As the project progresses, details of additions to this website and other items of news will be posted here.

January 2008

We are delighted to announce that the CALM study has now finished. this study by the NSF(s) was carried out by researchers at the University of Dundee and was funded by the Big Lottery.

to mark the end of the study roadshows were held within Dundee, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes to present the findings to the carers and nurses who took part.

The study evaluated a new way of community based mental health nurses delivering support to carers of people diagnosed with schizophrenia in order to help maintain carer wellbeing. By wellbeing we mean reduced burden, meeting unmet needs, and improved level of satisfaction with services.

The idea was to compare the new methods of support with that which is normally offered to carers as 'standard'. the findings, although limited, showed some benefits to carers from both the new and standard support. For the new approach, the experienc of burden arising from family and friens was reduced. For the standrad approach, the espeirnece of burden arising from the aptients' behaviour was reduced. Satisfaction with servces was high, however, umet needs remained.

Five areas were also identified that might have limited the help given by nurses;

• Carers' health problems, such as depression
• Life problems experienced by the person diagnosed with schizophrenia, such as relationship breakdown
• The presence of the family difficulties, such as housing or legal problems
• The carers' unmet need
• The other service demands that are placed on nurses during the time that they delivered support, such as high caseload

The study opens the way for further research on the nature of support that community based mental health services offer to carers of people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

July 2007

Study now complete. Final report submitted

October 2006

The study is now coming to an end, we will be disseminating results soon

October 2005

The first stage of the CALM project finished in the summer and we are now onto the second stage. This involves interviewing carers about receiving the nurse support, and interviewing nurses about giving support. Even if you feel you have little opinion about the nurse support, we are still very interested in what you have to say, regardless of whether you received support or not. Unfortunately, the nature of the second stage means that we can only select a few carers and nurses to take part. If you are selected we will contact you to find out if you would like to take part in the next stage of the project. We would like to thank all the carers and nurses who have taken part and made this project possible. We really appreciate the time you have given us.

CALM Steering Group Meeting
CALM steering group meeting will be held on Wednesday the 16th of November at 10.15am at Airlie Place.

April 2005

Staff on the Move
A congratualtions goes to Lawrie who has taken up a new post as Professor at Napier University and the Centre for Healthcare Research. Lawrie still retains his position with the project.

Update on Study
Here is a brief summary of what has happened in the study and where we are at now. In the first steps of the study, carers took part in the first interview, completed the Satisfaction and COPE questionnaires. In the second stage, nurses were asked to provide support to carers for a maximum of 12 visits. Once this was done, carers again took part in the interview, filled in the Satisfaction and COPE questionnaires. The third stage takes place 6 months after the second interview. At this time carers will be interviewed again and will be asked to fill in the questionnaires. By doing this after 6 months we can measure whether the nursing intervention has any long lasting impact on carers.

At present we have completed the first and second stages, and are in the process of completing the third stage. Not everyone started at the same time, therefore some carers are finished, whilst others are waiting for their 6 month interview.

We would like to apologise to the few carers who did not receive any visits from a nurse. This happened due to various reasons, such as nurses moving posts, and unfortunately we were unable to replace them. If this applied to you we would still appreciate your continued participation as the information you provide is still extremely valuable to the study. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part in the study so far.

Due to the nature of the second part of the study, only a sample of carers will be selected to take part in another interview. This interview will be different in that it will explore what carers thought was and was not supportive. Carers who are selected will be contacted and asked if they would like to take part, but this will not be happening for some time.

The next Steering Group meeting will take place on Monday 23rd of May at 10.15am at 11 Airlie Place, Dundee.

October 2004

Goodbyes
Brigid Duffy has now left the CALM project. Brigid has worked extremely hard during her time with CALM and we would like to thank her for her contribution to the project. Suzanne Ainsley has replaced Brigid and can be contacted by email at s.c.z.ainsley@diundee.ac.uk or by phone on 01382 348555.

Change of Name
The Community Fund has now changed its name to The Big Lottery Fund. The Big Lottery Fund is a new organisation that will hand out half the money for good causes from the National Lottery. It will make it easier to apply for Lottery money and will make it easier for you to see where the money goes. The Big Lottery Fund was created by merging the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund.

Steering Group Meeting
The next steering group meeting will be held on Tuesday 16 November at 10.15am in Airlie Place, Meeting Room 1.

August 2004

We have now completed year 1 for the study and have now finished recruiting carers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the carers for taking part in the study it is much appreciated. We would also like to thank all the nurses and Cathy Hamilton and Stuart Pryde for helping us to recruit carers, we couldn't have done it without your help.

Brigid Duffy (Research Assistant) is leaving the study and is moving to the West Midlands to start a training course at Birmingham University in Clinical Psychology. Brigid would like to thank everyone for all there help and support over the last year and has enjoyed working on the study and especially meeting all the carers. We are currently advertising for a new research assistant in the local press and on www.jobs.ac.uk.

The Scottish Executive have requested for a consultation on developing a strategy to help identify Scotland's carers. The consultation period ends on October 29th and final guidance is expected in early 2005. It is hoped that NHS Boards will be required to submit strategies by autumn 2005. Click on the link below for more information: www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/08/08150635/

June 2004

We are pleased to announce that the teaching programme in carer support for nurses developed for the CALM study has received an 'Honorary Graduates Award for Innovative Teaching - 2004'. This is a great achievement for the study and the people who developed the teaching programme.

May 2004

We have recently advertised the study in The Courier (1/03/04 and 23/04/04), The Telegraph (8/04/04 and 22/04/04) and The Arbroath Herald (09/04/04). The articles have been useful in providing information about the study and accessing potential carers for the study. We have had some response from carers.

March 2004

Carer recruitment is now fully operational and we are recruiting carers in all four areas. Brigid has met with many of the carers and the nurses are now starting their support sessions with their carers.

The next Steering Group meeting is on Tuesday 15 June at 10.00am

October 2003

The nurses have now been recruited into the study and have either received training in the intervention or guidance if they are in the control group.

We have been working with the Trusts to develop "good practice" statements and these will be ready for the nurses before they visit any carers.

We are now recruiting carers in Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus. Many carers have now met the Research Assistant and taken part in the baseline interviews.

A number of nurses from the Dundee area have now been told which carers they are to offer support to and are in the process of contacting them.

Steering Group

The next Steering Group meeting will be held on Wednesday 21st January at 1.30pm at Airlie Place.

July 2003

The nurses have now been recruited into the study and have either received training in the intervention or guidance if they are in the control group.

We have been working with the Trusts to develop "good practice" statements and these will be ready for the nurses before they visit any carers.

We plan to recruit carers in a phased, but planned way, and we have started to recruit carers from the Dundee area. We will then recruit carers from Fife, Perth and then Angus.