Optimising community C(E)TRs through understanding the experience of people with learning disability and autistic people and investigating their impact on care (the OptiCaT study)

Health

Optimising community C(E)TRs through understanding the experience of people with learning disability and autistic people and investigating their impact on care (the OptiCaT study)

The OptiCaT research project investigates the use and benefits of community Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (CETRs) for people with a learning disability and autistic people and aims to provide suggestions for how CETRs can be improved. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and will run between 2024 and 2028.

CETRs started in 2015 because of abuse of people with a learning disability that took place at Winterbourne View hospital. The aim of a CETR is to make sure health and care services support people with learning disability and/or who are autistic in the right way and only go into a mental health hospital if they really need to and do not stay there longer than necessary.

CETRs are widely undertaken but there is very little research about how they are used and if they help people to get the support they need. It is not known if they reduce the number of people going into hospital and the time that people spend in hospital.

This research project will address three main questions:

Do CETRs reduce hospital admissions and improve outcomes?
What are stakeholder perspectives of the CETR process?
Do high quality CETR action plans improve patient outcomes?

We will use different methods to answer these questions including looking at electronic health records, conducting a national prospective study, and undertaking in-depth qualitative work.

Our team includes people with lived experience as co-investigators to ensure the work remains focused on the needs of people with a learning disability, autistic people, and their families and carers.