Using the Delphi process to co-create a food insecurity intervention for adults with Severe Mental Illness: A mixed methods study protocol

This research, led by Jo Smith as part of her PhD, will work with a range of individuals to co-design an intervention to address food insecurity in adults with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) living in Teesside, North East England. For this study, SMI means a diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, or another Psychotic Disorder. Food insecurity relates to the lack of financial resources needed to ensure that a person has reliable access to enough food to meet their dietary, nutritional, and social needs. This is sometimes referred to as food poverty.

The study aims to gain agreement on elements of food insecurity interventions from four groups of experts in SMI and/or food insecurity. The groups of experts are:

Adults living with SMI or people caring for an adult with SMI in Teesside.
Mental health practitioners working for an adult mental health team in Teesside (Community Hub; Intervention and Treatment Team; or Early Intervention in Psychosis Team).
Senior healthcare leaders in the North East and North Cumbria.
Staff working in voluntary and community organisations that help people experiencing food insecurity in the Teesside area.
The researchers are planning to undertake two rounds of a Delphi survey, that is sometimes used in research to gain agreement between groups of people on a particular issue. Before the survey starts, the research team would like to test the first round of the survey with people from the above groups to understand whether the questions are suitable and to make sure the questions are understandable.

At the end of the second round of the Delphi survey, there will be a focus group to agree on the final intervention elements. The findings will be used to co-create a new intervention to address food insecurity in adults with SMI living in Teesside.