The National Institute for Health and Care Research has awarded £1.8M to examine the effectiveness of a commonly used communication approach with people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD).
The funding for the ‘INTERACT trial’ will enable researchers to conduct a large scale randomised controlled trial (RCT) to understand the impact of ‘Intensive Interaction’ – an approach used to enable more effective communication between people with PMLD and their environments. Despite the wide use of the method there is limited evidence as to if and how it works.
Participants in the trial will include family carers and practitioners who support children and young people with PMLD. They will be trained to deliver Intensive Interaction. The team will identify their experiences of using Intensive Interaction and the impact it has on their quality of life.
The trial will be managed and delivered by a multidisciplinary team of researchers* from across the country, including academics from the University of Kent’s Tizard Centre. Dr Jill Bradshaw, Principal Investigator and Co-Head of the Tizard Centre, said “People with profound and multiple learning disabilities and those who care for and support them can be invisible in our society. They can feel excluded. This funding is a great opportunity for us to work together and find out more about the impact of using Intensive Interaction with people with PMLD”.
Notes
The funding is awarded by the Health Technology Assessment, National Institute of Health Research HTA Project: NIHR151428
*Research Team
Dr Jill Bradshaw, Joint Lead (Intervention), Dr Nick Gore, Tizard Centre, University of Kent
Professor Catherine Hewitt, Joint Lead (Trial), Dr Alison Booth, Dr Kerry Bell, Dr Arabella Scantelbury, Clinical Trials Unit, University of York
Professor Judy Clegg, University of Sheffield
Professor Lindsay Pennington, Newcastle University
Dr Fliss Kyffin, Bangor University
Professor Lucy Zeigler, PPIE member
Jenny Miller, Promoting a more inclusive society (PAMIS)
Amanda Allard/ Marie Hunt, Council for Disabled Children