time_for_dementia_progra mme UNICoRN: Unusual Experiences and Function in Young People We, the UNICOrN (unusual experiences and function in young people) research team, are currently recruiting people for a project at University of Sussex and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The project focuses on understanding more about what people do in their everyday lives and their experience of this, particularly for young people with unusual distressing experiences (e.g. psychosis). We are recruiting individuals who are 18-40 years and currently enrolled in the Early Intervention Service in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Exclusion criteria: individuals who have hearing and sight problems that cannot be corrected and individuals with a diagnosis of substance use disorder.
This would involve completing some questionnaires, interviews and thinking tasks. The process takes 4 hours and you will be reimbursed 20 for your time. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact the researcher Abigail Wright a.c.wright@sussex.ac.uk or email Studies for caregivers of people with dementia CDEMQOL Family carers are a vital determinant of QOL and positive outcomes for people with dementia, having a coresident carer exerts a 20fold protective effect on risk of institutionalisation. It is important to measure the impact of caring for a person with dementia on family carers of people with dementia. This is often measured by considering depression, anxiety, burden, or the hassles and rewards of caring and there are instruments to do this. There are however no sufficiently well developed measures of the overall effect (quality of life) specifically of caring for someone with dementia and therefore the impact of any intervention. This project aims to develop the first such instrument (CDEMQOL) to measure quality of life in family carers of people with dementia so that we can evaluate their state and outcomes in descriptive and intervention studies, and in health and social care services. We will do this by using a sequential sevenstage process. Development will begin with input from family carers and professional key informants and end with testing the CDEMQOL in a large sample of family carers. We are currently looking for caregivers of people with dementia to test the CDEMQOL. For more information, contact DementiaResearchUnit@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk Living Well with Dementia: Sustaining psychological wellbeing in working family carers The project will explore the factors associated with work and life balance among approximately 50 working family carers of a person with dementia. Finding out the views of people like you will help us to gain a better understanding of how working family carers of a person with dementia sustain their work and life balance, where there is very little awareness in research and among the public. For more information, please contact DementiaResearchUnit@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk Studies for people with mental health difficulties The CIRCUITS Study: People who develop mental health problems may experience difficulties with cognition. Cognition refers to thinking skills. Thinking skills help people to remember information, plan, organise, problem solve and pay attention. Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) has been shown to help with thinking skills and everyday activities in our research studies. You might be able to take part if: - You have had an episode of psychosis - You are currently under the care of a Sussex Partnership early intervention service
or check out the website www.eclipse-circuitsstudy.ac.uk Voice Impact Scale (VIS): We have developed a new questionnaire that aims to understand the impact hearing voices can have on people. To see whether it is a helpful measure we need people who hear voices to anonymously complete the Voice Impact Scale along with a few other questionnaires this will take approximately 20 minutes. If you hear voices and have a psychosis diagnosis, then we would like to invite you to complete these questionnaires. MAPS: Managing Adolescent first episode Psychosis: a feasibility study Experiences like hearing voices or having very strong beliefs that are upsetting and that others do not seem to agree with are sometimes referred to as psychosis. It can lead someone to misunderstand or confuse what is going on around them. For example, a person who is experiencing psychosis may hear voices when alone or believe that other people want to harm them. Our study is aiming to compare whether a psychological intervention or antipsychotic medication or a combination of both is the most helpful for people aged 14-18 who have experience of psychosis. We are looking for people who are aged 14-18 that have experienced a first episode of psychosis within the past year and have not had either CBT or antipsychotic medication in the past 3 months. For more information on this study please email: ADIE: Aligning dimensions in the brain to prevent anxiety disorders in autism We are looking for volunteers with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) to help test and compare a new therapy to prevent anxiety symptoms in autism. This therapy is based on the heart and body and aims to improve perceptions of emotions. You will be given therapy and followed up for one year. You will be paid for your time. To take part you need to: be aged 18 or over, have a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum conditions, be right handed, have normal vision (including with glasses) If you would like further information or are interested in taking part please contact: Charmaine Kohn Tel: 0300 304 0088,
BIO DEP: BIOmarkers in DEPression Are you aged 25 to 50? Are you generally healthy and able to give blood? We are looking for people with depression. We would like to look at the effect that inflammation in the body may have on depression. We will look to see how people differ on tests and scans to understand more about the causes and effects of inflammation and depression. If you participate, you will be asked to complete questionnaires, give a blood sample and collect saliva samples at home. You would be paid 100 for participating. You may also be invited to return for further tests, including a magnetic resonance scan (MRI), and two optional procedures a positron emission tomography scan (PET) and a lumbar puncture (also known as a spinal tap). You would be paid 125 to 325 for this part of the study, depending on which tests you volunteer for. Travel expenses will be paid. The SlowMo Trial: A randomised controlled trial of a digital therapy for people who fear harm from others This project is for people who have worries that others are trying to harm them. SlowMo is a new therapy that helps people find out how fast thinking habits can contribute to worries about others. People try out tips to help slow down their thinking, cope with worries and focus on living their lives. The project aim is to find out whether SlowMo is helpful to people when added to the care they usually receive. We also want to learn more about how SlowMo might help people. DPIM: DNA Polymorphisms in Mental Illness (Bipolar disorder) The research project is trying to find out the genetic and other causes of mental illness. We intend to study the serum in your blood for immune and any other causes of mental illness and to study the DNA in your blood for genetic causes of mental illness. DNA is the genetic material that determines how proteins are made in the body and is the material passed on from parents to children determining inherited traits such as eye colour and hair colour. DNA is a long chain of chemicals which can change in sequence. A DNA polymorphism or mutation is a variation in the DNA chemical sequence that someone has inherited from their parents or has occurred spontaneously. These variations may influence the way the DNA affects the body such as increasing the risk for a disease. If you have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and have not previously participated in genetic research you may be able to participate.
