By taking part in research you’ll be helping us to test and developed things like new models of care, support methods and drug treatments.
By taking part in research you’ll be helping us to test and developed things like new models of care, support methods and drug treatments.
All of the studies you see below have been given approval by the Health Research Authority and will be carried out by experts with clinical, research and academic backgrounds.
Who this study is aimed at?
People who have symptoms of depression or non-psychotic low mood with a duration of illness of at least 2 years and are receiving treatment from an NHS mental health service with regular contact with clinicians
Who can’t take part?
People who have a primary diagnosis of a substance misuse problem, a diagnosis of a mental disorder eg Alzheimer’s, current inpatients on a psychiatric ward. People who do not currently have clinical contact with a mental health professional
Study summary
This research aims to develop a new approach to help people with chronic depression. Researchers have developed an intervention called “DIALOG+” which helped people with schizophrenia. DIALOG+ involved mental health staff using a tablet computer to ask about satisfaction with different areas of life and then working together to find solutions to concerns raised. After using DIALOG+, service users were more satisfied with life and had fewer symptoms. Service users and staff found the approach helpful and it saved the NHS money.
The second phase of the TACK programme is looking at the effectiveness of DIALOG+ for people with chronic depression on improving quality of life and clinical outcomes (such as depression symptoms). The intervention will be tested in routine meetings across six sites in England. Researchers will also evaluate how cost-effective the intervention is within the NHS. They will also determine what works well or not so well in order to improve training materials and resources for staff.
Study visits
Six months of monthly sessions, followed by six months of booster sessions, to be done at the same time as clinical appointments
Services taking part
Northlands Community Health Centre, Edmund Road, East Glade Centre
Who to contact
Matthew Mills, Shonagh Scott, Jonathan Woods
How to contact
matthew.mills@shsc.nhs.uk, shonagh.scott@shsc.nhs.uk jonathan.woods@shsc.nhs.uk
Find out more
Find out more information here.
Who this study is aimed at?
Service users aged 18-70 with symptoms of psychosis for longer than two weeks but less than two years
Who can’t take part?
Service users who have had psychotic symptoms for longer than two years
Study summary
Staff will collect a small sample of blood from you and other people with psychosis symptoms from across the country. They will also collect some information about your symptoms and background. If your blood test then shows that your immune system is not working properly they will discuss this with you. Researchers are exploring a possible treatment in a separate study called SINAPPS2 and you may be able to take part in this study.
Study visits
One visit of approximately 15 minutes
Services taking part
Limbrick Health Centre
Who to contact
Dr Raihan Talukdar, Alex Carey
How to contact
raihan.talukdar@shsc.nhs.uk, alex.carey@shsc.nhs.uk
Find out more
Find out more information here.
Who this study is aimed at?
Study summary
Hearing voices is one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia. We aim to learn why some patients listen to and believe the content of distressing voices. This will enable the later development of psychological therapies which enable patients to disengage from distressing voice content.
Study visits
Services taking part
Limbrick Health Centre
Who to contact
Dr Andrew Horan, Local Principal Investigator, Recovery Service North
How to contact
Email: Andrew.Horan@shsc.nhs.uk
Tel: 0114 271 6217
Who this study is aimed at?
You can take part if you are 16 years and over and have heard voices for at least six months. We would like to invite the following groups of people to take part: people who have and have not had psychological therapy in the past, people who do and do not have a mental health diagnosis.
Study summary
There are lots of different types of psychological (talking) therapies for the experience of hearing distressing voices. However, there hasn’t been any research about patient preferences for these therapies. We would like to find out more about your preferences, for example:
We want to be able to publish this information in scientific and healthcare journals and conferences. This will help clinicians and researchers to develop and offer therapies that better match with the patients’ preferences.
Study visits
The study involves completing some questionnaires. These will include questions:
Who to contact
Research Development Unit
How to contact
Who is this study aimed at ?
Any patient referred to Sheffield Memory Clinic with a suspected diagnosis, any patient who has experienced a suspected stoke, any patient under review by a neurologist for a suspected movement disorder and any healthy volunteer over 18.
Who can't take part ?
People who lack capacity to give informed consent, People who are unable to communicate and understand written or spoken English, people with very impaired speech production and people with severe motor impairment that means they can not respond to questions
Study Summary
The aim of the study is to understand whether patients can talk to a computerised doctor (CognoSpeak) regarding their neurological health. CognoSpeak is a computerised person i.e. a human looking computer generated image that will ask the participant questions regarding their health. The answers will be analysed by a person or computer to look for features of speech and interaction seen in dementia or other memory disorders. This study will also use healthy people to speak to CognoSpeak, so the study team can compare data to a group with no cognitive complaints.
Study Visits
The initial visit will be followed up with further visits at 6 month, 12 month and 24 month intervals, each taking approx. 1 hour
Who to contact
Dr Aparna Mordekar at Sheffield Memory Service
Tel: 0114 22661696
E: Aparna.mordekar@shsc.nhs.uk
Who is this study aimed at ?
Any individual over the age 16
Who can't take part?
Those unwilling or lacking capacity to participate
Study summary
This study aims to investigate and explore the psychological impact of COVID-19 the resultant restrictions and impact on behaviours and changes in mental wellbeing across the global population
For further information
Who this study is aimed at?
Service users who have experienced being an inpatient in hospital and who smoke or who have given up smoking in the last few years.
Study summary
Researchers are looking for your opinions on what would be helpful to be included in an intervention to help people stay smoke-free after they are discharged from hospital.
Study visits
There is a service user research consultation session taking place on Wednesday 27 January from 2pm to 3.30pm.
