Research Studies

Age 16 +

Duration: Up to one hour

Location: One off online questionnaire and optional test

GLAD stands for the genetic links to anxiety and depression. The study is a project set up to support research exploring risk factors for depression and/or anxiety. 

The GLAD study aims to better understand depression and anxiety to find more effective treatments. It hopes to improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders. 

This study is looking for people who are 16 or over and have at some point in their life experienced anxiety and/or depression. The study is also open to those who have never experienced any mental health disorder. 

GLAD is a national study with its own specialist website. Please remember if you found out about the study from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust then be sure to put that when asked to 'select the NHS trust, GP, talking therapy service or other healthcare provider'.

Register your interest on the GLAD website

Looking for:

• Individual aged 16+ who are receiving care from NSFT Community Mental Health Services and have a diagnosis of severe mental illness.
• We are currently recruiting individuals from specific teams within the following areas: East and West Suffolk, Norwich and Waveney only. Please get in touch for more information about which teams are involved.

Information about the study:

People with severe mental illness often have few opportunities to talk about their sexual health or relationship concerns in routine mental health care, despite their importance to overall wellbeing and recovery. As a result, people with severe mental illness may miss out on important information, such as where to get sexual advice, how to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, contraceptive choices, and finding relationships that are mutually respectful, not violent or abusive.

The moreRESPECT Study aims to find out if having sexual health information sessions with a specially trained health professional can improve the sexual health of people with a severe mental illness, compared to usual care alone. 

What's involved? 

• Individuals who are are eligible to take part will be randomly allocated to be in either the sexual health information sessions group, or the usual care group.
• The sexual health information sessions group will include three sexual health sessions with a specifically trained health professional from NSFT. Sessions will cover topics like understanding sexually transmitted infections, contraception and safer relationships.
• The usual care group will continue their usual care and support that is usually available to them. No additional treatment will be provided as part of the study.
• Both groups will be asked to complete questionnaires with a researcher on information related to sexual health, including being asked about sex, relationships and contraception. Some of the questionnaires can be self-completed. Participants will be asked to complete these questionnaires at the beginning of the study, and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months later. These can be completed in person or remotely.
• Each time a participant completes a self-completed questionnaire, they will receive a £10 shopping voucher.

Contact the research team:

Email: researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk

Telephone: 01603 421397

Summary: The aim of this study is to test the effects of using an online support package for caregivers called CareCoach. CareCoach is an online support package which focuses on helping caregivers develop knowledge, skills and confidence to manage and support the care they provide a person living with dementia. Caregivers using CareCoach are also supported and guided by a 'coach' (health, social care or dementia charity worker).

Who can take part: Do you support a family member or friend living with dementia? Are you looking to learn new skills and knowledge to cope well while caring with a person living with dementia? Participants need to be aged 18 or over, living in the UK, and currently providing care/support for a person living with dementia (who has been diagnosed in the last 5 years).

What it involves: Questions to check you are eligible to take part. If you are eligible, you will be asked to provide your contact information. Then we will ask you to agree (consent) to take part, and complete a questionnaire about yourself, your wellbeing, the care and support you give, and the person living with dementia who you care for. Participants are randomly allocated to either the CareCoach group OR usual care group. Both groups will be involved in the study for 6 months. You will need to have access to a device with a camera and microphone which connects to the internet, such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone.

How to get involved: If you have any questions about the study, please contact the research team using the details below (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).

• Email: Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk
• Telephone: 01603 421397

COBALT: COmBining memantine And cholinesterase inhibitors in Lewy body dementia Treatment

A randomised controlled trial assessing whether adding memantine to cholinesterase inhibitors improves the overall health and functioning of people with Lewy Body or Parkinson's Dementia.

Who can take part:

Inclusion criteria (answers must be yes to take part):

• People with a diagnosis of probable Lewy Body Dementia or probable Parkinson's Dementia
• Aged 55+
• Taking a cholinesterase inhibitor for at least 12 weeks
• Sufficient knowledge of the English language or support to understand the Participant Information Sheet and complete the trial assessments

What it involves: If you are interested in taking part, you will be contacted by a member of our research team who will outline the study for you, answer any questions you may have and check your eligibility. Involvment in the study includes being randomised to receive either memantine or a placebo, completion of a weekly diary, 12 months involvement in the study and regular outcome measures being taken for both participant and their trial partner (caregiver).

How to get involved: Contact us via email at Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk or via telephone on 01603 421397 to express interest in taking part.

Age 16 +

Duration: Up to one hour

Location: One off online questionnaire and optional test

GLAD stands for the genetic links to anxiety and depression. The study is a project set up to support research exploring risk factors for depression and/or anxiety. 

The GLAD study aims to better understand depression and anxiety to find more effective treatments. It hopes to improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders. 

This study is looking for people who are 16 or over and have at some point in their life experienced anxiety and/or depression. The study is also open to those who have never experienced any mental health disorder. 

GLAD is a national study with its own specialist website. Please remember if you found out about the study from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust then be sure to put that when asked to 'select the NHS trust, GP, talking therapy service or other healthcare provider'.

Register your interest on the GLAD website

Looking for: People aged 16 and above who have experienced, or are experiencing any eating disorder and live in England.

