ASsuRED is a five year programme of research that aims to develop and test a new intervention for people who present in Emergency Departments having harmed themselves, which began in May 2019.
The full title of this project is ‘ASsuRED: Improving outcomes in patients who self-harm – Adapting and evaluating a brief pSychological inteRvention in Emergency Departments’ - ASsuRED for short.
The study will investigate how to better support people who attend Emergency Departments (EDs) who have thoughts of taking their own lives or have harmed themselves. We know that the conversation between the individual and the mental health professional they see is critically important. Although there are many examples of good care, current practice across the NHS varies widely with no research evidence to support best practice. We will adapt and test a promising new approach used in other countries and evaluate its benefits in the UK context. This will involve therapeutic assessment, safety planning and follow-up support after leaving the ED.
The project is funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), and is being led by researchers at City, University of London.
You can stay up to date with the project by visiting our blog.
Self-harm is the most important risk factor for suicide. When someone who has harmed themselves is seen in the Emergency Department, a mental health practitioner usually assesses their psychological state, social situation and needs for support. International evidence shows that training mental health practitioners in how to work therapeutically with the person and to create a personal plan for future crises, as well as following up with them after they leave the Emergency Department, reduces subsequent self-harm and deaths by suicide. We will test if this approach can help people seen in the NHS.
The aim of the ASsuRED study is to develop and test a new intervention for people who present in Emergency Departments who have harmed themselves or have thoughts of ending their life.
The ASsuRED study will consist of six work packages:
Work package 1: Developing the intervention
Work package 2: Initial testing of the intervention
Work package 3: Developing an online training package
Work package 4: Preparing for the trial
Work package 5: Randomised Controlled Trial to test the effectiveness of the intervention
Work package 6: Disseminating our research findings
The core team for the ASsuRED project are based at City, University of London:
Professor Rose McCabe, Principal Investigator
Dr Sally O’Keeffe, Programme Manager
Dr Jennifer Hunter, Research Fellow
Dr Clara Bergen, Research Fellow
Mimi Suzuki, Research Assistant
Carmen Wright, Research Administrator
Dr Peter Aitken, Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Dr Vera Araujo Soares, Newcastle University
Professor Richard Byng, Plymouth University
Professor Chris Dickens, University of Exeter
Professor Sandra Eldridge, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Domenico Giacco, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Navneet Kapur, University of Manchester
Dr Will Lee, University of Exeter
Professor Borislava Mihaylova, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Stefan Priebe, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Peter Riou, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Mary Ryan, PPI representative
Professor Alan Simpson, Kings College London
Dr Helen Smith, Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Dr Melanie Smuk, Queen Mary University of London
McCabe, R., Garside, R., Backhouse, A. and Xanthopoulou, P. (2018). Effectiveness of brief psychological interventions for suicidal presentations: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 18(1). doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1663-5.
McCabe, R., Sterno, I., Priebe, S., Barnes, R., and Byng, R. (2017). How do healthcare professionals interview patients to assess suicide risk?. BMC psychiatry, 17(1):122.
For more information about the ASsuRED study, please contact:
Professor Rose McCabe, Principal Investigator Rose.McCabe@city.ac.uk
Dr Sally O’Keeffe, Programme Manager Sally.OKeeffe@city.ac.uk
