ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health

Description

The ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health's vision is to develop research to promote and sustain good mental health in communities.

The Centre brings together a unique mix of disciplines and expertise to conduct innovative social science research on the impact of rapid social change in mental health.

The Centre will improve the understanding of the complex interrelationships between society and mental health, create platforms enabling new collaborations between disciplines and with societal partners, and work closely with users, communities, practitioners, and policy makers to design and assess novel evidence-based strategies for prevention and intervention.

In realising this vision, the Centre aims to shift public debate about mental health away from a focus on individualised interventions, towards social practices and policies that promote and sustain good mental health in communities.

This Centre is a collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, in partnership with the University of Manchester (UK), University College London (UK), Mannheim University (Germany), McGill University (Canada), and Indiana University (USA), and with community organisations, user groups, and charities.

It is central to the Centre's ethos that research and other outputs are co-produced with mental health service users and affected communities and groups.

• Ensure that the impact of social context is central to how mental health is thought about and understood
• Produce innovative research that underpins and informs new initiatives
• Work entirely in partnership with affected communities and groups
• Train the next generation of world leading researchers
• Uncover knowledge that will underpin new policies. The Centre wants to help support communities that have generated neighbourhood-level practices to promote resilience and mental wellbeing

In high-income countries, mental health problems have become more common in recent decades, particularly among adolescents and marginalised groups and communities. These trends occur against a background of multiple rapid and far-reaching changes that have transformed many aspects of personal, social, and economic life, including the nature of childhood and families, interpersonal relationships (especially with the emergence and rapid expansion of social media), education and training, neighbourhoods and communities, work and employment, and welfare policies.

• Many of the factors that promote mental health or lead to poor mental health are intrinsically social. They lie in societies, schools, workplaces, communities, and the way people live their lives. But it is unclear how these different dimensions actually affect mental health, and this hampers the ability to develop effective policies.
• The impact of inequalities and difficult experiences on mental health differ by social group and vary geographically. To date, these aspects have not been given as much attention as they need to understand their impact on mental health. Because of this, not enough is known about how to reduce inequalities in mental health.
• The path to good mental health for all lies in the way society is organised. Social, employment and welfare policies need to be shaped in the light of an understanding of their effect on mental health.
• Now is a period of rapid and far-reaching change in environments and social lives. There have been significant developments in technology and changes in education, work and welfare policies. Through understanding the impact of these changes it is possible to decide how, and by what means, their effects on mental health might be minimised.

Researchers in the Centre work in partnership with those groups most affected to bring these issues to the fore, in order to ensure that Governments and policy makers recognise that there are social dimensions to mental health problems. It is changes in social and welfare policies, and addressing the root causes, that will have far-reaching positive effects on mental health.

The COVID 19 Pandemic is amplifying and exacerbating these social determinants of mental distress, and the immediate priority is to focus on these.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University affiliation(s)

King's College London (KCL)
London

Partner Infrastructures

Qualitative Applied Health Research Centre (QUAHRC)

The Qualitative Applied Health Research Centre (QUAHRC) at King’s College London aims to showcase the depth and breadth of applied qualitative health research within the QUAHRC and across King&r… read more about Qualitative Applied Health Research Centre (QUAHRC)

London

Partner Universities

University of Manchester