Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Prof Tom Burns
ORCID ID
Contact details
St George's Hospital Medical School
Jenner Wing
Cranmer Terrace
London
SW17 0RE
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 8682 6725
tburns@sghms.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
RDC01737
Study information
Scientific title
Acronym
Study hypothesis
Structured daily activity, and paid work in particular, have been shown to have significant impact on the outcome of ensuring psychotic disorders. This study will examine the impact of a dedicated 'work placement co-ordinator' on the access to work opportunities of 1000 patients currently in the care of secondary mental health services in two inner London Boroughs. The intervention will be compared to standard care using random allocation between 10 sector teams. The intervention consists of a training package on work placement for the team members and on-going team access to a vocational counsellor for advice. Outcome will be measured by improvements in individual patient activity at one year. Patient predictors of response to the intervention will be sought. Improvement in work activity is of direct benefit to individual patients in terms of self esteem and in stemming clinical and social deterioration. It has also been shown to reduce carer burden, thereby addressing the NHS's commitment to the needs of families and carers. Work activity may also reduce relapse rate in the longer term and may save on inpatient bed pressure. The establishment of even a small number of patients in paid employment represents enormous savings in social security transfer payments. A simple generalisable model for work placement in the NHS will be developed.
Ethics approval
Not provided at time of registration
Study design
Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Not specified
Trial type
Not Specified
Patient information sheet
Condition
Schizophrenia and other psychoses
Intervention
1. Patients in the intervention group will receive three seminars and information packs covering local employment opportunities over the three succeeding weeks. There is no further scheduled contact of the CMHT with the work co-ordinator but team staff will be encouraged to seek advice on a case by case basis.
2. Control - no intervention i.e. standard care
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Specified
Drug names
Primary outcome measures
Outcome will be assessed by recording the vocational status of all study subjects on an individual patient basis at one-year. Vocational status will be measured using 6 categories:
1. Unemployed/inactive
2. Other ata/education related activity
3. Education
4. Sheltered work
5. Voluntary work
6. Open employment.
These 6 categories are comprehensive and clearly defined, but not mutually exclusive as part-time occupation is registered. An individual patient may be involved in, for example, education (3) and sheltered work (4) simultaneously. In these cases both activities will be recorded.
Where there has been a change in vocational status, duration of employment activity will be recorded, and random interviews will check the accuracy of outcome data.
Client attitude and satisfaction will be measured in a sample of patients who obtained work/occupation, concerning their participation in the daily activity. The views of clients who did receive the intervention will be compared to matched case controls of those who returned to work/occupation in the control group.
Secondary outcome measures
Not provided at time of registration
Overall trial start date
02/05/2000
Overall trial end date
02/05/2001
Reason abandoned
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Have been in contact with the CMHT for at least one year
2. Have been out of work/education for at least one year
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
1000
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Men over 65
2. Women over 60
Recruitment start date
02/05/2000
Recruitment end date
02/05/2001
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
St George's Hospital Medical School
London
SW17 0RE
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
NHS R&D Regional Programme Register - Department of Health (UK)
Sponsor details
The Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NL
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7307 2622
dhmail@doh.gsi.org.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
NHS Executive London (UK)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Results - basic reporting
Publication summary
2003 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12908647
Publication citations
-
Results
O'Brien A, Price C, Burns T, Perkins R, Improving the vocational status of patients with long-term mental illness: a randomised controlled trial of staff training., Community Ment Health J, 2003, 39, 4, 333-347.