Mental health nursing and occupational therapy research showcased in Research Bulletin

In its fourth Research Bulletin for 2024, our Academic Institute shares the latest research news and activity here in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS).

The Academic Institute is focused on strengthening research culture and supporting research activity in SPMHS, and it publishes a Research Bulletin every quarter to showcase all that’s going on.

You can see some highlights from the latest Research Bulletin below.

Nursing research wall launch

Congratulations to our Nursing Department on the recent launch of the Nurses’ Research Wall.

The Nurses’ Research Wall has been installed in our Nurses Education Centre, sharing publications and conference posters by nursing staff in SPMHS. The wall aims to celebrate and showcase the expansion of research work within the Nursing Department.

You can hear more about research by our members of our Nursing Department in Mental Health Conversations, our new podcast on mental health nursing.

Listen to the episode on nursing research below, and get all podcast episodes here.

Research publications and presentations

Staff across SPMHS have seen a wide range of their research activities and outcomes published in several prominent Irish and international academic journals and publications.

Published research covers a diversity of topics, including:

• Service user experiences of a new group formulation programme here in SPMHS, shared in the European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
• The role of health professionals in climate change and health, published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine
• The research needs of higher specialist trainees in Ireland, shared in the BJPsych bulletin
• Indications of change for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for depression, published in The Journal of ECT.

You can see all recent research publications here.

Staff also delivered research updates and outcomes at a number of conferences and events in recent months, such as:

• Dr Cathal McCaffrey presenting on the delivery of inpatient psychiatric care virtually at the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI) Winter Conference in November
• Dr Emer Doody, Professor Declan McLoughlin, Dr Clare O’Toole and Dr Karen Ryan presenting on the impact of anorexia nervosa on biological aging at the CPI Winter Conference
• Andrea Gallagher and Rachel Doyle of our Occupational Therapy Department presenting on a community outing group in an inpatient adolescent service at the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland’s Mental Health Advisory Group Study Day in November
• Dr Gráinne Donohue, Programme Manager of our Academic Institute, and Siobhan Scanlon from Dublin Business School presenting on an exploration of what the renaissance, or growth, in psychedelics mean for psychotherapists at the Irish Doctors for Psychedelic Assisted Therapy’s Psychedelic Research Conference in Trinity College Dublin in October. 

Research on the group formulation programme

The researchers behind the published article on service user experiences of a group formulation programme shared more on the development of this paper.

Formulation is an approach used in psychology to help people understand their life stories, by reflecting on how their backgrounds, life experiences, coping methods have brought them to where they are today, as well as considering their strengths and ways they can build on these.

The authors - Clodagh Dowling, Ruth Groarke, Violet Johnstone, Emer Long, Claire O'Driscoll Lawrie, Aideen O'Neill, O'Reilly and Treasa Skelly – are all members of our Psychology Department. You can read the full group formulation programme research paper here.

Why is this paper important?

Despite its centrality to clinical psychology, research regarding psychological formulation has primarily focused on the perspectives of clinicians and researchers. ‘Bottom-up’ research into client experiences remains in its infancy.

What was the aim of the research?

This study aimed to explore participants’ experience and understanding of their formulations before and after completing a group intervention designed to increase self-awareness and comprehension of personal formulations.

Who was involved?

Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was used to analyse data and develop themes summarising essential experiences. 21 adults attending two streams of a novel Group Formulation Programme participated in semi-structured interviews pre-programme, with 15 taking part post-programme. The groups comprised eight and 12 sessions between May 2022 and January 2023.

Analysis produced the five overarching themes across pre/post-programme of understanding, coping, self, journey and the group.

Analysis of pre-data produced four themes:

1. Challenging Life Experiences
2. The Cyclical Nature of Coping
3. At an Impasse
4. Fractured Self.

Post-intervention data produced four themes:

1. New Understandings
2. Repairing the Relationship with Self
3. Peaks, Valleys, and the Road Ahead
4. Group Experience.

What did the research find?

Results indicated that, pre-intervention, participants had a good understanding of potential factors contributing to their difficulties, such as a traumatic experience, but reported confusion around coping and self-relating, which impacted psychological and psychosocial functioning.

Post-intervention, participants reported an increased sense of how past and present related to difficulties and decreased self-blame, indicating that formulation was an intervention that brings about change. Participants noted benefits in line with other research in this area, but also noted challenges associated with formulation, including feelings of overwhelm and grief.

Are there future research plans?

In conjunction with the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Psychology, the SPMHS Psychology Department plans to develop a formulation questionnaire based on the themes derived from this research.

Researcher spotlight

Deirdre Ryan, a Senior Occupational Therapist (OT) here in SPMHS, gives an overview of her research interests and activity.

Can you tell us about your research career to date?

Being honest, when I initially completed my undergraduate degree, I had no significant interest in completing further research or additional study. Occupational therapy practice is so focused on practical skills and engaging people in activities, so I was motivated to gain experience of working with service users in my early career.

However, when I started working within the addiction and dual diagnosis services in SPMHS, I became aware there were very few papers published in this clinical area that discussed or described the role of occupational therapy. There was limited available research to support evidence-based practice in the area for OTs and I also noticed a significant absence of published research outlining the experience of those who engaged with occupational therapy services while undertaking addiction treatment.

To build the research base and explore if I was working in an evidence-based manner, I undertook a Masters of Science degree (MSc) in Advanced Healthcare Practice through the University of Limerick. The course provided me with an opportunity to enhance my research skills and allowed me to undertake research projects focused on occupational therapy, substance use and addiction recovery treatment.

I published two papers outlining some of the work I had undertaken as part of the MSc: a scoping review looking at descriptions of the use of occupational therapy within addiction treatment and a research paper looking at service users’ learning and experience of the occupational therapy lecture input on the addiction programmes within SPMHS.

Completing the research and taking it onto publication has been hugely beneficial for my learning and clinical skills, but it has also supported me to connect with other OTs worldwide who work with people impacted by substance use and addictive behaviours. I have been afforded opportunities to present my learning internationally and I have gained so much knowledge and learning from my OT colleagues who work within different settings and systems globally.

What are you currently working on?

I have slowed down slightly since I published the last paper in 2023; however, my interest in research continues. Earlier this year, I joined the editorial committee of the Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy to act as a representative of OTs in clinical practice. The role involves reviewing and managing paper submissions to determine suitability for publication, providing feedback to the authors, informing the direction of the journal and selecting articles of interest to the OT community in Ireland and promoting the journal within Ireland and further afield. We have attracted some really interesting submissions since I joined the committee, which I am looking forward to seeing in print over the coming months.

What do you see as a priority for mental health research over the next five years?

Within the field of occupational therapy, I think it is so important to support and encourage clinicians to undertake practice-based research and to move the research they do complete to publication. This is particularly important in the area of mental health, as available research continues to be so limited.

OTs tend not to consider publication of research or clinical findings, maybe because our work is so focused on supporting and encouraging engagement in activities that we tend to think the process stops with application of the research findings. The lack of publication of research means clinicians who work in smaller settings, isolated clinical areas and emerging areas of practice can get siloed or can be unsure if the approaches they are undertaking are appropriate or being applied to an adequate standard. Once I started to research and disseminate my findings, I found a whole network of people interested in my work and I have also gained so much from them in return. So just getting stuck into research and sharing our learning and expertise more widely needs to be a priority.

Where can we find your work?

The papers I have published can be found on the research page of the SPMHS website, or through the open access pages of the Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy and the journal Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment. I have also contributed to a podcast for the American Occupational Therapy Association, called the Everyday Evidence Podcast, where I discuss the learning from my research.