SMW: Supporting Mental Wellbeing

The SMW study aims to develop a relevant, acceptable and evidence-based intervention facilitating mutual support for mental wellbeing among people living with chronic physical conditions and their supporters.

Comorbid mental wellbeing issues are highly prevalent and worsen outcomes among people living with chronic physical conditions and their supporters. Studies of unmet needs in these groups have identified a thirst for strategies to help understand and manage mental wellbeing. Most previous studies of mental wellbeing interventions for people living with chronic physical conditions and their supporters have been conducted in narrowly defined populations, and few facilitate mutual support.

The study is being conducted in three phases: literature review, interviews and focus groups. Phases 2 and 3 are being conducted with people living with one or more of five chronic physical conditions (cancer, chronic pain, coronary heart disease, dementia and stroke) and their supporters.

Twenty-five service-users and twenty-five supporters are to be interviewed, some participating as individuals and some participating as service-user-supporter dyads. Ideas for a prototype intervention generated from these interviews will be further developed and improved through half day focus groups involving people living with chronic conditions and their supporters.

 

Publications

Here is a list of recent publications relating to cognitive function. A full list of publications is available here.

1. Relationship of Self-Rated Health to Stroke Incidence and Mortality in Older Individuals with and without a History of Stroke: A Longitudinal Study of the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing (CFAS) Population. (2016) PLoS One
2. Baseline characteristics, analysis plan and report on feasibility for the Prevention Of Decline in Cognition After Stroke Trial (PODCAST). (2015) Trials
3. Warfarin versus aspirin for prevention of cognitive decline in atrial fibrillation. (2014) Stroke