Risk Factors For Compliance With Command Hallucinations In Psychotic Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,290.00
Summary
There is widespread public concern about the danger individuals with schizophrenia or related disorders pose to themselves and to the community. Whilst a number of violence risk factors such as being male, exhibiting hostility, and having a prior history of violence are well established, they are of limited use to clinicians in making management decisions. Our study will investigate a different approach to identify individuals and occasions when a sufferer might require more intensive care or ob ....There is widespread public concern about the danger individuals with schizophrenia or related disorders pose to themselves and to the community. Whilst a number of violence risk factors such as being male, exhibiting hostility, and having a prior history of violence are well established, they are of limited use to clinicians in making management decisions. Our study will investigate a different approach to identify individuals and occasions when a sufferer might require more intensive care or observation. Most individuals with schizophrenia experience auditory hallucinations. Amongst these hallucinations, voices that command the individual to undertake a particular action are common; many of these involve significant potential harm to the hallucinator or to other persons. We will attempt to identify those factors that are associated with an individual obeying command hallucinations. Variables to be examined include the characteristics of the hallucinated voices, and the beliefs of the subject about the power of the voices. Subjects will be interviewed to find out whether they have delusions that are consistent with their hallucinations, whether they suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder, or are dependent on alcohol or drugs. We will also determine whether subjects who report being raised by authoritarian parents, who are dependent on the approval of others, or who see external factors as determining the occurrence of major events in their lives, are more likely to act on their hallucinations. Two groups of 100 patients will be studied. One group will be representative of people living in the community with schizophrenia. The other group will be people with schizophrenia who have been treated by the State Forensic Psychiatric Services. Statistical models will be developed in order to determine the accuracy with which compliance with command hallucinations can be predicted. These models with also reveal which risk factors are the most important.Read moreRead less
Investigating Patterns Of Use And Risk Behaviour Among The Emerging Population Of People Who Inject Performance And Image-enhancing Drugs
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$320,891.00
Summary
The provision of health services to an emerging and growing population of people who inject performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is producing new and unexpected challenges because the injecting practices, physiological effects and health-related harms associated with PIEDs injection are very different to those associated with injection of psychoactive drugs. This proposal will investigate patterns of PIEDs use and assess injection-related risk behaviour among this population.
Improving Cardiovascular Health And Quality Of Life In People With Severe Mental Illness: A Randomised Trial Of A ‘partners In Health’ Intervention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$960,320.00
Summary
People with severe mental illness die 13-30 years earlier than other people, mostly from physical illnesses especially cardiovascular disease. Physical health care services are poor for these patients and need urgent improvement. Our team has developed a process to deliver good physical health care using the Flinders Program and recovery framework. This project evaluates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the process, and shows how health services can deliver physical health care.