The session will last about an hour and will be facilitated by researchers from the University of York. You will take part in a group discussion about your experiences with smoking, stopping smoking and what would be helpful.
You can join the meeting on Microsoft Teams here.
Who to contact
Ellie Wildbore, Patient Ambassador – Medical Education and Research
How to contact
Website address : www.diamondscollaboration.org
Who is this study aimed at: Adults with type two diabetes and a mental illness such as Bipolar, Schizophrenia or Schizoaffected Disorder.
Who can't take part: People without a type two diabetes diagnosis, and without a severe mental illness and with impaired capacity to participate.
Study Summary: People with severe mental illness have poorer physical health and shorter life expectancies compared to the general population. This is sometimes explained by poorer management of long term conditions such as diabetes. There are several reasons for this, including a person's mental illness and treatment, challenges to engage in healthy behaviours and wider barriers accessing healthcare and support. DIAMONDS is a new support programme created to help people with diabetes and a mental illness to manage their diabetes. The support programme takes 16 weeks to complete and involves a weekly meeting or contact from a trained coach, monthly group sessions and daily tasks using either a paper based work book or digital app. If you are interested and would be willing to take part please contact Elissa Thompson.
Who to contact: Elissa Thompson
How to contact:
07970830343
Website address: www.urbanmind.info
Who is this study aimed at: Anyone aged 16-40 years old who has recently experienced their first ever episode of psychosis and who has access to a smartphone and the internet.
Who can't take part: People who have experienced an episode of psychosis on more than one occasion, or are unable to make a rational decision whether or not to participate in the study, or do not have access to the internet and a smartphone.
Study summary: Psychosis affects 2-3% of the population and is a severely debilitating disorder, Urban Mind have developed a smartphone app which monitors patients who have recently had their first episode of psychosis and measures their daily social stress.
Study visits: An initial assessment and follow-up assessment at four, eight and 12 months and daily app notifications.
Who to contact for further details:
Charlotte Colbeck - charlotte.colbeck@shsc.nhs.uk
Paul Lynch - paul.lynch@shsc.nhs.uk
Who is this study aimed at ?
People over 50 living in their own homes with a diagnosis of mild to moderate dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, and who have a family care giver who spends at least one hour more than three times a week with the participant. Participants must be fluent in the English language.
Who can not take part ?
People with a dementia diagnosis associated with Lewy Bodies, Parkinson's Disease and Frontal Temporal dementia. People under 50 years of age.
Study summary
Problem adaption therapy is a new form of talking therapy that aims to help people with Alzheimer's Disease who have become depressed, and their carers to find ways that they can change their environment and activities so they can enjoy a more positive state of mood. We would like to see if it is useful and whether it is possible to provide it to patients in the NHS.
Study visits
The study visits would consist of eight, one hour sessions over a three month period. The first two assessment sessions would take place in your own home.
Who to contact
Hannah Gower, Research Nurse
Telephone number: 0114 2716315
Mobile number: 07773637873
Email address: Hannah.gower@shsc.nhs.uk
Who is this study aimed at ?
Service users over the age of 18 from a minority ethnic group who have, or have had, a severe mental illness and have used a secondary mental health service in the past five years. Carers over the age of 18 who support a service user with the above criteria.
Professionals - NHS Clinicians and Senior Managers, Community and Voluntary Sector Workers, Police professionals and commissioners.
Who can not take part?
Anyone who does not meet the criteria mentioned in 'Who is this study is aimed at' section.
Study summary
The main aim of the study is to work with service users, carers and professionals to create solutions to help improve access to, and experience of, mental health care for minority ethnic groups.
Study visits
The study has three stages and participants can take part in one, two or all three stages.
Stage one - a one hour interview
Stage two - a one hour workshop
Stage three - a two hour workshop
Who to contact
Alex Carey - alex.carey@shsc.nhs.uk, telephone 0114 2718070
Jennifer Bingham - jennifer.bingham@shsc.nhs.uk, telephone 0114 2716848
Who is this study aimed at ?
People with a diagnosis of dementia including Alzheimer's, Vascular dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia or Lewy Body disease and have their caregivers living at home.
Who can't take part?
People without a diagnosis of dementia.
Study summary
This research study is looking at the health and wellbeing benefits of shared music or reading for people living with dementia and their carers. The study has three programmes: music, reading and standard care, and if the participant is eligible they will be randomly allocated one of the three programmes.
Study visits
The music and reading programme will involve three, two hour support sessions via a video call and the therapist will keep in touch with you fortnightly by telephone. The programme will last for 12 weeks.
Who to contact
Research Nurse: Hannah Gower
Email address: Hannah.gower@shsc.nhs.uk
Telephone: 0114 2716315
This blog from Helen Gilburt, Fellow in Health Policy at The King’s Fund, talks about this study.
MH-CREST is an NIHR funded study which seeks to understand how community crisis care services for people with mental health problems work, who they work for, and in what circumstances. It is led by a team based in The School of Healthcare at the University of Leeds and sponsored by Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust.
People with severe mental ill health currently experience a bigger mortality gap compared to the general population, partially due to preventable physical health conditions linked to health risk behaviours such as smoking and lack of physical activity. This study aimed to benchmark health risk behaviours in people with severe mental ill health by inviting people with a diagnosis of severe mental ill health to take part in a short questionnaire about demographics, health risk behaviours and motivation to change those behaviours. It found that people with severe mental ill health are more likely to smoke than those in the general population and are at risk of not meeting the government guidelines regarding physical activity and fresh fruit and vegetable consumption. However, people are motivated to change these behaviours and it is therefore recommended that interventions are developed to help them do this.
If you wish to find out more information about the network behind this study, click here.