The research team would like to thank all individuals, that is, both individuals in contact with the CJS and individuals working in services, involved in allowing data to be collected and who gave up valuable time to be interviewed for this programme of work. We are indebted to the peer researchers for their contributions and candour that helped shape the research. We are particularly grateful for the support and advice of all the local health, voluntary and community sector and criminal justice agencies, especially those providing the Engager intervention, working in Imagine Independence (Liverpool, UK), Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Hamoaze House (Plymouth, UK) and Devon Partnership NHS Trust (Devon, UK). We would like to express our appreciation to Her Majesty’s Prison Service and the National Probation Service. We would like to thank the members of the Programme Steering Group, the Research Design Service, the Clinical Research Network and the sponsor, Devon Partnership NHS Trust. We thank the funding body (i.e. the National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme), as well as the Peninsula Applied Research Collaboration for additional support. Last, we would like to acknowledge the important role of Gill McGauley, one of the original research team, who helped develop our MBA, but who sadly died at the height of her career soon after delivering some of the initial Engager training.
Contributions of authors
Richard Byng (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7411-9467) (Professor in Primary Care Research) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation and report writing.
Charlotte Lennox (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9014-9965) (Research Fellow and Lecturer) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation, report writing and health economics.
Tim Kirkpatrick (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1693-0742) (Research Fellow, Complex Intervention Trial Development) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation, report writing and health economics.
Cath Quinn (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4644-4603) (Senior Research Fellow, Complex Intervention Trial Development) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, process evaluation and report writing.
Rob Anderson (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3523-8559) (Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, the RCT, report writing and health economics.
Sarah Louise Brand (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5979-2442) (Research Fellow) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, and report writing.
Lynne Callaghan (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0766-645X) (Senior Research Fellow) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development and report writing.
Lauren Carroll (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1203-0672) (Research Assistant) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Graham Durcan (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7947-0651) (Associate Director, Centre for Mental Health) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, process evaluation and report writing.
Laura Gill (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6224-5693) (Research Group Co-ordinator) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development and report writing.
Sara Goodier (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1843-3915) (Research Assistant) was responsible for the RCT and report writing.
Jonathan Graham (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3845-3289) (Research Assistant) was responsible for process evaluation and report writing.
Rebecca Greer (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5552-2429) (Research Assistant) was responsible for the RCT and report writing.
Mark Haddad (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4822-5482) (Senior Lecturer in Health Service Research) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Tirril Harris (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1769-665X) (Honorary Research Fellow, Psychology and Social Science) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, report writing and health economics.
William Henley (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6273-2619) (Professor of Medical Statistics) was responsible for trial science development, process evaluation and health economics.
Rachael Hunter (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7447-8934) (Associate Professor, Health Economics) was responsible for the RCT, report writing and health economics.
Mike Maguire (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8379-6475) (Emeritus Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation, report writing and health economics.
Sarah Leonard (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1729-0556) (Research Associate) was responsible for process evaluation and report writing.
Susan Michie (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0063-6378) (Professor of Health Psychology) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, process evaluation and report writing.
Christabel Owens (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9846-0889) (Associate Professor of Public Mental Health) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, process evaluation and report writing.
Mark Pearson (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7628-7421) (Senior Lecturer in Implementation Science and Knowledge Mobilisation) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, and report writing.
Sarah Rybczynska-Bunt (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4284-1081) (Research Fellow) was responsible for process evaluation and report writing.
Caroline Stevenson (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1176-5231) (Research Assistant) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Amy Stewart (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5324-2025) (Research Assistant) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Alex Stirzaker (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6755-7848) (Clinical Lead, IAPT Severe and Enduring Mental Illness) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, the RCT, process evaluation and report writing.
Rod Taylor (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3043-6011) (Professor of Health Services Research) was responsible for programme design and management, trial science development, process evaluation, report writing and health economics.
Roxanne Todd (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5651-6549) (Research Assistant) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Florian Walter (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1877-2792) (Research Associate) was responsible for the RCT and report writing.
Fiona C Warren (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3833-0182) (Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics) was responsible for the RCT and report writing.
Lauren Weston (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8735-2292) (Research Assistant) was responsible for intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation and report writing.
Nat Wright (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3547-3724) (Clinical Research Director, Spectrum Community Health CIC) was responsible for trial science development, the RCT and report writing.
Jenny Shaw (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2569-7687) (Professor of Forensic Psychiatry) was responsible for programme design and management, intervention development and formative evaluation, trial science development, the RCT, process evaluation, report writing and health economics.
Publications
Pearson M, Brand SL, Quinn C, Shaw J, Maguire M, Michie S, et al. Using realist review to inform intervention development: methodological illustration and conceptual platform for collaborative care in offender mental health. Implement Sci 2015;10:134. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-015-0321-2
Kirkpatrick T, Lennox C, Taylor R, Anderson R, Maguire M, Haddad M, et al. Evaluation of a complex intervention (Engager) for prisoners with common mental health problems, near to and after release: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open 2018;8:e017931. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017931
Lennox C, Kirkpatrick T, Taylor RS, Todd R, Greenwood C, Haddad M, et al. Pilot randomised controlled trial of the ENGAGER collaborative care intervention for prisoners with common mental health problems, near to and after release. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2018;4:15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-017-0163-6
Owens C, Carter M, Shenton D, Byng R, Quinn C. Engaging without exposing: use of a fictional character to facilitate mental health talk in focus groups with men who have been subject to the criminal justice system. Qual Health Res 2018;28:2102–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732318785359
Taylor C, Gill L, Gibson A, Byng R, Quinn C. Engaging ‘seldom heard’ groups in research and intervention development: offender mental health. Health Expect 2018;21:1104–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12807
Brand SL, Quinn C, Pearson M, Lennox C, Owens C, Kirkpatrick T, et al. Building programme theory to develop more adaptable and scalable complex interventions: realist formative process evaluation prior to full trial. Evaluation 2019;25:149–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389018802134
Lennox C, Stevenson R, Owens C, Byng R, Brand SL, Maguire M, et al. Using multiple case studies of health and justice services to inform the development of a new complex intervention for prison-leavers with common mental health problems (Engager). Health Justice 2021;9:6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-021-00131-z
Rybczynska-Bunt S, Weston L, Byng R, Stirzaker A, Lennox C, Pearson M, et al. Clarifying realist analytic and interdisciplinary consensus processes in a complex health intervention: a worked example of judgemental rationality in action. Evaluation 2021;27. https://doi.org/10.1177/13563890211037699
Hunter RM, Anderson R, Kirkpatrick T, Lennox C, Warren F, Taylor R, et al. Economic evaluation of a complex intervention (Engager) for prisoners with common mental health problems, near to and after release: a cost-utility and cost-consequences analysis. Eur J Health Econ 2022;22:193–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-021-01360-7
Byng R, Kirkpatrick T, Lennox C, Warren FC, Anderson R, Brand SL, et al. Evaluation of a complex intervention for prisoners with common mental health problems, near to and after release: The Engager randomised controlled trial [published online ahead of print August 18 2022]. Br J Psych 2022.
Weston L, Rybczynska-Bunt S, Quinn C, Lennox C, Maguire M, Pearson M, et al. Interrogating intervention delivery and participants’ emotional states to improve engagement and implementation: a realist informed multiple case study evaluation of Engager. PLOS ONE 2022;17:e0270691.
Data-sharing statement
All data requests should be submitted to the corresponding author for consideration. Access to anonymised data may be granted following review.
Patient data
This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. Using patient data is vital to improve health and care for everyone. There is huge potential to make better use of information from people’s patient records, to understand more about disease, develop new treatments, monitor safety, and plan NHS services. Patient data should be kept safe and secure, to protect everyone’s privacy, and it’s important that there are safeguards to make sure that it is stored and used responsibly. Everyone should be able to find out about how patient data are used. #datasaveslives You can find out more about the background to this citation here: https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/data-citation.
Disclaimers
This report presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The views and opinions expressed by authors in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR, CCF, PGfAR or the Department of Health and Social Care. If there are verbatim quotations included in this publication the views and opinions expressed by the interviewees are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, those of the NHS, the NIHR, the PGfAR programme or the Department of Health and Social Care.