Anonymous survey of mindfulness & self-compassion in adults offered psychological therapies in the NHS Studies have demonstrated a positive association of mindfulness and self-compassion with wellbeing and a negative association with mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety and stress. Whilst this research is relatively well-established, there is a dearth of research on the association of mindfulness and self-compassion with symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Also, despite there being a plausible theoretical premise for the potential benefits of MBI for OCD, clinical research into MBI for OCD is still in its infancy. Given the important gaps in the literature, this study aims to examine the relationship of mindfulness and self-compassion with OCD symptoms, OCD-related beliefs and distress tolerance. To do this, a survey will be distributed to adults who have been offered treatment in primary care and to adults from a community sample. SPEAKS: Specialist Psychotherapy with Emotion for Anorexia in Kent & Sussex We are developing a new intervention for people with anorexia. We know that the intervention will work best if we can learn from honest accounts from people with experience of anorexia about what has or hasn t helped. If you are aged over 18 and have personal experience of anorexia, we would really value your thoughts Taking part involves coming along to a focus group or a meeting with a researcher one-to-one, depending on what you would prefer. As well as running groups with people who have personal experience of anorexia, we will also be running groups with carers/family members, therapists and NHS managers. To find out more (with no obligation to take part) please email SPEAKS@canterbury.ac.uk or contact UNICOrN: Unusual experiences and function in young people We, the UNICOrN (unusual experiences and function in young people) research team, are currently recruiting people for a project at University of Sussex and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The project focuses on understanding more about what people do in their everyday lives and their experience of this, particularly for young people with unusual distressing experiences (e.g. psychosis). We are recruiting individuals who are 18-40 years and currently enrolled in the Early Intervention Service in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Exclusion criteria: individuals who have hearing and sight problems that cannot be corrected and individuals with a diagnosis of substance use disorder. This would involve completing some questionnaires, interviews and thinking tasks. The process takes 4 hours and you will be reimbursed 20 for your time. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact the researcher Abigail Wright a.c.wright@sussex.ac.uk or email
Studies for caregivers of people with mental health difficulties REACT: Relatives Education And Coping Toolkit REACT is an online peer-supported toolkit for relatives of people with psychosis or bipolar disorder which contains lots of information to help relatives, ideas of strategies to manage common problems, and stories from other relatives about their experiences. The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of REACT for reducing relatives distress and explore the costs involved in delivering this intervention. Participants must be aged 16 years old or over, have access to the internet, and be able to understand written and verbal English (we don t currently have translated versions of the site available). For more information or to register for the study please visit www.reacttoolkit.co.uk or contact the REACT Team on react@lancaster.ac.uk or contact C4C: Caring for Caregivers This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of a self-directed writing therapy called Positive Written Disclosure for older adult caregivers of people experiencing psychosis. To take part, participants must be: - Aged 50 or over - Currently a caregiver - The care recipient must have a diagnosis of psychosis - Able to read and write in English For more information on this study please contact: Studies for Sussex Partnership staff Mindshine3: Improving the Wellbeing of NHS Staff Working in the NHS can be stressful and this can have an impact on our wellbeing. Researchers at the University of Sussex are conducting a study to investigate the effectiveness of two online interventions in improving wellbeing and reducing stress among NHS staff. Not only could participating improve your wellbeing and reduce your stress, you can also be entered into a prize draw to WIN one of five 50 Amazon vouchers. If you would like to participate or for more information, please follow the link below: http://www.bit.ly/mindshinespft