Views of routine screening and treatment for anxiety and depression
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving access to psychological support for patients with physical long-term conditions: qualitative study to explore patient and practitioner perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to the detection and management of distress in chronic illness
IRAS ID
235473
Contact name
Rona Moss-Morris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Many patients with a physical long term health condition (LTC) also experience co-morbid mental health conditions or distress. This has led to recent drives to integrate mental and physical health care for these patients. For example, the IMPARTS project involves screening patients with LTCs to identify if they currently experience distress. However, there is little awareness of how this screening is offered to patients, or where the patient should be referred if they do screen positive for distress. To understand how best to improve this pathway and develop high levels of care for these patients, the current study will interview both patients and healthcare professionals on their experience of screening for distress, the associated referral pathway, and uptake of psychological treatment once referred. This will provide important information on how to develop the best treatment pathways and the best care for patients with co-morbid physical and mental health problems, a group which is currently growing.
In phase one, patients and healthcare professionals within services who are currently implementing IMPARTS screening for distress will be interviewed about their experience of using or receiving this screening. Recruitment will take place in acute care settings in two London hospitals. The interviews will be semi-structured and will last between 30-40 minutes. Phase two will explore how mental health care professionals encourage patients with physical LTCs to engage with psychological treatments. This research has been funded by King's Health Partners.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
17/WA/0359
Date of REC Opinion
8 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion