Why do research?

Because we think it’s important to understand more about psychosis. We think that learning more about this condition is important to people with psychosis and their families. Better understanding will also help in designing treatments and health services. It’s not clear why, but services that take part in health research achieve better outcomes than those that don’t. 

What kinds of research do we do in CAMEO?

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH:

How common is psychosis? We are especially unclear about how common mild psychosis is. Can we develop ways of predicting how common psychosis will be, for any given area, from simple statistics like the number of people living in an area and how old they are? This would help NHS planners knowing how many staff to employ in different parts of the country; it also suggests causes and mechanisms behind the development of psychosis. 

For people with psychosis, how many have jobs? How many have other health problems, such as being in poor physical health? How many use drugs and alcohol? How many are well enough to live on their own, and how many need supported accommodation? This will help NHS planning to deliver the right treatments. 

Do people with psychosis have memory and problem solving difficulties? Do these difficulties       explain in part why some patients find it hard to get or keep jobs? 

Back to the top 

BIOLOGY RESEARCH:

Are there particular brain areas or brain processes that are affected in psychosis? Is there a clear relationship between symptoms and brain function or not? Currently we are looking, using MRI brain scanning, especially at 2 kinds of symptoms – positive symptoms (unusual ideas and hallucinations) and negative symptoms (especially difficulties with motivation and enjoyment). Do different brain problems underpin these different symptoms (perhaps suggesting different treatment are appropriate for them)?

Are there particular genes that increase the risk of developing psychosis? If so, in what way do they increase the risk? Do they affect brain structure, thinking styles, memory? If we understand genes better it could help drug companies develop new drugs in future.  

Can we find blood tests that would help in diagnosing psychosis?, or blood tests to help predict which people with psychosis will tend to need more or less help from us?

Back to the top

TREATMENT RESEARCH 

Can medication improve the memory, concentration and problem solving difficulties? or does it only help with symptoms but not affect these issues?

Can talking therapy help people get back to work? 

Can talking therapy stop or delay mild psychosis worsening into severe illness?

Do specialist services like CAMEO produce better outcomes than traditional, non-specialist services?  

Is it helpful to spend money on paying for a specialist nurse to educate GPs and Colleges about psychosis? Would that help people with early psychosis get treatment and specialist help earlier? Or is it just as effective to send a leaflet to GPs and Colleges and use the money in other ways?

Who pays for the research we do?

The money comes from several sources. These include the Department of Health Research Budget (now called the National Institutes of Health Research), the Medical Research Council, The Stanley Medical Research Foundation (an American mental health research charity), Glaxo-Smith-Kline (a drugs company), NARSAD (another American mental health research charity). Often the money is awarded to us to do research in collaboration with Cambridge University. Another advantage of the research is that it sometimes means extra staff are available in CAMEO to do clinical work. We have several members of staff – doctors, nurses and social workers whose salary is paid from research funds but who also do part-time clinical work as well as research, and who have contracts with both the Trust and the University.  

The quality and ethical requirements of all the research we do is assured by external scientific reviews, the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Foundation Trust that has clear clinical and research governance procedures and by NHS Research Ethics Committees. 

Back to the top