Location: Online

Info about the study

What will taking part involve? Taking part in this study will involve completing some questions which will ask about your demographics (e.g. age, gender and employment situation), emotional wellbeing, health and lifestyle, personality and experiences of an eating disorder. Following this you will be sent a kit to take a saliva sample, which you will then need to send back to the study team via pre-paid post.

Contact the research team

If you have any questions about the study, please contact the research team using the below email address:

Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk

Need more information? Willing to take part?

For further information see: https://edgiuk.org/ 

Looking for: People aged 16 to 25 years of age who either have an eating disorder (or think they may have one), or have no history of an eating disorder (healthy volunteer).

Location: Online

Information about the study

STORY is exploring the diverse experiences of young people with eating disorders. How do symptoms progress over time? What helps or hinders recovery? This information will allow us to deliver more personalised and effective interventions for young people with eating disorders in the future. 

What will taking part involve: Participants in this study will complete online surveys and tasks on a computer or smartphone at different times, download two apps onto their smartphone and optionally wear a device on their finger to measure heart rate and sleep.

Contact the research team

If you have any questions about the study, please contact the research team using the details below (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm):

Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk

01603 421397

Need more information? Willing to take part?

Looking for:

• Individual aged 16+ who are receiving care from NSFT Community Mental Health Services and have a diagnosis of severe mental illness.
• We are currently recruiting individuals from specific teams within the following areas: East and West Suffolk, Norwich and Waveney only. Please get in touch for more information about which teams are involved.

Information about the study:

People with severe mental illness often have few opportunities to talk about their sexual health or relationship concerns in routine mental health care, despite their importance to overall wellbeing and recovery. As a result, people with severe mental illness may miss out on important information, such as where to get sexual advice, how to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, contraceptive choices, and finding relationships that are mutually respectful, not violent or abusive.

The moreRESPECT Study aims to find out if having sexual health information sessions with a specially trained health professional can improve the sexual health of people with a severe mental illness, compared to usual care alone. 

What's involved? 

• Individuals who are are eligible to take part will be randomly allocated to be in either the sexual health information sessions group, or the usual care group.
• The sexual health information sessions group will include three sexual health sessions with a specifically trained health professional from NSFT. Sessions will cover topics like understanding sexually transmitted infections, contraception and safer relationships.
• The usual care group will continue their usual care and support that is usually available to them. No additional treatment will be provided as part of the study.
• Both groups will be asked to complete questionnaires with a researcher on information related to sexual health, including being asked about sex, relationships and contraception. Some of the questionnaires can be self-completed. Participants will be asked to complete these questionnaires at the beginning of the study, and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months later. These can be completed in person or remotely.
• Each time a participant completes a self-completed questionnaire, they will receive a £10 shopping voucher.

Contact the research team:

Email: researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk

Telephone: 01603 421397

Looking for:

• Individuals between the age of 16 and 65 open to NSFT.
• Have a diagnosis of non-affective psychosis; including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, psychosis not otherwise specified.
• Currently experiencing visual hallucinations within the last month.
• Be willing and able to provide their informed consent.

Information about the study:

The VISION-QUEST study  aims to develop and test a new questionnaire to understand people's beliefs about visual hallucinations. The questionnaire will also explore other physical and psychological factors thought to influence these experiences.

What's involved?

• Completing a pack of questionnaires in person or remotely.
• Participants will be paid £10 or equivalent in shopping voucher per pack they complete. 

Contact the research team:

• If you have any questions about the study, please contact the research team using the details below (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm)
• Email: Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk
• Telephone: 01603 421397

PPIP2 — Prevalence of Pathogenic Antibodies in Psychosis

Looking for: 

Individuals between the age of 16-70 years who are experiencing a current episode of psychosis lasting less than 2 years. This can be a first episode or relapse.

Information about the study

The aim is to assess the number of patients experiencing psychosis that also have anti-neuronal membrane antibodies which might cause their illness.

What will taking part involve:

• One-off visit.
• Questionnaires regarding demographic information, previous history of psychotic illness and length of current episode of psychosis symptoms.
• Blood sample.

Contact the research team

If you have any questions about the study, please contact the research team using the details below (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm)

Email: Researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk

Telephone: 01603 421397

Need more information? Willing to take part?

For further information visit the national website and choose Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Service users, families, carers and staff are being asked to help us to identify the top 10 research interests for adult community mental health care.

The research team has created a survey to use in a study as part of our research development objectives.

We are interested in knowing the issues and concerns that staff, service users and their families feel need to be explored by research.

This can include a wide range of topics, from mental health symptoms and day-to-day living challenges to support and treatment interventions, as well as the provision of mental health services.

The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete and will contribute significantly to our understanding and improvement of adult community mental health care form a research perspective.

Complete the feedback form here. 

Email  gabriel.abotsie@nsft.nhs.uk  for more information about the study.

Age 16 +

Duration: Up to one hour

Location: One off online questionnaire and optional test

GLAD stands for the genetic links to anxiety and depression. The study is a project set up to support research exploring risk factors for depression and/or anxiety. 

The GLAD study aims to better understand depression and anxiety to find more effective treatments. It hopes to improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders. 

This study is looking for people who are 16 or over and have at some point in their life experienced anxiety and/or depression. The study is also open to those who have never experienced any mental health disorder. 

GLAD is a national study with its own specialist website. Please remember if you found out about the study from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust then be sure to put that when asked to 'select the NHS trust, GP, talking therapy service or other healthcare provider'.

Register your interest on the GLAD website