MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRAMME
The NIHR Schools for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Public Health Research (SPHR) and Social Care Research (SSCR) (“three Schools”) have joined together in a unique collaboration between leading academic centres in England to collaborate on a programme of work on mental health, led by the SPCR and funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Read more about the NIHR Three Research Schools Mental Health Programme's funding announcement.
IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
By working collaboratively across primary care, public health and social care, we will address problems in a multi-professional, multi-disciplinary way and at the individual, family, group and population levels using a variety of methodological approaches.
The NIHR Schools for Primary Care, Public Health and Social Care are uniquely placed to deliver this ambitious programme. We have strengths in mental health, learning disability and autism research and are committed to working more closely together to generate high-quality evidence that improves the health and wellbeing of the population in underserved areas. By working together, we can take a more holistic view of mental health, avoiding traditional ‘siloed’ research and generating the evidence needed by individuals, families, practitioners and policy makers. We will draw on our expertise and established networks to ensure patient, carer, service user, public and community engagement and work across traditional disciplinary and sector boundaries. This funding of over £7M will allow us to commission research and practitioner evaluations and to increase research capacity through fellowships and career development awards.
Award Holders - Phase 1
Funding of over £7M has allowed us to commission research projects, practitioner evaluation scheme awards and to increase research capacity through fellowships, career development awards and master's scholarships.
Award Holders - Phase 2
We are thrilled to announce that the National Health Institute for Health and Social care (NIHR) has invested a further £4.98 million in the Three NIHR Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme.
What's New
Upcoming events
Women’s prisons: how can we engage lived experience to improve primary care for women with severe mental illness?
Wednesday, 24 September 2025, 12pm to 1pm
SPCR Masterclass | An introduction to open publishing and peer review with NIHR Open Research
Thursday, 25 September 2025, 11am to 12pm
NIHR School for Public Health Research Public Mental Health (PMH) Programme Symposium
Tuesday, 07 October 2025, 10am to 4pm
What should emotionally safe coproduced research with lived experience researchers on sensitive topics look like?
Wednesday, 22 October 2025, 12pm to 1pm
Three Schools’ Mental Health Programme Impact Report 2021 - 2025
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Three Research Schools - Seminar Series
The programme aims to promote shared learning, capacity building, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We host an online seminar series to support these objectives. The online seminars are open to all award holders, their extended teams, and anyone interested in the topic.
Blogs
Study suggests care gaps in people seeking help for self-harm
7 November 2024
A journey into mental health research.
7 May 2024
Newsletters
From adversity into action, using your experience to help others
Click on the image below to watch on YouTube.
For Health and Social Care Professionals: Smoking & mental health
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