A new centre for Mental Health Social Research has been launched in Alcuin College by the University as they step up their aim to to “help collaboration between researchers investigating the social, economic and cultural influences on mental health and well-being.” The centre will aid people with severe mental health problems by undertaking research into their social environments and ultimately helping to ensure “healthy, fulfilling lives.”
“The social, economic and cultural environment in which we live is crucial to our mental health and wellbeing, though it is currently not a priority for mental health services or social policy,” Dr Martin Webber, the new centre director, told the University.
The Centre’s website highlights the aims of its researchers; who hope to impact policy and practice nationally and internationally. The centre, joining the department of Social Policy and Social Work in Alcuin College, also welcomes attendees to its upcoming events and plans are already underway to expand the centre to include researchers from other York departments.
Bringing together established researchers investigating social, economic and cultural areas of people’s lives, the centre will engage with disciplines such as sociology, psychology, psychiatry, social work, social policy and gerontology. The University claims the potential inter-disciplinary range enhances the centre’s ability to “generate evidence to inform social policy and mental health social practice.” The Centre brings together researchers, who “share expertise” in social science research methods and an appreciation of relevant social theory, and they will be investigating aspects of people’s lives such as employment, housing, poverty, parenting, inequality, ethnicity, sexuality and disability.
Dr Webber said: “The Centre for Mental Health Social Research is composed of researchers aiming to have a marked impact on policy and practice in the UK and beyond. Studies have shown that social, economic and cultural factors contribute to mental wellbeing and support recovery from mental distress. For example, we know that social support helps people to recover from depression and that people from an ethnic minority group are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with psychosis in the UK.”
Living in York gave me mental health problems and I have recently decided to leave the University. Maybe York should sort out it’s own internal problems first?
The Open Door Team could benefit from the education available at this new centre. My last email from the Open Door Team was written in only lower case letters.