Research Conversation: Supporting research for mental health carers
- 23 September 2026
- 5:00pm
- Free
Research conversations are hosted by People in Health West of England and are informal sessions which are designed to give researchers and public contributors a chance to interact. Public contributors are encouraged to ask questions, learn about, and get involved in projects in their area.
Meeting ID: 979 2406 8802| Passcode: 105056
About the event
A summary of the findings from a feasibility study to support carers of people using NHS secondary mental health services:
We found it is possible do a randomised controlled trial in the NHS and we are now progressing to apply for funding a definitive trial.
The trial offers an information, peer support and skills course to carers of people experiencing chronic emotion dysregulation e.g. difficulties in relationship, self-harm and suicidality.
We recruit carers, and also their loved-one in NHS care, to see if there is change for either, or both, from the carer attending the course and being supported to learn essential supportive skills to communicate and cope in crisis situations.
We are keen to bring more people with lived experience to our Advisory Group for the new trial. We would like to include more service users with chronic emotion dysregulation to our Advisory Group (and also their carers). We are aware that it can be a burden on individuals who experience emotion dysregulation to maintain a long-term contribution to research, if unsupported.
We would like to explore different ways of working e.g. with existing support groups where any research effort can be shared and made by members on an ad hoc basis.
About the speaker
Karen Bulsara is a Research Associate with the University of York and the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP). She gave up her former career in public health and development aid to become a carer for a family member, who experienced mental health crisis. This experience informs her passion and commitment to lived-experience research to support people with high sensitivity and emotion dysregulation, and their carers.
