Frequently Asked Questions

The Victim Improvement Package (VIP) Trial compares the effectiveness of modified Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Treatment As Usual (TAU) care from local services such as GP's for the reduction of emotional states such as low mood and constant worry in older victims of crime.

CBT is a talking therapy that enables you to find more positive ways of coping with negative thinking and behaviour. Its primary focus is to get the individual to challenge their current approaches to dealing with existing problems in an attempt to foster a more positive and proactive way of improving mood.

A Randomised Control Trial (RCT) is a study in which participants are randomly assigned to one of the study groups by chance alone. The decision as to which group they will be in is not determined or influenced by the investigators or the study participants. As a VIP participant you would be selected to receive either Treatment as Usual (TAU) or TAU with the addition of the VIP package.

The study will help us understand if, through the mediation of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, older victims of crime can be assisted to engage with psychological services and the support they can offer.

The study will last for up-to 9 months after the crime.

This involves the initial screening by the Safer Neighbourhood Team Officers, rescreening by the VIP Study research team 3 month after the crime for recruitment on to the trial and a follow up at 3 and 6 months after recruitment for review.

If agreeable, we would also like to follow up on participants two years after the crime to see how they are getting on. However, this is not essential for taking part in the trial and purely optional. 

Like any decision you make, deciding to take part in a clinical trial needs to be made as an informed decision based on the evidence made available to you. There are both benefits and risks to taking part in a clinical trial so you should take your time in making the decision and consider some of the points below.

The possible benefits of the VIP trial include:

• getting additional CBT could improve your quality of life
• contributing towards improving psychological care for future older victims of crime
• increasing our understanding of the psychological needs of older people

To weigh against these benefits, you should consider:

• you will have to make trips to see the therapist which may be inconvenient
• you will be asked to complete some paperwork, such as questionnaires about your mood and quality of life. These are really useful for the research but do require your time to complete
• some of you may be disappointed if you are not randomised into the treatment you wish