University of Oxford
Keywords: Depression, low mood, therapy, thinking abilities, intervention
Open to: Adult UK-based stroke survivors who understand English, are at least 6 months post-stroke, and identify as having low mood.
Deadline: 31 August 2024
How to Apply: Please follow this link
More information: Please read the study information sheet
Contact: Dr. Andrea Kusec (andrea.kusec@ndcn.ox.ac.uk, 07935 242 445)
Research participation requests are sent to the Stroke Association from external research institutions (e.g. universities and hospitals).
We conduct checks on these before promoting but are not involved in their running. This means we cannot comment on trials and have no affiliation with them.
We know that a stroke can negatively affect mood and we want to research ways to help. This study will look at different strategies for taking part in rewarding and meaningful activities to improve mood.
If you’d like to take part, we are looking for stroke survivors who (1) live in the United Kingdom (2) are 18 years of age or older (3) Understand English (4) Are at least 6 months post-stroke, and (5) Identify as having low mood.
The research team will arrange a phone call with you to see if you are eligible. We will ask you questions about your stroke and your mood.
The study involves meeting a researcher online using MS Teams 3 times over 3 weeks (about 1 hour per session). You will be asked to complete some questionnaires and a brief thinking task with the research team, and then complete some exercises to help plan rewarding activities.
What is the opportunity about?
We are interested in helping people with low mood after a stroke. At the moment, there are no proven ways to treat low mood after stroke that do not involve medication. We are interested in helping develop psychological treatments (like talking therapy) that work.
In this study, we are comparing two ways of planning and doing fun, meanigful activities that stroke survivors can do. Based on previous research, we think both ways of planning will help improve mood but we do not know if one way wokrs better than the other. That is what this study is investigating.
In the future, this research could help researchers design ways to treat low mood after stroke. This would give stroke survivors who are experiencing low mood more treatment options.
What will it Involve?
The study involves meeting a researcher online using MS Teams 3 times over 3 weeks (about 1 hour per session).
You will be asked to complete some questionnaires and a brief thinking task with the research team, and then complete some exercises to help plan rewarding activities.
Who can take part?
Participants in this study must
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live in the United Kingdom
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have a diagnosis of a Stroke
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be 18 years of age or older
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understand English
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be a minimum of 6 months post-stroke at the time of the first study session
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identify as having low mood.
Participants will be excluded from the study if they are actively suicidal (i.e., have attempted suicide in the past 3 months, currently self-harming, and/or have concrete suicidal intentions for the near future).
Participants will be excluded for active suicidality because Behavioural Activation is not appropriate for very severe depression, where it is unlikely to suitably improve depression.
What will you get from taking part?
All participants in the study will receive 2 sessions of Behavioural Activation. They may find that this helps their mood.
They will also know that they have contributed to research on how to help people who have low mood or depression after a stroke.
Participants will also have the option to receive a summary of the study results.
How Can I Take Part?
To register interest or ask questions, the team can be reached at:
Dr. Andrea Kusec
Email: andrea.kusec@ndcn.ox.ac.uk Tel: 07935 242 445
To arrange for a researcher to contact you, please follow this link:
https://bit.ly/MoodAndStroke _______________________________________________
Information on taking part in research
Research participation helps research teams to test new ideas and approaches by sharing information or trying new approaches in clinical trials.
Find out more about taking part in research
Taking part in clinical trials can support research to:
- Stop strokes from happening.
- Treat strokes.
- Support people to rebuild their lives.
By taking part in research, you can help us to learn more about stroke and make a difference in the lives of future stroke survivors.
Find out about how our research has made a difference in the lives of people affected by stroke.
We have produced the Clinical Trials and Stroke booklet to explain more about clinical trials and answer questions you might have about taking part. The booklet was produced with the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
Information on Research Involvement
Research Involvement is a different way of contributing to research that involves collaborating with researchers to design decisions about how research is shaped and conducted.
You do not need any research knowledge to do this, your lived experience is what would otherwise be missing. Involvement is about contributing this to shape projects in ways that create most potential to benefit people affected.