NIHR Research Design Service for Yorkshire and the Humber RDSYH Public Involvement in Grant Applications Funding Award: Call 13

Competition 22: Call 13 Project

Introduction

The project for which funding was granted, which I will refer to as the “Call 13 Project”, aimed to canvass the views of a group of individuals (predominantly service users) about a larger project we are intending to undertake (the larger project is a potential NIHR application). The larger project is anticipated to be a national scoping exercise of peer support services for women with perinatal mental illness (PMI). By understanding the features of successful peer support services, it is anticipated that the findings from the larger project will assist in the development of a peer support model, which can be adopted nationally and internationally for use with women experiencing PMI.

The intention of Call 13 Project was to run a consultative event (also known as a consultative meeting) involving participants drawn from a number of local perinatal mental health (PMH) services and voluntary services. More importantly, we were seeking input from pregnant women and new mothers (service users), and we used the voluntary organisations, such as House of Light and Home-Start, to recruit to the event.

Aim

We wanted the attendees to inform us of the value of the work we were intending to undertake, by providing answers to questions in relation to how peer support worked in their organisations, how statutory services view peer support, what peer support looks like to them, how peer support worked, or did not work for each service user, and which aspects of peer support should be explored in greater detail.

Method

Identifying participants for the consultative event

We had access to a number of statutory and voluntary organisations as one of the co-applicants, Professor Julie Jomeen, is the chair of the Hull and East Yorkshire Maternal Health Advisory Group. Professor Jomeen’s involvement in this advisory group means that she has regular contact with a number of representatives from a variety of local PMH services for example, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – Hull, The Hull Perinatal Mental Health Service, Health Visiting and Maternity services and Home-Start, House of Light and “Fit Mums”. Participants were identified through face to face and email discussion with lead representatives from these local services.

Recruiting and engaging participants for the consultative event

Attendance at formal and informal meetings of the above-named organisations, and explanation of the purpose and intended outcomes of the event resulted in recruitment of participants. There was also a snowball recruitment strategy technique in place whereby participants informed other participants and encouraged them to attend.

Description of the type of, and numbers of people who took part

The event was attended by 11 attendees, and 3 organisers. In total there were 14 people as listed;

1 Health visitor

1 Consultant Psychiatrist

1 Midwife (who was also a volunteer)

5 Service users

3 Volunteers

The event organisers (the applicant and co applicants, n=3)

All participants were arranged into mixed sub-groups and asked to discuss topics amongst themselves and feedback. Broader discussions using the answers from each sub-group and including the entire group were also undertaken. Notes were recorded on flip chart paper by the 3 co applicants (Professor Jomeen, Professor Hayter and Catriona Jones). Some of the topics discussed and the questions asked were as follows;

·  How do you define peer support?

·  What different models do you know of (and where)?

·  How do women get into/get access to/hear about the services?

·  How do we find out what peer support services are out there – beyond this region?

·  Do services from 1 region liaise with services from another to find out what they are doing?

·  Do we need to introduce a measure?

·  What are the key measures of success (for women, for professionals, for the family)?

·  What were your experiences of peer support?

Description of the contributions made by the patients and the public

Each attendee made a verbal contribution to the discussion which took place in relation to each of the above bullet-pointed topics. So, for example, when the question “What were your experiences of peer support?” was raised, the service users who had engaged with peer support, openly offered up their experiences. The contributions made to this discussion included service users describing the type of support they received, the activities which they undertook with their peer supporter, the length of time their received peer support, the number of occasions they engaged with the service, the way it impacted upon their experience of PMI and the aspects of the service they considered valuable. Often these discussions provoked further discussions.

A consideration of what has changed or been adapted as a result of the involvement of patients and public

This Call 13 Project is part of a larger project which will be aimed at developing and improving peer support services. It is the larger project which is anticipated to result in changes and adaptations to current practice. As a result of the involvement of the pubic we have made some changes to the original research question and we have altered the design of the study of the larger project – we are still in the process of refining the larger project, thus more changes may occur as a result of the Call 13 “event”.

Evaluation

We used the evaluation forms provided to evaluate the event and each attendee completed a form. I have enclosed copies of the returned evaluations form which includes some data from the attendees about their experience of the event. Whilst this is not an attendees written “account” of the event as requested, I hope this information is adequate in terms of providing some insights into how the attendees experienced the event.

How patient and public involvement will be taken forward

The consultative event was used as a platform for recruiting members to the advisory group/steering group of the larger project. We planned to recruit 3 women/service users to our advisory group, with a view to these members being completely engaged with the conduct of the project, for example, refining the methodology, and providing advice on the appropriateness of the interview questions and the methods of data collection. We invited expressions of interest to join the advisory group at the consultative meeting and had a very positive response from service users and volunteers. We are now following up with those attendees and we are in the process of arranging a further meeting.

Any difficulties or challenges encountered

There were limited challenges and difficulties involved in the arrangements and the delivery of the event. Recruitment was good, and motivation for future involvement is high. The levels of enthusiasm from all those involved reflects a combined keenness and commitment to exploring new ways of developing the services which are aimed at supporting women experiencing PMI.

Has the Call 13 project led to successful funding being awarded?

We are currently at the stage of developing the larger research proposal, and seeking out funding opportunities for this project so we are unable to confirm successful funding at present.

Details of the expense / Cost
Room Hire / 60
Equipment / 9
*Food and Beverages / 122.25
*Expenses for childcare for 1 attendee / 34.00
Total: to be paid into account AQA01FK011 / 225.25

Full breakdown of cost for food and beverages are provided on the attached invoice and booking confirmation and details of non staff expenses form for child care expenses claim is also attached.

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