Survivors History archive
saved from the international web archive for 8.12.2003 See Mental Health Research Network |
Mental Health Research Network Mission statement: "to provide the infrastructure to support large scale, high quality research in mental health and social care which has implications for services and treatments"
Mental Health Research Network The MHRN is a standing programme of the National Institute for Mental Health for England (NIMHE). It is managed jointly by the Institute of Psychiatry and the University of Manchester. The Network provides a unique opportunity to widen participation within mental health research and help reshape mental health practice with evidence. Fulfilling a coordinating role, it provides the infrastructure to support high quality mental health and social care research throughout England. Through hosting research into priority areas for mental health policy, the MHRN represents an important long-term commitment to mental health research. The MHRN comprises 18 Universities, 26 NHS Trusts, more than 40 PCTS, research expertise in primary, secondary and social care, many disciplines including social sciences and health, economics 17.8 million people (35% of the population of England). These are within 7 research hubs which have clinical, academic and service user components. The clinical component consists of primary, secondary and social care and the academic component is a mix of high quality multi- disciplinary researchers from universities and research consortia. In addition there is a Service User Research Group for England (SURGE) which supports service user involvement in projects run on the network. About the MHRN Why do we need a national research network? What will the Network do? What are the benefits offered by a national Network? What does the MHRN consist of? Network structure Service users and carers How can I run a project on the Network? [There was a presentation (pdf file, 178KB) about the structure and format of the MHRN that has been archived] Why do we need a national research network? Until now mental health research has not led or supported practice development. Reliance on small, localised studies has prevented researchers from drawing valid general conclusions. To date there has been little or no active involvement of those at the front line, the service users and carers. As a result, research has failed to inform policy, lacking coherence, relevance and crucially credibility with users and professionals. Without an efficient infrastructure, research findings suffer poor dissemination. Poor integration of resources, experience and expertise has meant that mental health research has been unable to attract the valuable support from major funding bodies that it deserves. What will the Network do? The principal aims of the MHRN are: To organise and deliver large-scale research projects to inform policy and practice as it develops, and to help services implement change. To broaden the scope and capacity of research, including full involvement of service users and carers in commissioning and delivering research. To help identify the research needs of mental health (particularly in health and social care), working with frontline staff, service users and carers. To develop research capacity through a range of initiatives at a local, regional and national level. The Network hosts research but does not fund individual projects. Researchers seeking funding for projects should apply through the usual channels such as the MRC, Wellcome Trust, SDO and HTA. The MHRN supports high quality research that will remain useful over time, connect research to practice and ultimately improve the quality of treatment and care for people using mental health services. What are the benefits offered by a national Network? As a coordinated, managed network, the MHRN: provides instant access to a number of clinical and academic centres, each providing research expertise combined with a large patient base and diverse demographics. brings together research and providers of mental health and social care services. offers a broad scope, covering all mental health disciplines including forensics, CAMHs and Older Adults. offers support and guidance on research governance issues, data protection and ethical matters. coordinates the management of all subcontracts to individual centres for each project that the Network hosts. What does the MHRN consist of? Network structure Service users and carers Network structure The Network comprises: Research Hubs which represent differing geographical and cultural bases, and Research Groups which are the creative drive for the Network.
Research Hubs The Network currently involves five Research Hubs which represent differing geographical and cultural bases. Each is a collaboration between academics, clinicians, and those involved in health and social care. The Research Hubs provide the essential infrastructure for the Network, coordinating the recruitment of patients, participants or clinical teams for the large-scale research studies 'adopted' by the Network. Why participate in an MHRN Research Hub? Benefits of sharing knowledge and best practice in research governance and good clinical practice. Potential for participating organisations / groups to extend their research portfolio through involvement in large-scale projects running on the Network. Opportunities for developing and cementing relationships between NHS and academic organisations throughout the country. What are the benefits of using the Hubs? Each Research Hub has the infrastructure to recruit patients to trials running on the Network, and should be well placed to repond to requirements quickly.
