Would you like to take part in a study on remote access to secondary mental health services during and beyond COVID-19?

We are exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected access to secondary mental health services. You can read more about the study here. Secondary mental health services include community mental health teams, crisis resolution and home treatment teams, assertive outreach teams, early intervention teams, and mental health inpatient units.

In the first phase of the study, we interviewed mental health service users, carers of service users and mental health staff about their views and experiences of accessing or providing secondary mental health services. The findings of the first phase will be published in summer 2021. One of the issues our interviewees regarded as particularly important and worthy of investigation was the provision of remote mental healthcare.

We are therefore inviting service users, carers and members of staff to take part in the second phase of our study, which is aimed at developing principles for good practice in the provision of remote mental healthcare. Participation will involve the completion of three online surveys. Alternatively, you can participate via post (see below**).

To take part in this study, you must be aged 18 or over.

We would like to hear from individuals from the following groups::

• Mental health staff who work in a secondary mental health service (inpatient and community services) who have had clinical contact with service users since March 2020. We wish to recruit members of the medical, nursing, psychology and occupational therapy professions at various levels of seniority plus care assistants and administration staff with responsibility for liaison with service users.
• Mental health service users under the care of a secondary mental health service (inpatient and community services) who have used these services since March 2020.
• Carers of mental health service users who are under the care of a secondary mental health service (inpatient and community services) and have used these services since March 2020.