None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of the study is to evaluate whether an internationally recognised group program, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Recovery from Psychosis, when delivered in routine practice by trained local clinicians, is effective in helping personal recovery for consumers living with psychotic disorders. The group program consists of 7 weekly sessions and one follow-up/booster session, each of 90 minutes duration. Participation in the evaluation is open to consumers who attend a group program as part of their routine clinical care at participating mental health services in Melbourne, Australia. We expect that participants’ personal recovery will stay the same while they wait for the group to start, then their personal recovery will improve from the start to the end of the group and then it will stay about the same after the group ends.
Interventions
• Brief name: ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program
• Materials: The ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program includes seven core group sessions and one booster session. The topics that comprise the seven core group sessions are: introduction to noticing/awareness of present experiences and values; introduction to passengers on the bus metaphor and SMART goals; review of values, noticing and willingness; identification of passengers and different ways of responding to them and development
• Brief name: ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program • Materials: The ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program includes seven core group sessions and one booster session. The topics that comprise the seven core group sessions are: introduction to noticing/awareness of present experiences and values; introduction to passengers on the bus metaphor and SMART goals; review of values, noticing and willingness; identification of passengers and different ways of responding to them and development of noticing skills; passengers on the bus and changing relationships with words; review of values and encourage sharing of value-guided actions; review of key group messages. • Procedures: Psychoeducation, facilitated discussions and reflections, experiential activities (guided informal and formal meditations), reflective activities, planned out-of-session activities, role-play activities. Use of audio-visuals and handout materials to aid learning designed specifically for the intervention (http://actforpsychosis.com/). Reminder calls and/or messages to prompt attendance. • Who will deliver?: The ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program is conducted at participating centres either as part of a clinical program of groups routinely offered to consumers, or as periodic opportunities. Group leaders are primarily clinical psychologists employed by the centres as clinical service providers. • Mode of delivery: Face-to-face in a group setting. • Frequency of intervention: Eight 90-minute sessions; 7 core group sessions run once per week for 7 weeks, and a booster session about 4 weeks after session 7. • Location: At community mental health service centres operated by four public health agencies in Melbourne, Australia. • Personalised?: The intervention will not be personalised, titrated or adapted to groups of individuals in the intervention • Adherence/fidelity?: Adherence to the intervention will be monitored by the senior investigators. Group clinicians will document whether there were any modifications to the group program. In addition, a semi-structured interview with the group clinicians after each group program will be conducted by senior investigators to gather qualitative data about the group program. The duration of the interview is estimated to be 30 minutes. Allocation to intervention: The ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program is an intervention already offered in routine practice in public mental health outpatient centres in Australia. All participants who were referred to (by clinician, treatment team, or self-referred) and decide to attend the ‘Recovery ACT for Psychosis’ Group Program will be invited to participate in the evaluation of the intervention.
Sponsors
La Trobe University
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Out-patients aged 18-65; have a primary file diagnosis of either a schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorder, a mood disorder with psychotic features, or a substance-induced psychotic disorder; currently receiving outpatient mental health care at one of the study centres; self-referred or referred by clinical staff to a Recovery ACT group being conducted by a participating centre.
Exclusion criteria
Lack capacity to consent to this evaluation; lack proficiency in speaking and comprehending English; file diagnosis of an intellectual disability (an intellectual development disorder) or borderline personality disorder.
Outcome results
None listed