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DIAMONDS Voice, our PPI panel for the DIAMONDS programme, met in Leeds on the 12th of October. This was one of the first in-person meetings we have held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DIAMONDS Programme updates
Programme Manager Jen Brown updated the group on the progress of the programme so far. She highlighted our recent publication on the lived experience of people who have severe mental illness and long-term conditions, published in BMC Psychiatry. You can read the paper here. She also told us how the trial was progressing as we set up our sites and get ready to recruit participants. Members of DIAMONDS Voice identified different avenues through which we could find interested service users who may like to take part in the trial.
What does the Delivery team do?
We also had Jason Cooke attend from our partner Bradford District Care Foundation Trust. Jason has been working closely with DIAMONDS throughout the research programme. He told us about the role of the research delivery team in carrying out research in the NHS. He highlighted how research can benefit participants, even when a study shows that an intervention or medication isn't effective, as it provides people with a way to give back to the health service and help improve care for the wider community.
Mental illness and kidney disease
After lunch we had a final presentation from DIAMONDS research fellow Claire Carswell, who told us about kidney disease and it's link to mental health. We had a discussion about possible avenues for future research which could hopefully improve the overall health and well being of people who have severe mental illness.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended, it was great to see everyone in person!