Research conversation: Supporting research for mental health carers

About the event

The team behind this project conducted a small-scale study of support offered to carers of people using NHS secondary mental health services. They found that it would be possible to conduct a larger trial and are currently applying for funding to support that.

The trial offers an information, peer support and skills course to carers of people experiencing chronic emotion dysregulation e.g. difficulties in relationship, self-harm and suicidality.

The research team recruits carers, and also their loved-one in NHS care. Their aim is to understand whether participants experience any changes from the carer attending the course and being supported to learn essential supportive skills to communicate and cope in crisis situations.

What can you contribute?

The research team is keen to bring more people with lived experience to their Advisory Group for the new trial. They would like to include more service users with chronic emotion dysregulation and their carers in the group.

The research team is aware that it can be a burden for people who experience emotion dysregulation to maintain a long-term contribution to research without support.

They would like to explore different ways of working e.g. with existing support groups where any research effort can be shared and made by members on an ad hoc basis.

About the speaker

Karen Bulsara is a Research Associate with the University of York and the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP).

She gave up her former career in public health and development aid to become a carer for a family member, who experienced a mental health crisis.

This experience informs her passion and commitment to lived-experience research to support people with high sensitivity and emotion dysregulation, and their carers.

What is a research conversation?

Research conversations are hosted by People in Health West of England and are informal sessions which are designed to give researchers and public contributors a chance to interact. Public contributors are encouraged to ask questions, learn about, and get involved in projects in their area.