King's College London
Keywords: mental wellbeing, peer support, online study, depression, clinical trial
Open to: adults living with a long-term physical health condition(s) who have internet access
Deadline: 30 April 2024
How to Register: To read more and sign-up, please click here: https://bit.ly/commongroundresearch
Questions: If you have any questions, please reach out to the research team via commonground@kcl.ac.uk
Research participation requests are sent to the Stroke Association from external research institutions (e.g. universities and hospitals).
We conduct checks on these before promoting but are not involved in their running. This means we cannot comment on trials and have no affiliation with them.
KCL are recruiting adults living with any long-term physical health condition(s), including the effects of stroke, to test out their new peer support and self-help resources platform. They want to investigate what people think about the platform they have co-produced with people with lived experience, and how it compares to existing NHS “Mental Health” webpages.
If you take part, you will complete two eligibility screenings, separated by a wait period while we recruit other people for the peer community. You will then be randomly assigned to either have three months of access to the online peer support platform or to be part of our control group accessing the NHS webpages. You will complete questionnaires at the beginning, middle, and end of the three months.
Unfortunately, individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, psychosis, and/or dementia cannot participate, as the intervention targets those occasionally experiencing depressive symptoms or low mood.
What is the opportunity about?
In England, there is limited support for people living with long-term physical health conditions to help them manage their mental well-being. We would like to change this. Researchers from King’s College London, software developers, and a group of people living with LTCs, have co-designed a new intervention to help patients manage low mood and depressive symptoms.
The intervention is an online peer support platform with educational self-help resources. The intervention is exclusively for people with long-term conditions, regardless of their specific condition, meaning that all diagnoses are welcome, from those affected by stroke to COPD, or arthritis to endometriosis.
The research aims to investigate what people think about our new intervention, including what they like and dislike. We also want to compare our new intervention to the generic NHS “Mental Health” webpage resources that healthcare professionals currently signpost to.
By participating you are helping us develop an intervention that aims to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions. In order to get interventions that might help people manage their mental wellbeing and prevent depression developing, we must gather the evidence to prove that they are effective – this project is one of the first steps.
What will it Involve?
If you take part, first, a questionnaire will assess whether you are suitable for our research. There might then be some time between when you answer these questions and when we are ready to start the trial, as we need to recruit enough people so that the online community is large enough for group discussions to form.
When we have recruited enough people, you will complete a short online questionnaire to check you are still able to take part.
The research team will then tell you either: [1] That you are suitable to take part or [2] That you are not able to participate and will be signposted to other support.
If you take part, you will complete an online questionnaire about yourself, your mental and physical health. Next, our research team will tell you which group you have been randomly allocated to:
[1] The intervention group: Our new peer support platform where you can create your own anonymous profile, ask questions, share your experiences, react to and comment on other people’s posts, and access self-help resources about living with an LTC.
[2] The control group: NHS Mental Health webpages
During this three-month period of having access to either the peer support platform or being directed to the NHS webpages, we will ask you to also continue with your usual healthcare.
You will be asked to answer questionnaires mid-way and at the end of the project. You may also be interviewed about your experiences..
Who can take part?
We are inviting adults living with a long-term physical health condition(s) who have internet access to take part.
We are not recruiting anyone who has a severe mental illness (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and/or psychosis, and or a diagnosis of dementia).
You must be over 18 years of age and be able to speak and understand English.
We are aiming to recruit between 100-200 people for our study who will be randomly allocated to either access our new peer support intervention or form our control group.
There will also be a third group who are part of a community engagement study who will also be given access to the new peer support platform. If you choose to participate, you will be told which group you are part of and provided with further information at that time.
What will you get from taking part?
By participating you are helping us develop an intervention that aims to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions. In order to get interventions that might help people manage their mental wellbeing and prevent depression developing, we must gather the evidence to prove that they are effective – this project is one of the first steps.
As a token of our appreciation, we will offer shopping vouchers at the following stages: After you have completed the eligibility screenings and the questionnaires at the beginning of the trial (£10), after completing the final questionnaire (end of trial; £10); after completing the interview (if you are invited; £20).
How Can I Take Part?
To read more and sign-up, please click here: https://bit.ly/commongroundresearch.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the research team via commonground@kcl.ac.uk.
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Information on taking part in research
Research participation helps research teams to test new ideas and approaches by sharing information or trying new approaches in clinical trials.
Find out more about taking part in research
Taking part in clinical trials can support research to:
- Stop strokes from happening.
- Treat strokes.
- Support people to rebuild their lives.
By taking part in research, you can help us to learn more about stroke and make a difference in the lives of future stroke survivors.
Find out about how our research has made a difference in the lives of people affected by stroke.
We have produced the Clinical Trials and Stroke booklet to explain more about clinical trials and answer questions you might have about taking part. The booklet was produced with the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
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Information on Research Involvement
Research Involvement is a different way of contributing to research that involves collaborating with researchers to design decisions about how research is shaped and conducted.
You do not need any research knowledge to do this, your lived experience is what would otherwise be missing. Involvement is about contributing this to shape projects in ways that create most potential to benefit people affected.