Mental Health
Feeling Safer – A Cohort Study and a Randomised Controlled Trial of a Guided Online Programme for the Treatment of Persecutory Delusions
Persecutory delusions (inaccurate beliefs that others intend to harm you) are very common in mental health conditions such as schizophrenia. Existing treatments often don’t work well enough. This is why we developed the Feeling Safe programme. We recently tested Feeling Safe in a clinical trial with 130 patients with persistent persecutory delusions. The treatment was delivered by clinical psychologists over 20 sessions. Half of people achieved large benefits. Another quarter made moderate gains. The challenge now is to make Feeling Safe widely available. So, we have created a six-month guided online version. A range of mental health workers can support the delivery of the treatment. The new programme is called Feeling Safer. Aim: By providing Feeling Safe in an accessible version, we aim to achieve substantially improved outcomes for the large number of people with persecutory delusions who have not responded sufficiently to current treatment. We now wish to assess the effectiveness of Feeling Safer. Methods: The project has four elements: 1. Initial clinical testing. 15 patients with persecutory delusions will receive Feeling Safer. They will be assessed before and after completing the intervention. If there is evidence of improvement in the delusions then we will proceed to the full clinical trial. 2. Full clinical trial. Feeling Safer will be tested in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial. 484 patients with persecutory delusions will be randomised to one of four conditions: Feeling Safer (added to standard care) supported by peer support workers, or graduate mental health workers, or CBT therapists, or standard care. 3. In-depth interviews. We will also interview a smaller number of patients, Feeling Safer deliverers, and other mental health staff to learn more about the therapy and how it may be used in the NHS. 4. Cost-effectiveness. We will analyse the cost-effectiveness of using Feeling Safer.
(Ends 31 October 2026)
Sleeping Better – A Randomised Controlled Trial Testing the Effects of Treating Sleep Difficulties in Patients at Ultra-High Risk of Psychosis and Patients Diagnosed with Non-Affective Psychosis
“I have now got the motivation to go out and start showing people what I can do. I have signed up to go back to college to go back into education and learn again.” Toby (after our sleep therapy) Most people with psychosis report sleep problems that are troubling for them, that exacerbate affective and psychotic symptoms, and that make thinking and everyday functioning more difficult. We want to follow through on the implications of what patients are telling us: that sleep problems are a problem in their own right and that successful treatment will bring numerous additional benefits. We aim therefore to conduct the first definitive test of the idea that psychological therapy can help people with psychosis to enjoy greatly improved sleep and that this will lead to gains in many other aspects of people’s lives. Our team has pioneered the treatment of sleep problems in psychosis, conducting feasibility trials with patients at ultra-high risk of psychosis, with patients diagnosed with psychosis, and with people admitted to psychiatric hospital. In each trial our eight-session intervention has achieved large effect size improvements in sleep. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial with two cohorts: 554 patients at ultra-high risk of psychosis and 554 patients with diagnosed psychosis (e.g. schizophrenia). Each cohort (ultra-high risk, diagnosed psychosis) will be reported separately. The primary outcome is improvement in sleep but the trial is powered in each cohort to detect change in three important secondary outcomes (mood, psychotic experiences, and cognitive functioning). We will test in each cohort how and for whom the treatment works, and gain further insights from patients in a peer-led qualitative investigation.
(Ends 31 December 2026)
Complex Emotions Hub
The study team are aiming to recruit up to 300 diverse participants (split over Sheffield & Livewell) who self-identify as having difficulties with complex emotions, with or without a formal diagnosis. By working with participants over time, we will explore how emotions, relationships, and behaviours interact, and how social and cultural factors shape these experiences. The findings will help improve care for both individuals and professionals. For more information or to sign up follow the link.
Complex Emotions Hub – Research Participants (Ends July 2026)
The GLAD Study
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health disorders worldwide. In the UK, 1 in 3 people will experience symptoms during their lifetime. The GLAD Study aims to better understand depression and anxiety in order to find effective treatments and improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders. A database of 50,000 people is being developed.
Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression Study – GLAD Study (Ends 01/09/2028)
DIAMONDS
The overall aim of this project is to develop and test a bespoke educational package to help people with severe mental illness and diabetes to manage their diabetes better. We also want to explore how this approach can be adapted for other long-term conditions.
www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/research/mental-health/projects/diamonds/ No longer open to recruitment, study in follow-up.
EDGI
This study is the UK’s largest ever research project on eating disorders. Our aim is to collect the psychological, medical, and genetic information of 10,000 people with experience of any eating disorder. This will help us to better understand the role both our genes and environment play in the development of these illnesses.
edgiuk.org/about/ (Ends 31/03/2028)
RADAR follow up study
Livewell previously took part in a randomised controlled trial exploring what happens to people who reduce and come off their antipsychotic medication gradually with support from their doctor, compared to people who stay on it. In the current study, we want to understand how things turn out in the long-run. In order to do this, we will to follow-up the people enrolled in the RADAR study a few years later to see how they are doing in the long-run.
No longer open to recruitment, study in follow-up.
Mental Health in the Moment: Daily life experiences of young people with ADHD
This study will capture the daily life experiences of 120 adolescents aged 12-14 years with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. We will collect some more information on participants’ moods and behaviours from online surveys. We will ask parents and young people to complete separate questionnaires at the beginning of the study. Young people will then be asked to download a smartphone app to complete short surveys on their phones five times a day over a two-week period (± 2 days). At the end of the study, we will ask parents and young people to complete another short questionnaire.
Ends December 2026
Parkinsons
Parkinsons Families Project (PFP)
The aim of the study is to identify new genes that predispose or cause Parkinson’s Disease or Parkinsonism. We are particularly interested in studying the genetic makeup of two groups of people:
- those who developed Parkinson’s before the age of 45; and
- those who have a family history of other relatives affected by Parkinson’s or other movement disorders.
Parkinson’s Family Projects :: Home (parkinsonsfamiliesprojects.com) (Ends 01/01/2030)
Stroke
PLORAS
Predicting Language Outcome and Recovery After Stroke. This invites people who have had a stroke at any time to undertake language assessments and reviews their brain scans.
www.ucl.ac.uk/ploras/ (Ends 20/08/2027)
Dementia
FAST (Feasability and Acceptability of Scalable Tests)
Join our study to explore remote blood sample collection and cognitive assessment. The study plans to assess attitudes to dementia risk screening using digital and blood tests.
No longer open to recruitment, study in follow up.
DIADEM (Digital assessment of auditory perception in dementia)
The study will assess how well their hearing tests identify patients with dementia at initial assessment, and then follow patients for 2 years to establish how well they predict dementia in those who did not receive a diagnosis of dementia initially, allowing some patients with dementia to have earlier access to treatment and support, and some patients without dementia to have earlier reassurance. The study will also assess whether our hearing tests have added value when used alongside emerging blood tests for dementia.
No longer open to recruitment, study in follow up.
Learning Disabilities
ICONIC – Improving quality of life in people with intellectual disability
About 18% of people with learning disability (also known as intellectual disability or ID) have behavioural problems such as being aggressive towards other people. Reasons include mental health problems and having a poor quality of life such as not having meaningful activities or friends. Behavioural problems can lead to the person being excluded from day services and having to leave their home if family and paid carers cannot cope with the behaviour. They may also be admitted to psychiatric hospital. There are psychological approaches that try to understand the cause of behaviour but only improve behaviour for short periods and do not appear to improve quality of life. One existing approach called DIALOG+, delivered by health professionals and supported by an app, does improve quality of life in people with mental health problems, but it has not been used in people with ID. We want to make DIALOG+ accessible and suitable for people with ID and to test if it improves quality of life and reduces behavioural problems. We will develop an adapted co-produced version of DIALOG+ (aDIALOG+) and we will do some initial testing with 5 clinicians from community ID teams and 5 care workers who will deliver aDIALOG+ to service users. We will then carry out a feasibility study of aDIALOG+ to see if it can be used by clinicians in community ID services and care workers in care homes. We will see if we can recruit enough clinicians (12), care workers (about 30-50 from 10 care homes) and service users (30 from community teams and about 40 from care homes) to take part, and look at how often aDIALOG+ is delivered. We will interview service users, clinicians and care workers to find out what they liked and did not like about aDIALOG+ and what could be improved.
