RE:SOLVE - Exploring the acceptability and feasibility of a Problem Solving Therapy programme for young people at risk of self harm.
University of Auckland
24 participants
Jul 1, 2011
Interventional
Conditions
Summary
In New Zealand (NZ), quite a number of young people harm themselves every year. One possible reason is that some young people have problems in their lives they don’t know how to solve. RE:SOLVE is a Problem Solving Therapy (PST) programme that might help by teaching young people to problem solve more effectively. The main aim of this study is to explore whether young people and therapists find PST an acceptable and feasible approach. This is achieved through a qualitative study of the resource development, a qualitative study of the training programme, and an open trial in which 20 eligible young people will be offered RE:SOLVE PST in addition to TAU from a practitioner who had taken part in the RE:SOLVE training. The open trial will use measures of mood, hopelessness, problem solving skills, suicidal thinking and function. The qualitative aspects of the study will use questionnaires and in depth interviews.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria14
- Eligibility criteria for CAMHS and PHO environments are as follows:
- Referral to the service occurs following a first episode of self harm OR
- Referral to the service occurs amid concerns about self harm with a history of at least one previous episode of self harm OR
- Currently involved with the service and self harms during study period
- Between the ages of 13 and 18 years inclusive
- Cognitively able to cope with therapy
- Fluency in English
- Eligibility criteria for school environment are as follows:
- Client presents at mild to moderate risk of self harm
- Client is not accepted by CAMHS following a referral OR
- Client does not meet the criteria for a referral to CAMHS
- Between the ages of 13 and 18 years inclusive
- Cognitively able to cope with therapy
- Fluency in English
Exclusion Criteria2
- Current psychosis
- Involvement with another study
Interested in this trial?
Get notified about updates and connect with the research team.
Interventions
The intervention consists of 6 - 10 one hour sessions of one to one Problem Solving Therapy(PST) after a presentation to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, school guidance counsellor, or mental health practitioner in a Primary Health organsiation, following an episode of self harm, or at risk of self harm. The sessions are delivered by either a school guidance counsellor, a practitioner in the PHO, or a practitiner in the CAMHS, who has completed the RE:SOLVE training workshop.Ideally the client will receive 2 sessions in the first week to get the therapy well underway. After this, sessions will be weekly. PST is a psycho educational approach in which the therapist works with the client to learn a problem solving process and apply it to their (the client's) real life problems. They learn problem identification and definition, solution generation, solution evaluation and selection, making a plan to carry out a solution, carrying out the plan, and evaluating the solution. The sessions take place over a maximum of a three month period. The variation in the number of sessions received is based on how quickly and thoroughly the client learns the problem solving process and the constraints (or non existence of) within the work place of the various practitioners. For example, the PHO has only 4-6 sessions with each client, whereas the school guidance counsellors are not restricted in their number of sessions. The CAMHS in the study don't have strict limitations either. Clients are followed up 3 months after the therapy ends so remain involved in the study for 6 months. This has been re designed as an open trial so there will be no control group. Instead all clients who are eligible for the study and who wish to take part, will be able to do so. This will enable us to better assess the acceptability and feasibility of the RE:SOLVE problem solving pathway. It also makes the study more accessible to participating agencies.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ANZCTR
For the most up-to-date information, visit the official listing.
ACTRN12610000569000