Exploring relational experiences during a mental health admission.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the relational experiences within the triad of Clients, Carers and Clinicians during an adult inpatient mental health admission.
IRAS ID
320621
Contact name
Alex O'Connor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 26 days
Research summary
Therapeutic relationships are a core part of psychiatric inpatient care and considered to be vital in producing positive outcomes for people using mental health services. During an admission to inpatient psychiatric hospital, a key relationship forms between inpatient clients, their carers and inpatient clinicians to support a client experiencing mental health crisis. This triadic (three-person) relationship is important to help provide the clinical interventions an individual and their family needs at this crucial time. However, these relationships are often difficult to develop, maintain and maximise, therefore this project seeks to better understand the experiences within this relationship.
This research focus stems from a longstanding need to improve carer-involvement in mental health care and a substantial gap in the research literature. Currently, there is little research looking into the therapeutic connections that form during psychiatric admissions, and there are very few studies exploring the importance of this relationship from all three viewpoints. There is also a need to produce carer-involvement research that is co-produced with individuals who have lived experience of inpatient admissions. Despite multiple carer-involvement initiatives aiming to increase inpatient collaborative working in recent years, there are still significant ongoing challenges.
Therefore, this study intends to conduct semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of individuals who have been admitted to adult psychiatric inpatient wards, their carers and supporting staff. Three individual interviews will take place with a client, their carer and their clinician that have formed a working triad. The study aims to recruit 3-5 triads, collaborate with individuals with lived experience and be completed by June 2024. The proposed research is significant to clinical psychology, as there are considerable clinical and financial benefits of improving carer involvement and collaborative working, additionally to my knowledge this will be the first study to use this focus in adult psychiatric inpatient care.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0265
Date of REC Opinion
6 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion