Clinical psychology trainee Michael Barry has been awarded the Valeria Frighi Intellectual Disabilities Research Award.
Valeria FrighiDr Frighi was a Senior Clinical Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and an Honorary Consultant in Endocrinology and Diabetes at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Her work focused on improving health outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities and those experiencing severe mental illness. The award was created in her memory following her death in March last year.
Mr Barry will use the grant to conduct a case series study looking at the Intensive Interaction intervention for people with intellectual disabilities. Intensive Interaction focuses on supporting individuals to build communications skills and better relationships with other people. He said:
I am delighted to receive the Dr Valeria Frighi Intellectual Disability Research Award from the Department of Psychiatry for my Theory-Driven Research Project. This is a case series project on Intensive Interaction for people with learning disabilities.
Intensive Interaction is a socially interactive approach designed to facilitate and improve two-way interaction for individuals with impairments in communication such as those with learning disabilities, autism or dementia.
My project will be investigating if staff carers find the intervention feasible and acceptable to complete, and also if service-users show a decrease in low mood, anxiety and behaviours of concern. I am really passionate about advancing research for people with intellectual disabilities who are an often-overlooked population, and I hope to add a valuable contribution to the evidence base for this intervention."
Michael is a second year trainee on the Oxford Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology, which is run as a partnership between Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology. He will put the funding towards participant expenses for service-users and support-workers, conference registration and travel costs.
Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Professor Belinda Lennox, said:
We are so pleased to be able to make this award in Valeria’s memory and to continue supporting intellectual disability research. Congratulations to Michael, whose study is an important addition in this area. We look forward to his findings.”