Care Coordinator Delivered Method of Levels for Psychosis (CAMEO)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving engagement and recovery in people with early psychosis through Method of Levels therapy delivered by care coordinators: Feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
307103
Contact name
Robert Griffiths
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN14082421
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The term psychosis describes a range of distressing experiences, including hearing and seeing things others cannot, holding beliefs others find unusual, and feelings of persecution. People experiencing a first episode of psychosis should receive support from early intervention services for up to three years and be allocated a care coordinator, often a nurse or social worker, who takes a lead in care planning and promoting recovery.
Many service-users, however, do not remain in contact with early intervention services for the full three years, limiting their access to evidence-based interventions. There is evidence that what people value about early intervention services is the opportunity to talk openly about their difficulties in an atmosphere of trust. Care coordinators are not routinely offered training on how to make these conversations as beneficial as possible. Improving the quality of support offered by care coordinators could make these services more helpful and encourage service-users to remain in contact with them.
We want to find out if it is feasible to conduct a study where care coordinators are trained to deliver a psychological intervention called Method of Levels, which we believe could support people's recovery and improve relationships between care coordinators and service-users.
We intend to recruit 24 care coordinators from 12 early intervention teams. We also want to recruit 96 service-users who are working with participating care coordinators. Teams will be randomly allocated to one of two groups. Teams in both groups will continue offering their usual support to service-users. Participating care coordinators working in teams allocated to the treatment group, however, will also be offered Method of Levels training and supervision. To help us decide whether a larger trial is justified, we will then examine differences in outcomes and experiences between groups, including psychosis recovery rates and the quality of relationships between service-users and care coordinators.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0073
Date of REC Opinion
25 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion