GMMH‘s Research & Innovation department and the Anxiety, Depression and Psychological Therapies (ADePT) Research Unit are delighted to announce a new NIHR funded project which commenced November 1st, 2023. The ‘PATHWAY Mechanisms’ study will aim to understand how and why Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) decreases distress in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients.
This project follows on from previous NIHR-funded PATHWAY trials of Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) which found that adding a talking-based therapy called MCT to CR significantly reduced distress. PATHWAY Mechanisms will help the team to understand more about why MCT works, who it works best for, and which of the MCT techniques are most successful. In addition, why treatment might fail for some people, which techniques need to be improved and which shouldn’t be changed.
Funded by the National Institute for Health & Social Care Research (NIHR), the MCT-PATHWAY study was carried out between 2014 and 2021, in which two large-scale research studies were undertaken to see how effective MCT is – either as a self-help tool or in a group setting of three to ten service users – at reducing distress. These previous studies found that adding talking-based therapy to cardiac rehabilitation significantly reduced distress in service users. An ongoing programme, PATHAY Beacons, is looking at how best to train healthcare staff and roll out MCT into cardiac rehabilitation services.
Following these successful studies, the PATHWAY team now wants to understand more about why MCT works, who it works best for and which of the MCT techniques are most successful. In addition, why treatment might fail for some people, which techniques need to be improved and which shouldn’t be changed.
The aim is to better understand how to support those living with CVD in managing distress, improving quality of life, and provide more cost-effective approaches for the NHS.
You can read more about cardiac rehabilitation and MCT PATHWAY studies on Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s news HERE, or visit the PATHWAY research page HERE.