(Ends 31 August 2026)
CECILIA
The study will be asking people and children with learning disabilities and autistic people and children, families and carers, C(E)TR panel members, and health, education and social care professionals including paid and unpaid care staff and Experts by Experience. The study team want to hear about their experiences and opinions of C(E)TRs and would like them to complete a survey. It should take about 25 to 30 minutes to complete and the study team can provide help to complete it. Those that take part will also get a £20 voucher. To find out more and take part scan the QR code.
(Ends September 2027)
Trauma Aid
Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with intellectual disabilities.
No longer open to recruitment, study in follow up.
Tissue Viability
Venus6
The VenUS-6 trial will compare evidence based compression (choice of four-layer bandage or two-layer compression hosiery), two-layer bandage or adjustable hook-and-loop fastened compression systems (“compression wraps”), to see if these make any difference to how quickly venous leg ulcers heal. To run this study we have set up our first research clinic space to see suitable patients from our tissue viability service.
VENUS-6 – Health Sciences, University of York No longer open to recruitment, study in follow-up.
Promise 2 (Intelligent Sensing to Promote Self-Management of Posture and Mobility)
Pressure Ulcers (PUs) represent a major burden to populations worldwide and have been attributed with the highest disability index for dermatological conditions. In 2017-2021 PROMISE was conducted across four community NHS Trusts, involving 100 patients. Following the completion of PROMISE (2021) all four community trusts have continued to implement CPM in their practice of pressure ulcer prevention. This follow up study will conduct a realist synthesis and evaluation in the community to develop a programme theory to explain how CPM works, for whom, under what circumstances, how and why?
No longer open to recruitment, study in follow-up.
COVID
STIMULATE (Symptoms, Trajectory, Inequalities and Management: Understanding Long-COVID to Address and Transform Existing Integrated Care Pathways)
Long COVID affects over a million people in the UK, with wide-ranging disabling symptoms. We need to better understand, diagnose, and treat this new disease. To do this effectively we need to join up services including specialists, hospitals, and community care, creating a care pathway
This will be the largest clinical study of long COVID to-date over two years.
https://www.stimulate-icp.org/ No longer open to recruitment, study in follow-up.
Heart Failure
ME-HF Trial – Monitoring oEdema in Heart Failure to Improve Function and Reduce Hospitalisation Risk (ME-HF)
We aim to find out whether the Heartfelt device can help people with heart failure feel better and stay well for longer by reducing complications related to their condition (for instance hospital admissions or the need for intravenous use of diuretics). Heart failure (HF) is a serious, long-term condition that affects millions of people around the world, especially older adults. It can lead to poor quality of life, frequent admissions to hospital, and sadly, can also shorten lives. Managing heart failure is not easy. Many people with heart failure struggle to keep up with the daily tasks needed to stay well, such as checking their weight, managing how much salt and fluid they take in, and remembering to take several different medications every day. This isn’t the patient’s fault, living with heart failure can be overwhelming, especially when people are feeling unwell, managing other health conditions, or also caring for a partner or other family members with long-term illness. This is where the Heartfelt device may help. Heartfelt is a simple, hands-free way to monitor patients’ health at home. It works automatically, so there is nothing to wear or remember to switch on. As patients walk past the device, it measures the size of their feet by using artificial intelligence. If it detects that foot volume is increasing (which can be a sign of fluid build-up), it sends a gentle alert. These alerts can remind patients to reduce salt or fluid intake, or to take their medication as prescribed. If the problem doesn’t go away, the device can notify a nurse or doctor, who can take action early, before things get worse, for instance, increasing the amount of water tablets taken by patients. By making self-monitoring easier, we hope the Heartfelt device will help more people with heart failure stay well at home and avoid hospital admissions.
Ends 1 September 2026
Coming soon…
Check back soon to find out about upcoming studies.
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