The Public Mental Health (PMH) research programme aims to improve the mental health of people across England by promoting mental health and well-being as well as preventing mental illness. The PMH programme team includes collaborators from eight academic centres, public health practitioners, and members of the public.
Research programme
The research conducted by the PMH programme is divided into two phases:
Phase 1 (March 2019- December 2020)
Phase 1 focuses both on identifying what influences people’s mental health, for example, connections to family and friends, or financial issues such as poverty or debt, and on identifying what is already known about approaches to improve mental health. The research included conducting reviews of the available research, consultations with policy makers, public health practitioners, and members of the public to understand the most important influencing factors and the most important outcomes of a mentally healthy population.
There are four projects that make up Phase 1:
- Developing a public mental health conceptual framework
- Identifying and validating a core public mental health outcome set
- Improving the mental health of children and young people in education
- Improving public mental health in adults experiencing psychosocial stresses and life transitions
Phase 2 (October 2020-March 2022)
Phase 2 focuses on evaluating promising approaches (activities, programmes, etc.) for mental health and is divided into five projects which explore public mental health in adults, and three projects which explore public mental health in children and young people.
Adult mental health projects
- Co-located services for working-age adults
- Community interventions for older adults
- Economic evaluation of public mental health interventions
- Using big data to understand public mental health interventions and inequalities
- Public perspectives on inequalities in public mental health
Children & young people mental health projects
- School culture and student mental health: a participatory action research study
- Substance use in the context of mental health
- Creating a Health Research Network to improve young people’s mental health and well-being
Alongside these core research projects, the Public Mental Health Network has been established as a platform for bringing together researchers, practitioners and anyone interested in the work of the programme.