Mental Health Research Programme
One of our founding priorities is ‘to promote better mental health and wellbeing’ and ‘to build organizations’ capacity to deliver evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation’. Since the Trust’s inception, we have worked hard to develop an understanding of the mental health environment, and to identify where we can best deploy our finite resources to maximum effect. As a result, we established a Mental Health Research Programme (MHRP) in partnership with the Centre for Mental Health and King’s Centre for Military Health Research. Read the launch announcement here.
MHRP Steering Group
As part of the Programme, a Steering Group (comprised of experts within the field) makes recommendations on overall strategic direction of the MHRP, research priorities and the commissioning process. The Group also provides expert assessment of relevant project proposals. All Steering Group recommendations are subject to final approval by us.
The Group is Chaired by Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health, and incorporates strict protocols on handling any conflicts of interest when working in the field of Veterans’ Mental Health. Other member organizations include Combat Stress, Mental Health Foundation, Veterans’ First Point, Anglia Ruskin University’s Veterans and Families Institute, Swansea University, and Solent University.
Meetings take place biannually.
Research priorities
A key output from the Steering Group is the MHRP’s 6 research priorities which, in no particular order, are:
- Alcohol and substance misuse, including effective and appropriate interventions.
- The usefulness of services aimed specifically at veterans (including peer support workers).
- Methods to improve help-seeking rates, and barriers to help-seeking.
- The efficacy of military and veteran charities to provide effective mental health support.
- The effectiveness of a ‘Recovery’ based model for the veteran population, including a wider focus on employment and debt management.
- Impact on families, including aggressive behaviour, violence and domestic abuse.