North West Hub
Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Hub
Heart of England Hub
West Hub
London Hub
Our research What research is adopted by the MHRN? An Adoptions Committee, a sub-committee of the Advisory Board, considers the suitability of proposals to run on the MHRN. For all projects, the feasibility of running the study on the Network is an important consideration. Proposed projects are assessed against the following principles: is there evidence of service user input in the development of the proposal? is the proposal in line with national mental health policy? is the proposal free of both major ethical and design flaws? Proposals should also meet one of the following criteria: The proposal requires multiple centres because of a need for: a large sample size, or recruitment of participants with a rare conditions, or recruitment of participants from a particular group or lifestyle The proposal is a cluster-randomised trial, requiring multiple centres or units of randomisation. The proposal requires multiple centres in order to establish whether a finding or an intervention is a valid generalisation across different settings or is applicable in specific settings (for example, rural areas). How are the projects funded? All projects must be in receipt of grant funding before being given final approval by the Adoptions Committee to run on the Network. However, agreement in principle can be given to projects in advance of a funding decision and the MHRN will notify the grant-awarding body of its support for the project. How do I apply to have my project run on the Network? Applications to the Adoptions Committee can be made using the MHRN Adoptions Form.
Current projects There are currently three projects hosted by the MHRN: Outcomes of Involuntary Hospital Admissions Principal Investigator: Professor Stefan Priebe Funding body: PRP Description: The study will provide empirical evidence about the practice of involuntary hospital admissions and their outcomes in England. It will benchmark outcomes of involuntary hospital admissions for different patient groups and in different contexts, and identify what patient characteristics and processes are associated with more or less positive outcome. The study will be conducted at four sites that represent different regions across England and different types of catchment areas including those characterised as inner-city, suburban and rural areas, in addition to ethnic mix. A total of 616 sectioned patients will be assessed within one week of admission and followed up four and twelve weeks later. Clinical staff will also be interviewed about practice and events of coercive treatment. Most interviews will be conducted by service user researchers. The main outcome is patients' retrospective assessment of involuntary treatment; secondary outcomes include satisfaction with treatment, clinical change and quality of life. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, their initial assessments and practices of coercion are the putative independent predictors. In addition, a better understanding of the processes leading to different outcomes as viewed by users, will be explored using qualitative analysis of interviews in a subgroup of patients. An evaluation of motivational interviewing plus cognitive behaviour therapy for schizophrenia and substance misuse Principal Investigator: Professor Christine Barrowclough Funding body: MRC Description: Substance misuse in schizophrenia is high and this dual diagnosis is associated with many poor outcomes including increased hospitalisations. Despite these problems, the evidence base for specialist interventions with dually diagnosed clients is limited. This study is a multi-site evaluation of an individual patient care intervention for dually diagnosed patients. Patients with schizophrenia and a drug or alcohol abuse or dependence problem will be recruited as inpatients or outpatients and, following stratification on factors believed to be predictive of treatment participation or outcome, will be randomly allocated to receive either Motivational Intervention and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy treatment in addition to standard psychiatric care or standard care alone. The intervention will aim to match the focus of treatment to the patient's motivation to change substance misuse and to the relationship between the substance use and the psychosis in a formulation driven approach. The trial allows for flexibility in the number and duration of sessions taken up by clients with all patients offered up to 24 sessions of MI plus CBT over 40 weeks with 2 booster sessions at 45 and 50 weeks (12 months treatment phase in total). Blind and independent assessments will be conducted at baseline, end of one year treatment period and at two year follow up. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that the intervention will result in a significant reduction in hospitalisations. Secondary outcomes are changes in substance use, symptomatology and number of relapses. A health economic study will also be conducted to assess the wider costs and benefits of the intervention. National study of mental health professionals' information sharing practices with carers of persons with mental health problems Principal Investigator: Professor Peter Huxley Funding body: SDO Description: This collaborative project between Rethink and the Institute of Psychiatry aims to identify current information sharing practices between carers and professionals in mental health and develop a model of good practice that is widely applicable for multidisciplinary use. The research involves carers, service users and professionals and has 3 main stages: 1) policy and literature searches 2) a brief survey made widely available to the three stakeholder groups, and 3) one to one interviews. An Expert Panel supported by a wider Virtual Panel has been appointed to inform the research outcomes.
Research Groups MHRN Research Groups have been established in priority areas identified by the Department of Health. What is the purpose of the Research Groups? To supplement the work of the Research Hubs, providing the creative drive of the Network. To develop a programme of research to facilitate understanding of key scientific issues, as well as developing evidence for effective practice. To date, two MHRN Research Groups have been established in the following priority areas: Early Intervention Self-Help
Who's who in the MHRN?
at the Institute of Psychiatry:
at the University of Manchester:
Deputy Director: Professor Max Marshall
Contact us either by post:
Mental Health Research Network
or via e-mail:
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