Influences on participation in a programme addressing loneliness among people with depression and anxiety: findings from
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Influences on participation in a programme addressing loneliness among people with depression and anxiety: findings from the Community Navigator Study Johanna Frerichs1, Jo Billings2, Nick Barber1, Anjie Chhapia1, Beverley Chipp1, Prisha Shah1, Anna Shorten3, Theodora Stefanidou2, Sonia Johnson2, Brynmor Lloyd Evans2 and Vanessa Pinfold1*
Abstract Background: Loneliness is associated with negative outcomes, including increased mortality and is common among people with mental health problems. This qualitative study, which was carried out as part of a feasibility trial, aimed to understand what enables and hinders people with severe depression and/or anxiety under the care of secondary mental health services in the United Kingdom to participate in the Community Navigator programme, and make progress with feelings of depression, anxiety and loneliness. The programme consisted of up to ten meetings with a Community Navigator and three optional group sessions. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with participants (n = 19) shortly after programme completion. A co-produced two-stage qualitative approach, involving narrative and reflexive thematic analysis, was undertaken by members of the study’s working group, which included experts by experience, clinicians and researchers. Results: The narrative analysis showed that individuals have varied goals, hold mixed feelings about meeting other people and define progress differently. From the thematic analysis, six themes were identified that explained facilitators and challenges to participating in the programme: desire to connect with others; individual social confidence; finding something meaningful to do; the accessibility of resources locally; the timing of the programme; and the participant’s relationship with the Community Navigator. Conclusions: We found that people with severe depression and/or anxiety supported by secondary mental health services may want to address feelings of loneliness but find it emotionally effortful to do so and a major personal challenge. This emotional effort, which manifests in individuals differently, can make it hard for participants to engage with a loneliness programme, though it was through facing personal challenges that a significant sense of achievement was felt. Factors at the individual, interpersonal and structural level, that enable or hinder an individual’s participation should be identified early, so that people are able to make the best use out of the Community Navigator or other similar programmes. Keywords: Loneliness, Co-production, Qualitative research, Anxiety, Depression, Social inclusion
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 McPin Foundation, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YR, UK Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or for
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