The PETAL intervention

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Personalised treatment packages for adults with learning disabilities who display aggression in community settings: a cluster randomised controlled trial

  • IRAS ID

    316749

  • Contact name

    Angela Hassiotis

  • Contact email

    a.hassiotis@ucl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, Noclor Research Support Service

  • ISRCTN Number

    ISRCTN71781827

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 11 months, 28 days

  • Research summary

    Although aggressive challenging behaviour is highly prevalent in adults with intellectual disability (e.g., 10-25% of adults with mild to severe intellectual disability display aggression), at the moment, there is not a consistent approach to the management of aggression in this population. Aggressive challenging behaviour has a number of consequences in people's lives including reduced quality of life, excessive use of restrictive practices and/or (antipsychotic or psychotropic) medication use, reduced physical safety of the individual or others leading to exclusion from social networks and community facilities and significant economic costs.

    This cluster randomised controlled trial aims to investigate whether a new multi-component personalised psychosocial intervention is clinically and cost-effective to address aggression (e.g., improved health, better quality of life) in adults with intellectual disability. The PETAL intervention has been co-produced with family carers and adults with intellectual disability alongside researchers and clinicians in intellectual disability. This project will take place in community intellectual disability services across the UK (e.g., England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) delivering either: 1. the PETAL intervention alongside Treatment As Usual (TAU) or 2. TAU alone. That means that adults with intellectual disability will have access to care anyway. We will compare the outcomes for those in the two intervention groups.

    This project is comprised of two stages:

    1. a feasibility phase to test the new intervention only (PETAL intervention).
    2. a pilot phase embedded in the full-scale trial and a process evaluation.

  • REC name

    Wales REC 7

  • REC reference

    22/WA/0267

  • Date of REC Opinion

    31 Oct 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion