Experiences of people with psychosis in accessing sexual health support

People with psychosis and related disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder) experience more physical illnesses compared to those who do not have mental illness. As a result, mental health services are increasingly offering service users regular physical health checks and healthy living advice alongside usual care. However, sexual health among people with psychosis often remains overlooked. People with psychosis are less likely to have contact with sexual health services and less likely to have contact in a timely fashion. Improved access to sexual health services is essential for the treatment and prevention of sexual ill health, and increasing quality of life. However, we know very little about why people with psychosis are less likely to access sexual health services, the challenges they face accessing these services, and their experience of engaging with these services.

The study team will seek to explore the experiences of people with psychosis in accessing sexual health support, and will generate recommendations about what works best in offering sexual health care to this group. They will do this by talking directly to people with psychosis and to sexual health staff.

They will conduct one-to-one interviews with 30 people with psychosis about their experiences of accessing and using sexual health services. They will also interview sexual health staff about providing care and advice to people with psychosis. Information from the interviews will be grouped into themes and this will be summarised in a report with recommendations about how to improve engagement and access to sexual health services.

The team are looking for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, psychosis, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder who are 18 or over. They are looking for a diverse group of people to get involved and everyone is welcome; they are particularly interested in talking to people who are LGBT+ and who are from ethnic minorities.

You will be asked your views and experiences of sexual and reproductive healthcare in private 1-2-1 interviews. You will have the option to either do this in person, on Microsoft Teams via a computer or laptop, or on the phone.

Please get in contact by the January 2025.