INSPiRe: Intensive Suicide Prevention Therapy in Prison
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The INSPiRe Programme: Developing an Intensive Suicide Prevention Therapy for suicidal prisoners.
IRAS ID
238927
Contact name
Daniel Pratt
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN00000000
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
Many people experience behaviours and thoughts about taking their own life (suicide). This is seen often within prison. Talking therapy can help people to cope with upsetting thoughts, including thoughts about suicide. This study aims to deliver a talking therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which looks at how thoughts and feelings can affect our behaviour. CBT often takes between 16 to 20 weeks, which can lead to people dropping out before the end of therapy (Fernandez, 2015). Within a prison setting, research has shown that limited access to therapy, alongside prisoner transfer or release can lead to increased dropout rates of up to 44% (Pratt et al. 2015).
This study intends to deliver a much shorter, more intensive CBT-based therapy programme (INSPiRe), in order to address some of the barriers mentioned above. The main aim of this study is to assess whether it is possible and effective to deliver the INSPiRe programme within a prison.
This study will be carried out at HMP Risley and intends to recruit 10 participants. The programme will involve 10 hours of CBT, delivered across a 2 week period. Participants will be male prisoners who have been identified as experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviours. These will be identified within the prison risk management system. The talking therapy will aim to build up healthy ways of coping (i.e. coping with emotions, problem solving and social support).
Data will be collected using questionnaires both before and after the therapy. Participants will also be invited to carry out a qualitative interview to share their experiences of the programme. This study will use both data sets to explore whether the programme was effective and whether participants experienced it as acceptable. The study will provide conclusions concerning the feasibility of providing the INSPiRe programme within a prison setting.REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0158
Date of REC Opinion
29 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion