Development and Evaluation of Open Dialogue (feasibility study)

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention for Severe Mental Illness (ODDESSI)

  • IRAS ID

    233243

  • Contact name

    Stephen Pilling

  • Contact email

    s.pilling@ucl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    NELFT

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    This work forms part of a programme of work consisting of five Work Packages over a five year period.

    This application forms part of a NIHR programme grant investigating the development and evaluation of Open Dialogue (OD) for severe mental illness (project ODDESSI). OD is being developed and adapted for delivery in five NHS trusts and is a service delivery model for individuals in mental health crisis, developed in Finland, which has a collaborative approach and explicitly targets social networks. Appropriate pharmaceutical, psychological or social interventions are deployed in shared decision making with social networks and healthcare professionals. This is in contrast to current models of care, in which families are rarely directly involved. Studies to date are promising and report reductions in hospital bed usage and improved recovery rates but there is currently no high quality evidence to support a NHS-wide adoption of this model. This approach offers the possibility of a potentially effective alternative to the current model.

    This application focuses specifically on Work Package 2, the feasibility trial. The aim is to assess the feasibility of conducting a full multicentre cluster RCT of the OD model compared to usual NHS crisis and longer-term community care (treatment as usual [TaU]) over a 9 month period. Participants will be eligible for the study if they are a service user in crisis with a primary diagnosis of a mental health disorder. The feasibility study will involve 2 OD teams and 2 TaU teams in two sites (NHS trusts. If the feasibility trial is successful, we will conduct a multicentre cluster RCT trial with 28 clusters over a 3 year period.

  • REC name

    London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/LO/0868

  • Date of REC Opinion

    22 Jun 2018

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion