Closing the loop: interactive dissemination and validation of empirical medical ethics research studies. (360G-Wellcome-079896_Z_06_Z)

This is an application to fund a project to run workshops, in order to disseminate and validate the results of a set of three Wellcome Trust-funded medical ethics empirical research studies. These medical ethics studies centre on the issue of competence and treatment decision-making in anorexia nervosa. This issue is important because anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder with a high morbidity and mortality, yet patients characteristically refuse treatment in spite of a good understanding of their problems. This presents particular problems to mental health professionals with respect to decisions about whether to use compulsory treatment. Method: This project will achieve its aims through the following strategies: - Literature search and theoretical analysis of issues of dissemination and translation; - Workshops - presentation of results, obtaining feedback and engaging in dialogue and consultations with clinicians, patients and parents, and experts in the field; - Integrating theoretical analysis and outcome of workshops with study results in the form of two written reports, one for publication in a medical education journal and one for open access through the Wellcome Trust website. Outcomes: 1.The publicising of Wellcome Trust-funded empirical medical ethics research to disparate groups of participants; 2.Promoting user involvement in the research process by obtaining feedback on the results, to refine the analysis and validate the results; 3.The publication of two reports: a clinically-oriented peer-reviewed journal paper and a written report for the Wellcome Trust; 4.The development of ideas for the future direction of new research in the field of empirical medical ethics in psychiatry.