Advance Statements for Black African and Black Caribbean people AdStAC

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Advance Statements for Black African and Black Caribbean people (AdStAC)

  • IRAS ID

    300914

  • Contact name

    Claire Henderson

  • Contact email

    claire.1.henderson@kcl.ac.uk

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 5 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    The aim of this study is co-produce, test and refine for distribution an advance statements resource for Black people previously detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA), that can easily be used by service users, their carers and mental health professionals.

    The novel intervention is a process for the production of advance statements for mental health care.

    The UK government has committed to legislating for advance statements (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-mental-health-act/reforming-the-mental-health-act). Black people (defined as people of Black African and Caribbean heritage, including those of mixed ethnicity or Black British) with mental illness are more likely to be detained under the MHA than white people with mental illness. Using advance statements can reduce the use of the MHA, but there are barriers to enforcing their use within mental health services. This study will therefore use Quality Improvement methodology (an approach/process that seeks to address categories of ‘quality’) and to produce a resource for use through the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and beyond, that addresses the identified barriers to enforcing the use of advance statements and also maximises Black people’s opportunities to have an advance statement. As we aim to update the advance statement resource considering new mental health legislation as soon as it is enacted, this is important for patients and the public as co-producing the resource with service users, staff and carers allow for easier accessibility and clarity on the process.

    The study will be conducted at SLaM sites that are public and easily accessible and will take place over 18 months. Participants will be asked to review the current advance statement resources within SLaM, to co-produce a newly developed advance statement resource based on recommendations, and then the resource will be dispersed to Black service users who will be followed up with over a course of 6 months.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/YH/0012

  • Date of REC Opinion

    24 Jan 2022

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion