Introduction

The first phase of the study involves a detailed survey of all inpatient (or equivalent community based) rehabilitation services in England. Later phases of the study involve development and testing of a staff training intervention to facilitate service users’ activities and improve social and everyday functioning. A simultaneous phase will investigate which aspects of services are beneficial for service users and help them move out of hospital and into more independent settings in the community. The results of the various phases of the study will inform service managers and clinicians how best to focus resources on this complex service user group and identify improvements in care that can reduce the length of inpatient rehabilitation admissions.

The results from this study will also allow us to report on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a relatively brief but complex intervention to improve activity for inpatient rehabilitation service users. If successful, this intervention has the potential to be developed into a manual that could be implemented consistently in other mental health services.

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