Understanding Service Responses to Repeated Self-Harm (V1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Power, Threat, Meaning and Repeated Self-Harm: A Qualitative Multi-Perspective Exploration of Service Responses.
IRAS ID
290052
Contact name
Rachael Stabler
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 25 days
Research summary
This study aims to interview service users who repeatedly self-harm (including those currently using health services and those who are not) and health professionals, to explore how they all make sense of service responses to repeated self-harm in adults. The use of two recruitment pathways aims to collect various perspectives, whilst also building resilience into the project in the context of COVID-19.
Recruitment pathway 1 will recruit participants from the general population via the internet, whilst pathway 2 will recruit participants from NHS Grampian. At this point, both pathways will converge with consent sought online. Consent will also be sought to access case note material from service users from pathway 2 (NHS).
Interviews will be conducted remotely via the internet, or in person (where COVID-19 restrictions allow). Interviews will be led largely by the interviewee, which aims to ensure they are able to properly voice their opinions and do not feel restricted by the researcher's set interview schedule. Data gathered via interviews will be supplemented by case note material for those consenting participants from NHS Grampian.
Research shows rates of self-harm are increasing in the UK, whilst service contact remains low. Service users often report feeling misunderstood, or that service responses are in fact unhelpful. Furthermore, research in this area often focuses on accounts from either professionals, or service users, which can lead to fragmented findings.
By including multiple perspectives, the researcher hopes to develop an in-depth and cohesive understanding of how people make sense of service responses to self-harm. The ultimate intention is to try and understand what makes a helpful or unhelpful service response to repeated self-harm, and how COVID-19 may have impacted such responses. The study will last for one year in duration, with participants undergoing one hour-long interview, in addition to two brief online surveys.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
21/ES/0023
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion