The lives of young people with psychosis are being transformed due to a new study focussing on early intervention.
The EYE-2 study – the follow-on from the Early Youth Engagement (EYE) project – looked to refine and evaluate the work of the first study, which was developed as a new approach for working with young people, their parents and Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) staff, to prevent poor engagement in services.
EYE-2 was led by researchers at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), with patient and public involvement (PPI) work from McPin, and funding by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Early psychosis interventions mean better outcomes
Research looking at first episodes of psychosis has previously discovered that the earlier an intervention is carried out, the better the outcome for patients.
Service users and carers said the EYE approach helped with isolation, trust, personal goals, better communication with the service, shared decision making with staff, and family involvement.
The EYE-2 approach includes a website, booklet series co-written with young people, and other resources to support young people and families.
It includes a training programme for staff in how to work flexibly, honestly and openly using key, well established ‘motivational’ techniques to help young people achieve their goals.
The study found that the EYE-2 intervention is a low-cost therapeutic approach with booklets and a website co-produced with service users, families and clinicians that are well-liked, safe and easy to use to engage young people and families in psychosis services and for the training and induction of new staff.
It is also associated with lower unplanned inpatient service costs and social and occupational benefits, with six weeks more time in education and training per year, and more time in employment and stable housing.
I thought it would be a great experience for myself, and an amazing opportunity to highlight the EYE-2 project as well as to highlight and raise awareness of psychosis to more people.
Craig Mackie, Peer Support Worker
BBC interview “an amazing opportunity to raise awareness of psychosis”
Craig Mackie was under the Early Intervention services for three years after developing psychosis in his twenties. He said being part of this ‘changed his life’ and he is now a peer support worker, helping others with psychosis.
Craig was interviewed by the BBC on 30th November:
“The BBC interview was a more enjoyable experience than I expected it to be,” he told us. “The interviewer put me at ease, which I feel made the interview better.
“It was amazing I had the opportunity to do this, and I decided to go through with it because I thought it would be a great experience for myself, and an amazing opportunity to highlight the EYE-2 project as well as to highlight and raise awareness of psychosis to more people.”
“I got back into work through EYE-2”
Speaking more broadly about the project, Craig shared how debilitating psychosis can be, adding that there is still a lot of stigma around the condition.
“The most helpful thing for me when I was under the Early Intervention in Psychosis Services, is being able to meet up with people going through a similar thing to myself and being in a space knowing that I’m not being judged,” he said.
“This provides such fantastic support and something that I have helped to set up within my team, but also to keep it running and grow it from strength to strength to help the people we work with.
“I got back into work through the EYE-2 research project. This is where I learnt about the EYE-2 booklets and the website.
“These are amazing resources and are still used by myself and the teams I work in now. I direct people to use the website as a resource as it can be used by both patients, families and friends as well as the public.”
This was the largest ever real-world whole population study of outcomes for young people in UK EIP (Early Intervention in Psychosis) services.
Kathryn Greenwood, Professor of Clinical Psychology at SPFT and University of Sussex
“No one was excluded from the study”
The website covers different topics, from telling people’s own stories of psychosis to treatment options, advice and support.
Kathryn Greenwood, Professor of Clinical Psychology at SPFT and University of Sussex, said: “This was the largest ever real-world whole population study of outcomes for young people in UK EIP (Early Intervention in Psychosis) services – no-one was excluded from the study.
“This is important because this means that our findings are highly representative of what happens day-to-day in EIP services across the UK.”
Clinicians, families and young people can find supportive resources and booklets here.
This research has been exclusively published in the British Journal of Psychiatry – you can access the most recent paper here.
Papers from the pilot project, ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ representation and big data analysis are also available by clicking the links.
Find out more on the McPin EYE-2 project page.
