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Ruth Ambrose

Award Title: Career Development Award 

Start Date: June 2022

End Date: September 2023

Location of Research: Greater Manchester 

Main collaborating organisations associated with the project (e.g. community, third sector): MIND, Independent Mental Health Network. 

Project title: Life after discharge from mental health services. Understanding the experiences of service users with severe mental illness in general practices: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study within a primary care network in Greater Manchester.  

Brief summary: People living with severe mental illness (SMI) are one of the most marginalised and disenfranchised groups in society. These conditions have the potential to severely impair functional and occupational activities, increase the likelihood of social exclusion and rank among the top 10 causes of disability in developed countries worldwide. 

There is no clear direction as to who should manage patients with stable SMI, who no longer require the expertise of specialist secondary care services. A number of these patients continue to have a high need for treatment, monitoring and support, despite no longer having acute symptomology and not meeting the high thresholds for community mental health services.  

There is a need to understand patients experiences of having their care solely managed in general practice.  

Methods: Qualitative 

Benefits anticipated: The findings from this study could begin to address the gap in evidence and have the potential to inform new, PPI co–designed, models of care, that better serve the needs of these patients.