The Cassel Hospital Charitable Trust funds research success
New research funded by The Cassel Hospital Charitable Trust has shown short-term interventions may be helpful to people with a diagnosis of personality disorder and complex trauma.
Current guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not support the use of short-term interventions. The Cassel Hospital Research unit applied to the charity for research funding to asses a brief intervention.
Thanks to our supporters, researchers were able to evaluate a 10-week self-referral psychological course called Learning About Thinking, Emotions and Relationships (LATER). The course is a short-term intervention for adults living with the difficulties associated with personality disorder.
LATER was jointly developed by clinicians and people with lived experience of the difficulties associated with personality disorders through the Managed Clinical Network for Personality Disorder (MCN). The MCN is based at The Cassel Hospital and has for many years run LATER in conjunction with the West London NHS Recovery College.
The Cassel Hospital Research Unit’s observational study on LATER, which was published in the journal The Mental Health Review Journal, found it successfully engaged and helped participants in a number of key clinical areas.
This is important because the NICE recommendation is sometimes used to justify the exclusion of patients diagnosable with personality disorder from services offering short-term interventions. The research shows this may not be in those patients’ best interests and indicated the need for further investigation into the role of short-term interventions.
Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Oliver Dale, who co-wrote the study and is Chair of the charity, said: ‘Although more evidence is required, the study demonstrates how a short-term intervention can form an important tool in people’s journey.
‘The particular project has been co-produced by those with lived experience of personality disorder and clinicians from conception through to design and delivery, followed by evaluation and publication. It is a yet another example of The Cassel Hospital and Charitable Trust’s commitment to co-production.’
‘It also demonstrates how vital the work of The Cassel Hospital Charitable Trust is in supporting those people with a diagnosis of personality disorder and complex trauma. The sort of research the charity funds helps clinicians deliver improved care to patients, which in turn helps them and their loved ones enjoy better lives.’
The course and its evaluation are a result of the collaboration between The Cassel Hospital Research Unit, the West London NHS Recovery College and the MCN. The resulting study can be found here.