Clinical Effects of the 'Crisis Toolbox' (CTB): A Brief, Skills Based, Intervention Delivered in a Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team.

Access to psychological interventions for people under Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Teams (CRHTTs) is limited. The Crisis Toolbox (CTB) is a skills-based intervention designed to increase access using flexible methods of delivery. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effects of the CTB. A retrospective service evaluation of 399 participants who accessed the CTB between November 2020 and February 2021 was employed. Sessional measures comprising the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Scale (GAD-7) were recorded across three time points. Overall, there were significantly decreasing trends in PHQ-9 (ß = - 1.6, p < 0.001) and GAD-7 scores (ß = - 1.5, p < 0.001) in participants who accessed the CTB. The magnitude and direction of specific trends differed according to age, diagnosis, and neurodiversity. The CTB could help reduce depression and anxiety in people experiencing crisis. Randomised controlled trials are now required to test its acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness.

Acceptability of the 'Crisis Toolbox': a skills-based intervention delivered in a Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team during COVID-19.

Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Teams (CRHTTs) provide 24-hour, seven day per week support for people in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant demand on urgent care and increased the need for brief interventions in CRHTT settings with flexible methods of delivery. This evaluation aimed to examine client satisfaction with the 'Crisis Toolbox' (CTB), a brief, skills-based intervention delivered in one CRHTT during COVID-19. All participants who received the CTB completed a satisfaction questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated to quantify acceptability and qualitative themes were generated using thematic analysis. Fifty-eight people participated, all of whom reported high levels of satisfaction with the CTB. Four qualitative themes also emerged relating to 'Active ingredients of the CTB', 'The therapeutic relationship', 'Service-user preferences' and 'Expectations and continuity of care'. The CTB appears to be a valued intervention. Further research is now needed to assess its clinical impact and effect on operational indicators.

Delivery of cognitive-behaviour therapy for psychosis: a service user preference trial.

BACKGROUND: Clinical guidelines recommend cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for people with psychosis, however, implementation is poor and not everyone wishes to engage with therapy. Understanding service user (SU) preferences for receiving such treatments is a priority for services. AIMS: To explore SU preferences and outcomes of different methods of delivering CBT for psychosis. METHOD: SUs experiencing psychosis could choose between treatment as usual (TAU); TAU plus telephone-delivered CBT with self-help, CBT recovery manual (TS); high support CBT (HS - TAU plus TS plus group sessions) or randomisation. Participants received their option of choice and were followed-up on several outcomes over 9 and 15 months. RESULTS: Of 89 people recruited, three chose to be randomised and 86 expressed a treatment preference (32 chose TAU, 34 chose TS, 23 chose HS). There were few differences between those who chose therapy compared to those who chose TAU. Those who had more positive impacts from their symptoms were significantly more likely to choose TAU. CONCLUSIONS: Most people had strong preferences about treatment delivery and a substantial number did not wish to receive additional therapy. These findings have to be considered when planning and allocating resources for people with psychosis.

Assessing therapist adherence to recovery-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis delivered by telephone with support from a self-help guide: psychometric evaluations of a new fidelity scale.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has highlighted the importance of psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in improving outcomes and promoting recovery for people with experience of psychosis, although a lack of trained therapists means that availability of face-to-face CBT is low. Alternative modes of delivering CBT are being explored, such as telephone and self-help methods, although research to date on whether they can be implemented effectively is limited. AIMS: The aims of the present study were to describe and evaluate a new therapy fidelity scale (ROSTA; Recovery Oriented Self-help and Telephone therapy Adherence). This scale was developed to assess fidelity to cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp) focused on improving recovery, with optional subscales for delivery over the telephone and alongside a self-help guide. METHOD: Experienced CBT therapists rated recorded therapy sessions using the ROSTA scale. The scores were used to assess internal consistency and inter-rater reliability, before being compared to scores from an independent expert rater using an alternative fidelity scale for cognitive therapy in psychosis (the CTS-Psy), to investigate concurrent validity. RESULTS: The ROSTA scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and validity when evaluated as a whole, although findings were mixed in terms of the individual subscales and items. CONCLUSIONS: The ROSTA scale is, on the whole, a reliable and valid tool, which may be useful in training and supervision, a utility that would be further emphasized if the therapeutic intervention it assesses is deemed to be efficacious based on future work.

High resolution examination of the role of sleep disturbance in predicting functioning and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia: A novel experience sampling study.

Sleep disturbance is common in schizophrenia, but its role in predicting functioning and psychotic symptoms has yet to be rigorously examined. The purpose of this study was to conduct a prospective, high-resolution examination of the relationship between nightly sleep and next-day functioning and psychotic symptoms in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Experience sampling methodology was integrated with actigraphy and sleep diaries across 7 days in 22 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Momentary assessments of mood, psychotic symptoms, and functioning were gathered at 5 points each day following pseudorandom schedules. Multilevel modeling was performed to evaluate the links between variables. Objective and subjective sleep disturbance predicted reduced next-day functioning, which remained significant after controlling for psychotic symptom severity. Increased sleep fragmentation and reduced subjective and objective sleep efficiency predicted greater next-day auditory hallucinations, whereas increased objective sleep fragmentation and reduced subjective sleep quality predicted greater paranoia and delusions of control. Negative affect on awakening mediated a proportion of these relationships (range: 17.9-57.3%). For the first time, we show that sleep disturbance is a predictor of next-day impaired functioning and psychotic symptom severity in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Therefore, interventions targeting sleep may have the potential to directly and indirectly enhance functional and symptomatic recovery in those experiencing psychosis. (PsycINFO Database Record

Barriers and facilitators to recruitment in mental health services: care coordinators' expectations and experience of referring to a psychosis research trial.

