Academic and Research

Academic and Research Committee (ARC)

Academic and Research Development Officer :

Professor Peter Stratton

Practitioner Research Networks

An essential objective of the ARC is to encourage family therapy practitioners to form Practitioner Research Networks (PRN's). Many practitioners would like to be involved in research but their context does not allow them to initiate projects on their own. By working collaboratively, a group of practitioners can create significant research findings and, because the project is designed by and for practitioners, these projects are likely to have direct clinical usefulness. Through the wonders of the internet, these networks do not even need to be confined to a single country.

Do contact Peter Stratton if you would like to be involved: p.m.Stratton@ntlworld.com.

Initiatives towards PRN's are being fostered by ARC, by the UKCP and EFTA research committees and we are attempting to make this an active issue in the AcSS. See information about all of these below.

The SCORE Project

The SCORE project, to develop a short self-report measure of quality of family functioning and change during therapy, is well on schedule. We have obtained multi-centre ethical approval and have started on the clinical trials. On statistical advice we created a 55 item version to refine the items.

We have undertaken various preliminary trials, and have National Ethical Approval for the current phase of htis research. Preliminary results are encouraging and we have now reduced the trial SCORE to 40 of the more effective items. There is a statement about the current status of the project below. At this stage we urgently need data from a variety of clinics in order to establish a practicable short measure with known properties. If you think you might be interested to participate in providing data under specified conditions, please contact Emma Janes for more detail: Emma.Janes@slam.nhs.uk

AFT is registered as the main financial sponsor of the research through funding the time and expenses of the ARC Development Officer to work on the project. In addition the team consists of Julia Bland (Chair), Emma Janes, and Judith Lask.

SCORE status October 2007.

The SCORE project to produce a self-report indicator of the effects of systemic therapy has created much interest, and also considerable enthusiasm to start using it. The research team are pleased at the excitement, but concerned about a version of the SCORE being used before we have sufficient grounds for claiming that it is functional. We are therefore issuing this statement, which will be regularly updated, for the benefit of anyone who is contemplating using it.

In the process of developing the SCORE self-report outcome measure, various versions have been created for trialling different aspects of reliability and validity. The current form was derived from a 55 item questionnaire which has been reduced to 40 quantitative items plus qualitative feedback and ratings appropriate to the context in which it is used. We refer to it as the SCORE40.

As of October 2007 we are in the middle of collecting data from a sample of clinics to establish the optimal set of items. We hope to reduce the self-ratings from 40 to around 15 items and to be able to say which different  aspects (dimensions) of family functioning go to make up the scale. To be statistically reliable, we need data from at least 200 families at the start of therapy.

A total of 12 clinics have volunteered to participate in this phase of the project. In order to generate data, they must first get local approval based on the national (COREC) ethical approval that we have obtained, and also agreement from management and the therapy team. The requirements vary between clinics, and are proving difficult to meet quickly. However, until sufficient cases are provided by the clinics, we will not be able to move to the next stage.

Even when the current stage is finished we will not be able to make any claims about the validity and sensitivity of the SCORE as a measure of therapeutic change. That will come from a further stage of research. But completion of the present stage will mean that we have a stable form of the SCORE that can be used for a variety of clinical and research purposes. Until then, we have to advise that existing versions of SCORE cannot be treated as having any established properties as a measure of family functioning or of therapeutic change. Anyone who used it at this stage would have to acknowledge that, despite the care that has gone into creating the measure, it is untested. They should not make any claim that they are using an established measure. Also, because it is due to be replaced with a more practicable version as soon as we have the necessary data, it will then cease to be appropriate to continue to use any earlier version.

Practitioner Research Networks

An essential objective of the ARC is to encourage family therapy practitioners to form Practitioner Research Networks (PRNs). Many practitioners would like to be involved in research but their context does not allow them to initiate projects on their own. By working collaboratively, a group of practitioners can create significant research findings and, because the project is designed by and for practitioners, these projects are likely to be have direct clinical usefulness. The UKCP research committee under the Chairmanship of Peter Stratton has commissioned a review of the literature on PRNs which is available on the UKCP website.

As with all ARC activities, if you want to become involved, please contact Peter Stratton.

Research initiatives

The ARC committee is keen to support research in every way it can. As an example, Chris Evans directed us to and NHR initiative to fund a trial of family therapy for adolescent self harm. The ARC supported the idea which was taken forward by David Cottrell and Allan House in Leeds and Ivan Eisler at IoP. A major proposal has been submitted and approved for entry to the final round of consideration. Most recently Jan Parker has directed us to a NICE request for research on Community-based interventions to reduce substance misuse among vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people, with a strong emphasis on family therapy. We will certainly be looking to take this forward. The ARC expects a productive involvement with the  national Centre for Family Therapy and Systemic Research which has been proposed by the Tavistock Clinic and has been approved as a research centre by the University of East London.

If you know of availability of relevant research funding or of a project that might be more likely to get off the ground with support from ARC, please let us know.

ACADEMIC

The ARC continues to explore possibilities of establishing a Professorship of family therapy research. We have proposed to the Board that AFT might either directly support a post or fund some fund-raising towards the objective. Such initiatives can only be considered once the outcome of AFT’s financial commitment to the Glasgow conference is known.

ARC is supporting a two-day research conference in Leeds on 22nd and 23rd of May organised by Paula Boston. LFTRC is taking responsibility  for the first day with Peter Fonagy and Eia Asen. The ARC or constructing the programme for the second day.  Claire Glasscoe is representing the ARC in the planning of the 2008 AFT Conference, 12th and 13th September in Manchester.

With support and guidance from Nick Child we now have a comprehensive collection of Google groups for different interests within family therapy. The lists continue to be a highly productive sharing of ideas and the international MultiJFTForum has taken the form of a continuous three-week cycle of discussions of journal articles, in place of the set-piece major discussion of one article from each of the three journals each year.

ARC also participates in the Student Essay Prize and the Educational Fund for Creative Thinking

WIDER PERSPECTIVES

With AFT’s three Professional Officers established, we are working together to maximise our contribution and to have clear division of responsibilities. Peter Stratton, as Chair of the UKCP research committee is participating in the extensive review of the future of UKCP in the context of registration activities being taken over by a Government body. We are also involved wherever possible in the way the Increasing Access to Psychological Treatments (IAPT) project is developing. There will be a major two-day conference on IAPT starting 30th  Nov. 2007 at Savoy Place and intended to lead to a consensus document called The Savoy Declaration.

We continue to work with the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA) not just for the spectacular Glasgow Conference but also through its research committee and the Training and Membership Committee. Which connects back to the contribution of the UKCP research committee work on specifying standards for research training in psychotherapy.

The ARC continues to thrive with your help and support (see our pages on the AFT website). We hope to meet with you and receive ideas for exciting new initiatives at the AFT Conferences in Guildford and London.

Peter Stratton, ARC Development Officer.

Arlene Vetere, Chair of ARC

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Other Possible Activities and issues

If you have thoughts about any of them, do let me ( Peter Stratton) know.

• Increasing family therapy input to universities and establishing Chairs of Family Therapy.
• Getting adequate funding from Universities.
• Coordinated research in training courses and networked practitioner projects.
• Not letting ethics committee procedures prevent trainees and practitioners from undertaking research.
• To move towards having dissertations written in a form that facilitates conversion to a journal article, probably combined with electronic submission.

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