Written by: MD (YWAG member)
Why did I join YWAG?
I decided to be a part of this group to make sure that the participants are treated as people rather than numbers. The current system of pushing a cookie cutter sample of CBT, did not work when I needed help. I am neurodivergent and found it difficult to explain how my cultural and religious beliefs coincided with my thoughts and behaviours. I sought help in a city that did not have many Muslim healthcare providers, and I am from a different country, so I felt that my differences both mentally and culturally were not taken into consideration during my treatment. Inspirited Minds and the University of Hertfordshire ‘IM-Adapted’ Intervention aims to resolve the issue of lack of religious and cultural understanding that most CBT worksheets/programmes have by infusing religious scripture alongside CBT, to make it easier for Muslim women to benefit from CBT in a way that encompasses their religion and in a way that helps in treating their mental health. I want to be a part of this study to see if this adaptation makes any difference to CBT treatment to help other young Muslim women, by ensuring that all the materials and processes involved have our best interests at heart. This is what is done by the Young Women’s advisory group, every member is a young Muslim woman who has received some care for their mental health and know what changes we want to see made.
Session context
The advisory group met for the fourth time early November – it had been almost a month and a half since the last meeting.
The session started with updating the group’s ways of working, most of the original content was kept the same; such as our rule of always treating each other with respect and being mindful of sensitivities of our members. We reasserted the importance of keeping confidentiality regarding group member’s personal experiences that may be referred to in the course of discussions during the meeting (this means not taking any recordings or screenshots that compromise any confidential disclosures). We highlighted the importance of the public advisory group members to take care of themselves, and reminded members that support is available from meeting facilitators at any point in the meeting.
The main aim of this meeting was to discuss the process evaluation that is to be put in place throughout the intervention study, the details pertaining to this were provided by a detailed presentation by Silvana Mengoni (Study Process Evaluation Lead), the following are all in reference to this presentation.
Process evaluation focus and aims:
The process evaluation focuses on how the set goals are achieved or not achieved during the course of the study. It also focuses on what people think about the study, this includes participants, professionals, the facilitators and the public involvement group.
The key aims of doing process evaluation are:
- Identify effective recruitment pathways for professionals and participants
- Examine acceptability of the intervention, training, study procedures and
- Barriers to engagement
- Assess how true to the intervention protocol and training is in practice.
Methods of process evaluation to be used to achieve these aims :
- Intervention logs written by staff
- Observation of minimum 10-15% of intervention sessions
- Observation of training given to staff delivering the interventions
- Focus group/interviews with participants of the study
- Focus group /interviews with staff delivering the interventions
How can the YWAG be involved?
- Provide feedback on draft information sheets and consent forms for young
women who will be invited to take part in the interviews/focus groups
- Help to come up with and review the final questions for the interviews/focus groups
- Support data analysis by discussing themes that come out from the data
