Blogs by Andreja Mesaric

Maternal mental health peer support
by Andreja Mesaric

The NHS has recently announced it will be committing an extra £1.6million to help mothers with mental health issues during or after pregnancy. With maternal mental health problems affecting up to a fifth of all women, research has shown that peer support can help mums receive the emotional and practical support needed during this time.

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Refugee and migrant inclusion in community mental health project evaluation
by Andreja Mesaric

Refugees and migrants experience poorer mental health outcomes compared to native-born populations. This can be due to traumatic experiences of persecution or dangerous journeys to the UK as well as stresses of adapting to a new environment including social isolation, language barriers, and various forms of discrimination.

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Using Lived Experience in Evaluating Mental Health Peer Support
by Andreja Mesaric | Julie Billsborough | Rajvi Kotecha-Hazzard | Richard Currie | Sarah Gibson

This essay was originally published as the afterword to the early research findings of the evaluation of the Side by Side programme. In it the researchers who used their lived experience of mental health problems and peer support whilst working on the evaluation reflect on how including that expertise from experience strengthened the research. 

Collaborating with people with lived experience

Research methods

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