Alexander Hodkinson
I completed my PhD in medical statistics in 2016 at the University of Liverpool. I then worked as a post-doctorate research fellow in evidence synthesis at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York, where I developed a particular interest in methodology of evidence syntheses involving unpublished data (e.g., clinical study reports and individual participant data) and pharmacoepidemiology involving electronic health records. In 2018, I joined the Centre for Primary Care at the University of Manchester where I led a mixture of quantitative studies in patient safety and mental health. I was successfully awarded the presidential fellowship in 2019, which focused on the safe prescribing of antipsychotics and reporting of adverse effects. 1 year into my presidential fellowship I was successfully awarded the NIHR’s Three School Mental health senior fellowship, which will use large datasets including CPRD and IPD to assess and improve the health and care quality/safety processes for underserved young people with mental illness.
Award Title: Mental Health Fellowship
Start Date: 1st November 2021
End Date: 31st March 2024
Location of Research: Greater Manchester
Main collaborating organisations associated with the project (e.g. community, third sector): 42nd Street, Pakistan Institute of Living & Learning, GM We are Better Together, NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (Greater Manchester PSTRC), PRIMER (Primary Care Research in Manchester Engagement Resource)
Project Title: Quality and safety processes of care for underserved young people with mental ill health and effectiveness of youth suicide prevention programmes in primary care and community settings
Brief summary: Health inequalities have amplified as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in adolescent mental health services within underserved regions of the country. The quality of health and care services that young people with mental health issues received in primary and community care after their hospital discharge is not known. Also the quality of existing research is not strong enough for policy makers to recommend suicide or self-harm prevention programmes in primary care, schools and the community.
The focus of my fellowship will be on understanding how to; a) provide high quality safe care to children and adolescents with mental health difficulties when transitioning from secondary care to primary care/social care before and during the Covid-19 pandemic; b) design better youth preventative interventions for suicide and self-harm in primary care and community settings (e.g. education).
Methods:
• Work-package 1: I will analyse large health datasets to find out the quality of post-discharge care services that young people with mental health issues have received before and during the pandemic.
• Work-package 2: I will gather all the published suicide/self-harm prevention programmes in primary care, schools and the community for young people to find out which of these can benefit young people most.
• Work-package 3: I will connect with local charities, researchers and clinicians to better understand the care inequalities that young people with mental health issues face.
• Work-package 4: I will make available easy to understand, practical information for policy makers to improve the prevention of care inequalities and mental health risks
Benefits anticipated to address supporting underserved communities:
In WP1, deprivation indices (IMD) of patients and practice associated with poorer care quality and safety outcomes. Regional data which can be supplied at a more localised level with the ONS linkage scheme and will enable spatial accessibility of the degree of social deprivation, general health and disparities between north vs. south of England, which is a key focal area of the ARC GM health innovation and GM EHR.
In WP2, examining (moderators of) the effectiveness of community-based preventative programmes for improving the safety and well-being of young people with mental health problems has never been so important because these programmes can reach/benefit larger numbers of underserved young people than CAMHS.
WP3 and WP4 involve working with local stakeholders including the 42nd street charity to co-develop simple and practical written and digital recommendations for improving the health and care quality and safety of young people with mental health conditions with a particular focus on young people living in underserved areas like GM.