A trial by Flinders University researchers to provide better support for people living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been boosted by a grant which will fund further treatment and research focused on improving quality of life for war veterans and first responders.
Professor Reg Nixon was awarded the 2018 Prabha Sheshadri Grant to build on his current PTSD research study, which commenced in early 2017 and has recorded positive results, with 83% of participants completing their treatment and 84% reporting substantial positive outcomes.
The current standard psychological treatments for PTSD typically have a 50% success rate in terms of loss of PTSD diagnosis and a greater proportion will experience some benefits of treatment. However these therapies can have high dropout rates of between 20 and 30%.
Professor Nixon’s team are working on expanding a particularly therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), but with a more flexible approach to better suit individual clients.
“Our research builds on making CPT, which can get excellent results in many instances, more effective for more people. The project is innovative in that no one in Australia has modified and tested this PTSD treatment in the way we propose,” he says.
The grant will inject $60,000 into the study, part of which will be used for research collaborations with other groups and researchers such as the Phoenix Australia Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health in Melbourne.
“Ultimately, the aim of the project is to offer clinicians a more evidence-based method that they can use to flexibly deliver a protocol-driven therapy without diluting its efficacy,” Professor Nixon says.
The Prabha Sheshadri Grants are awarded annually by The Road Home, which raises awareness and funds to support health and wellbeing research and programs for Australia’s veterans, emergency service personnel and their families.
This latest grant from the organisation builds on Flinders researchers’ 2017 success, where Professor Sharon Lawn received the Prabha Seshadri Grant for her work understanding how partners best assist people living with PTSD, and Dr Elaine Waddell received $27,000 for her adjuvant therapy research.