iSWITCHED Project Improving the management of people with severe mental illness

Nearly 500,000 people in England live with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. People experiencing these disorders have a reduced life expectancy of 15-20 years lower than people in the general population.

Over 60% of deaths within this population are due to potentially preventable physical health conditions, mainly cardiovascular diseases, like heart disease or stroke. Some of these preventable conditions can be attributed to side-effects from antipsychotic medications, which are used to treat severe mental illness. Switching medications to ones that do not cause such side-effects, may be possible. However, up until now this has not been adequately researched.

Professor Saeed Farooq (Consultant Psychiatrist at MPFT) is leading a research study called iSWITCHED. This research is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and developed in collaboration with colleagues at the universities of Keele, Manchester, and Sheffield.

The research aims to develop and test a new intervention that will enable clinicians to apply evidence-based guidance on reviewing and switching antipsychotic medication, for patients with severe mental illness. The intervention will be person-centred to ensure the patient remains at the heart of the treatment decision. Research has been supported and informed by service users and caregivers throughout.

As part of the study, the following activities will be carried out:

? Reviewing existing evidence and guidelines.

? Hosting stakeholder workshops to explore this topic with a variety of healthcare professionals that work with people with a severe mental illness.

? Interviewing service users and caregivers.

? Developing a new education intervention with input from stakeholders.

? Piloting the education intervention.

? Conducting an evaluation to see how to implement the intervention in the real world.

The study is due for completion in 2025 and is expected to have important implications for clinical practice in the UK and elsewhere.

Findings will be shared throughout the research in several formats (published reports, presentations, visual animations, and plain English summaries) to reach a broad audience.

For further information about this research, please contact Research Associate: Prachi Kaistha on email: [email protected]