Understanding and improving Assessment Processes for Talking Therapies (APTT): A new user-controlled research programme

2014 Conference

Abstract: Whilst user involvement in research has increased over recent years, it remains rare to find examples of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded user controlled research. This poster will describe a five-year research programme that is being led and controlled by a service user researcher. It will explore the ways in which the programme differs from standard NIHR research.

The topic of the research programme is understanding and improving Assessment Processes for Talking Therapies (APTT). Experiential evidence from service users suggests that talking therapy assessments are problematic, yet this issue is absent from the research agenda. Three connected studies will explore the enactments and experiences of talking therapy assessments and how these can be improved. Study one will systematically review relevant international literature. In study two, pairs of service users and assessors will be interviewed and the convergence/divergence of accounts explored through thematic analysis. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis will explore service users’ lived experiences in more depth. Finally, study three will use consensus methods to generate full clinical guidelines on talking therapy assessments.

The programe is based at St George’s University of London and runs until December 2018. It is guided by a Clinical Advisory Group and a Service User Advisory Group. Each study will be shaped and changed by user involvement and user control, and the aim of this poster is to explore these impacts.