Jigsaw research collaboration receives major state funding

A collaboration between Jigsaw and the UCD Youth Mental Health Lab has received major state research funding, the Minister for Mental Health announced this week.

The project, called ACCESS (Advancing Care through Singel-Session Therapy), is the first time that Jigsaw research has been awarded Health Reseach Broard funding.

Project ACCESS will:
• evaluate the introduction of Single Session Therapy (SST) within Jigsaw services;
• develop a programme theory to understand and explain how the model operates in practice;
• create a fidelity assessment tool to support consistent quality measurement and implementation across youth mental health settings.

A project group for the project includes (Principal Investigator) Dr Amanda Fitzgerald (UCD), Dr Sheena McHugh (UCC), and representation from Jigsaw – Dr Jeff Moore, Jason Smith, Dr Jim Lyng, and Conor Boksberger.

The project includes a wide range of international experts in a broader project advisory group – including leading single session therapy researcher Dr Jessica L Schleider

At various stages, there will be opportunities for Jigsaw clinicians and teams to volunteer time to inform and participate in the study.  The study will also include young people on the Project Steering Group and consult with young people about their experiences of single session therapy at point of access to Jigsaw.

This is a two year project & early-stage work will include recruitment of staff (based in UCD) and completion of a rapid review of the current literature on Single Session Therapy and youth mental health.