When providing care and treatment to those with mental health, Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust wants to ensure that we can offer the best service possible. This is why we are always looking at ways to improve the care we provide through research or bringing new ideas in via our preceptorship academy. This ensures that we are always able to provide new and innovative ways of working at the trust and deliver care to our users which works for them.

While conducting research, we want to make sure that we look into everything to do with mental health care. Most recently, we worked with Lancaster University to look into how being a carer for someone who has been diagnosed with psychosis and schizophrenia affects the carer's mental health. Being a carer, you go through your own trauma when your loved one becomes unwell, while you go through a significant change to become a carer for them. Suddenly life gets turned upside down and you have to adjust to help them feel safe and cared for. This can leave carers struggling with their mental health and make it difficult for them to reach out for their own support.

The study aimed to research via questionnaire, the well-being of carers of those with psychosis and schizophrenia. The survey was developed with the help of carers and explored how well they have adjusted to their new caring role and whether they have found new purpose and meaning in it. We hope that with the data we have collected, we can help improve the support we can offer to carers of our service users.

Following on from this, when we deliver care to our users, we want to ensure that everyone who comes to us receives the support they need to start their recovery journey. We're looking to find out more about the experiences people from Ethnic Minority communities have had when accessing and engaging with our services, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lead by our charity Heads On, The responses will help us better understand what's working well and help bring recommendations to the Trust Board on what could work better. We are looking for people from an Ethnic Minority who is either current or past SPFT user of secondary services and has used the services since March 2020 to share their experiences with receiving care. We're asking for people to join us as part of our Creative Workshops, to explore their experiences accessing Sussex Partnership NHS Services; and/or via a Semi-Structured Interview with a Peer Research Assistant via telephone or virtual. Interested in helping? Pop an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

These are only a couple of examples of the research we are constantly undertaking. If you would like to know more then keep an eye on our Twitter here