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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.

Contact Information:

Gemma Giove-Hunt
gg434@cam.ac.uk


Amy Bond
a.r.bond@exeter.ac.uk


Anna Hunt
A.Hunt4@exeter.ac.uk


Dr Rachel Hayes
r.a.hayes@exeter.ac.uk


Sara Thompson
sara.thompson@nihr.ac.uk


Prof Tamsin Ford
t.j.ford@exeter.ac.uk


Study Location:

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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - MAC Implementation Evaluation Protocol

MAC Implementation Evaluation Protocol

Recruiting

Open to: Female / Male

Age: 15 Years - N/A

Medical Conditions

Mood [affective] disorders


This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


The number of teenagers experiencing depression has increased over the last twenty years. Many find their development is affected, which can make it harder to recover and stay well. As a result, teenagers with depression risk school-failure, substance-misuse, self-harm as well as poor mental and physical health in adulthood, particularly if they have repeated episodes. Also, teenagers who are depressed often have relatives who suffer with depression, frequently their parents. Even if parents do not have depression, the stress of parenting a teenager with depression is substantial, and family relationships are sometimes damaged. We need more options for young people who still have symptoms after treatment for depression, or who recover but relapse quickly, so we developed Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC). MAC is a teenager friendly version of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Therapy (MBCT), which also supports carers to manage their own distress and to help their teenagers recover and stay well.

Mindfulness-based cognitive-therapy (MBCT) is an established treatment for adults with recurrent depression, yet is untested with young people. It is recommended by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) for adults who have had three or more episodes of depression. But given the resulting damage to life chances and future health, we want to see if MBCT might protect teenagers who risk becoming these adults to avoid recurrent depression. MAC is teenager friendly version of MBCT, which also supports carers to manage their own distress and to help their teenagers.

This programme will have five parts that aim to:

1. Improve our practitioner training programme.
2. Co-produce an app to encourage practice and provide a more accurate measurement than self-report.
3. Test whether MAC works and is value for money with a random-control-trial comparing MAC to usual treatment and a comparison of the costs of services that young people and carers access.
4. Find out how MAC works and for whom it works best by exploring changes in how young people and carers think and relate to others.
5. Understand how best we can scale up MAC by using data gathered in the other parts with additional interviews with young people, carers and practitioners.

Young people and parents who have received MAC designed some MAC materials, advised which outcomes to study, how to measure them, and co-wrote this application. Three co-applicants with lived experience and our PPI lead will coordinate advisory groups throughout the Programme.

Co-produced plain language summaries will be distributed using multiple media through mental health networks such as the Mental Elf. Our links to the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Programmes (previously known as IAPT) and Mindfulness centres will support training and integration of MAC into services.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

25 Mar 2024 31 Dec 2026

Observational

Observational type: Qualitative;



You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


Not working in the mental health trust


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • Caludon Centre
    Clifford Bridge Road
    walsgrave
    Coventry
    West Midlands
    CV2 2TE
  • BETHLEM ROYAL HOSPITAL
    RV505@2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.2.4.18.48
  • Maudsley Hospital
    Denmark Hill
    London
    Greater London
    SE5 8AZ
  • THE LAMBETH HOSPITAL
    RV502@2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.2.4.18.48
  • Wonford House
    Wonford House Hospital
    dryden Road
    Exeter
    Devon
    EX2 5AF
  • Cambridgeshire And Peterborough Mental Health Partnership Tr Hq
    Elizabeth House, Fulbourn Hospital
    cambridge Road
    fulbourn
    Cambridge
    Cambridgeshire
    CB21 5EF
  • Trust Headquarters
    Swandean Hospital
    arundel Road
    Worthing
    West Sussex
    BN13 3EP
  • LADYWELL UNIT
    RV509@2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.2.4.18.48

Anna Hunt
A.Hunt4@exeter.ac.uk


Gemma Giove-Hunt
gg434@cam.ac.uk


Sara Thompson
sara.thompson@nihr.ac.uk


Dr Rachel Hayes
r.a.hayes@exeter.ac.uk


Prof Tamsin Ford
t.j.ford@exeter.ac.uk


Amy Bond
a.r.bond@exeter.ac.uk



The study is sponsored by CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND PETERBOROUGH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST and funded by NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) .




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for Trial ID: CPMS 58950

Last updated 25 April 2025

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