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): 

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.

Read more about the NIHR Three Research Schools Mental Health Programme's funding announcement.