Part of
RCOMH’s
role is
to be
focal
point
for
research
so that
people
can link
up with
other
people
researching
in the
same
area. To
this end
we have
had a
request
from an
occupational
therapist,
Katie
Greathead,
who is
working
in the
STEP
(Support
and
Treatment
in Early
Psychosis)
Team in
Lincoln.
She is
looking
for
people
who
would be
interested
in
developing
research
about
the use
of
mobile
phones
in early
intervention
in
psychosis.
Katie
says
“Our
service
users
range in
age from
16 to 35
and are
predominantly
young
males,
the
majority
of whom
use
mobile
phones.
I have
found
that
making
mobile
phone
calls a
useful
way of
making
contact,
checking
if
service
users
are in
when you
visit
and
being an
appropriate
means of
access
if they
need to
get hold
of you,
especially
if they
are in a
crisis.
More
importantly,
by
sending
and
receiving
text
messages
we can
do all
of the
above
and
maintain
communication
when a
service
user may
not want
to
answer a
phone
call
directly,
feels
too
paranoid
to do so
and does
not
quite
know if
they can
trust
you
and/or
are
still
weighing
you and
the
service
up. They
do,
however,
appear
to like
and
benefit
from
someone
maintaining
an
interest
in them
and
their
everyday
lives by
informal
text
messaging.
This can
be
really
effective
when
beginning
to
engage
with new
service
users
and
guide
the
process
of
developing
a
meaningful
therapeutic
rapport.
Are
there
any
other
people
out
there,
ideally
working
as a
researcher
or in
early
intervention
(or
both?),
who
would
like to
be part
of a
research
project
on the
use of
mobiles
in
therapeutic
interventions
with
service
users?
Please
contact
me
directly
-
Katie.Greathead@lpft.nhs.uk”