OBJECTIVE: High-quality research trials are necessary to provide evidence for the effective management of mental health difficulties, but successful recruitment can be challenging. DESIGN: This qualitative study examines the perceived barriers and facilitators to referring mental health service users to research trials. Seven care coordinators (n = 7) who facilitated the recruitment of participants to a cognitive behaviour therapy - informed psychosis intervention trial were interviewed. METHOD: Demographic information was collected by questionnaire and a semi-structured guide was used to explore barriers and facilitators to referring to a partially randomized participant preference trial. Qualitative data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Four key themes, each with a number of sub-themes, were identified: (1) engage the care coordinator in the recruitment process, (2) barriers to referring to research studies, (3) facilitators to referring to research studies; (4) organisational constraints impact on implementing research outcomes into routine clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the barriers and facilitators to recruitment in mental health research could improve recruitment strategies. Our findings highlight the need for researchers' to closely consider their recruitment strategies as service users are not always given the choice to participate in research. Several key recommendations are made based on these findings in order to maximize successful recruitment to research studies. Overall, we recommend that researchers' adopt a flexible, tailor-made approach for each clinical team to ensure a collaborative relationship is developed between research staff and clinicians. PRACTITIONER POINTS: A qualitative approach to understanding recruitment challenges provides a useful opportunity to explore the barriers and facilitators to recruiting participants to research studies. These findings have practical implications that highlight the need for a collaborative partnership between researchers and clinical services. Understanding the challenges and issues related to recruitment can help researchers consider strategies to overcome recruitment issues. More research with a larger sample, across a broader population and in different mental health services is required.

Psychometric properties of the questionnaire about the process of recovery (QPR).

The latent structure, reliability and validity of the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery (QPR) (Neil et al., 2009) were examined in a sample of participants with experience of psychosis (N=335). The original two factor model proposed by Neil et al. (2009) was examined using exploratory factor analysis followed by a further independent exploratory factor analysis to test revised solutions. Model fit statistics indicated that the most interpretable solution was a one factor model using 15 items from the original measure. Internal consistency, test re-test reliability and convergent validity of this new 15 item version were found to be high. Recommendations for the utility of the QPR in routine clinical practice along with suggestions for future research are discussed.

An exploration of the therapeutic alliance within a telephone-based cognitive behaviour therapy for individuals with experience of psychosis.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the therapeutic alliance (TA) between clients and therapists involved in a telephone-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) oriented psychological intervention for individuals experiencing psychosis. DESIGN: The telephone intervention involved recovery-focused CBT with use of a self-help guide and group intervention co-facilitated by colleagues with personal experience of psychosis. It was delivered as part of a Participant Preference Trial. METHODS: Twenty-one client/therapist dyads were examined within this study. In addition to a measure of TA, clients completed measures of depression, social functioning, symptom severity, and strength of treatment preference, while therapists completed measures related to the level of shared formulation, therapist confidence, and therapeutic change estimates. RESULTS: Therapeutic alliance levels were comparable to previously reported face-to-face psychosis intervention studies. Clients consistently reported significantly higher TA ratings compared to therapists. Depression scores and the strength of preference for treatment were significantly associated with client TA. Greater therapist perceived change was associated with higher therapist rated TA, while higher numbers of missed therapy sessions associated with lower therapist ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone-based psychosis interventions may support the formation of positive relationships that are comparable to the quality of relationships developed between therapists and clients during face-to-face CBT therapy. Methodological limitations including low participant numbers and heightened risk of a Type I error necessitate caution when interpreting findings. Further research into therapist and client variables associated with TA is required. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Telephone delivered interventions to support people with psychosis-related difficulties can result in the development of a good quality TA between therapists and clients. There is a significant difference between therapist and client ratings of TA. Clients tend to score the quality of the TA significantly more highly than therapists. Providing clients with choice when participating in therapeutic interventions could potentially contribute towards improved TA reporting by clients.

Psychological factors in people at ultra-high risk of psychosis: comparisons with non-patients and associations with symptoms.

BACKGROUND: There have been recent advances in the ability to identify people at high risk of developing psychosis. This has led to interest in the possibility of preventing the development of psychosis and provides the opportunity to investigate psychological mechanisms that may confer vulnerability to psychosis. METHOD: Fifty-eight patients at ultra-high risk of developing a first episode of psychosis were compared with 56 non-patients matched for age and occupational status on measures of meta-cognition, schizotypal traits, dysfunctional attitudes and distress. RESULTS: Analyses of covariance revealed that people at high risk of developing psychosis scored higher on measures of cognitive vulnerability, including negative meta-cognitive beliefs, beliefs about rejection and criticism from others, and discrepancies in self-perception, schizotypal traits and general mental distress. Correlational analyses revealed that negative meta-cognitive beliefs, dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs about rejection and criticism from others were positively associated with several dimensions of symptomatology in at-risk mental states (ARMS) patients. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive and personality factors appear to characterize people at high-risk of developing psychosis and are associated with their distressing experiences. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.