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King's College London (KCL) researchers developed cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp), which is now a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended psychological intervention. CBTp is now part of routine NHS treatment and an estimated 25,000 patients in England and Wales receive it annually. Implementation of CBTp has been steered by KCL researchers' involvement with the Government's Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies — Severe Mental Illness initiative. The KCL model for CBTp has been used to develop clinics in Australia and the US and information on this therapy is disseminated via a KCL-led website.
Anorexia nervosa affects 1-4% of people over their lifetime with approximately half of all adolescents with anorexia requiring inpatient treatment. A specific form of family therapy, developed at the Maudsley Hospital and evaluated by researchers at King's College London through a series of randomised controlled trials, has been widely acknowledged as the principal evidence-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa. The treatment is recommended by NICE in the UK and clinical guidelines in other countries and is strongly supported by advocacy and carer groups. It has influenced service commissioning with a growing number of specialist family-oriented outpatient services being developed in the UK and abroad. The Maudsley service model has been adopted by the Department of Health's Increased Access to Psychological Treatments programme as a specialist component of Systemic Family Therapy training.
Psychosis affects 3-4% of the UK population and is ranked as the third most disabling condition worldwide by the World Health Organisation. Research at the University of Glasgow has changed treatment and services for patients with psychosis by identifying therapies that improve emotional recovery and prevent psychosis relapse and by contributing to the development of early intervention services for individuals with a first episode of psychosis. This work has supported the inclusion of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for psychosis in national clinical guidelines and the implementation of these guidelines via an expanded UK Department of Health programme. University of Glasgow research has also driven the development and expansion of local early intervention services for psychosis, the success of which has directly informed the current Scottish Government Mental Health Strategy.
Schizophrenia, a severe and disabling mental disorder, affects about 285,000 people in the UK. It is associated with a progressive course, poor social and occupational functioning, a high suicide rate, premature death from physical illness and high use of health services including in-patient beds. Medication is the preferred treatment but response is limited. Prior to the publication of research carried out by Professor Stephen Pilling and colleagues at UCL there was uncertainty about the effectiveness of psychological interventions. This work established the case for psychological interventions in NICE guidelines and psychological interventions for schizophrenia are now widely available and used in the NHS.
Research at King's College London (KCL) showed that use of cannabis, especially high potency types such as `Skunk', increases the risk of psychosis. The work has demonstrated that adolescents who start early and carry some genetic vulnerability are at highest risk and that experimental cannabis administration alters brain function and induces transient psychosis. KCL research has led to increased public awareness of the adverse effects of cannabis use on mental health, in the UK and abroad, and sparked a public debate in the UK on the legal status of the drug ending with the Government reclassifying cannabis from Category C to Category B. KCL research on brain function has facilitated a collaboration with industry to develop new psychiatric medication.
Psychosis devastates quality of life. Since 1995, work led by Professor David Fowler at The University of East Anglia (UEA) has made significant contributions to a series of UK and international trials which show that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is effective in reducing distress, emotional dysfunction and social disability in patients with chronic schizophrenia, and as part of early intervention services for first episode and at-risk patients. This work has had a major impact on mental health services as reflected in national and international mental health policy guidance, service development guidance, policy implementation guidance and training programmes for mental health workers.
Eating disorders affect 5-10% of young people and in many cases persist into adulthood. At their most severe they can evoke intense emotional responses from those closest to the person. King's College London (KCL) research established that the response from others, combined with personal factors and beliefs, were key maintaining factors in the disorder. As a result, KCL researchers developed self-help materials that reduced distress and improved carers' ability to manage the person they were helping. This intervention programme has been adapted into a workshop, a self- help book, a DVD and a clinical handbook. The programme has been adopted by two of the largest UK eating disorder charities (BEAT and SUCCEED) and is recommended by the USA-based international charity FEAST and forms the basis of local NHS and international services including in the USA and Australia.
Professor Alex Copello took a leading role in conducting research on the consequences of drug and alcohol addiction for the families of the substance users as well as the users themselves, leading to the Stress-Strain-Coping-Support (SSCS) model of understanding addictions and the impact of these problems on families. The model was used to develop and evaluate family treatment interventions. Compared with other psychosocial treatments for substance users, family treatment interventions have the key advantage of addressing the difficulties also experienced by families of substance users, in addition to the users themselves. This work has increased national and international recognition of the importance of families in treating substance addiction in policy, and has resulted in the needs of the family being recognised for the first time in the 10-year Drug Strategy for England in 2008. It has led to family-based interventions being recommended in national clinical guidance from NICE and from the National Treatment Agency for substance misusers. Copello and his team have been actively involved in training large numbers of clinical services and practitioners in the use of these therapeutic methods, and the methods are being adopted in many other countries.
Studies conducted at Imperial College, over the last 20 years, have improved the rational, evidence-based treatment of schizophrenia. Our research has covered symptomatology, neurocognitive function, medication side effects, and comorbid substance use, and involved clinical trials of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments. We lead national quality improvement programmes supporting the implementation of psychopharmacological practice standards. Our work has impacted upon the understanding, clinical assessment and treatment of this condition in both first-episode patients and established schizophrenia, and has improved prescribing practice and the identification and assessment of side-effects.
Lancaster research has changed the understanding and treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) from biological models and pharmacological treatments to integrated psychosocial interventions complementary to routine medication and matched to user needs. We have developed novel psychological interventions (individual, family and group approaches), and reliable and valid ways to assess valued outcomes and underlying mechanisms of change. This research has delivered 3 major impacts. It has: fundamentally changed understanding of the condition in professional and lay audiences; changed treatment in terms of policy and practice, including NICE clinical guidelines; changed professional training delivered both nationally and internationally.