Blogs

Jan
21 2020

It is time to close the mental health gap that autistic women experience

Autistic people deserve good mental health just as much as their non-autistic peers. Jenn Layton Annable, an autistic woman and master’s student, explains why good quality co-produced research is needed to address this

Autism

Women

Coproduction

Dec
17 2019

New conversations, VR and more money for young people: looking back on 2019

With the December holidays fast approaching, Vanessa Pinfold reflects on the rollercoaster ride that was 2019 at the McPin Foundation

Dec
17 2019

What if family and friend carers could be equal partners in mental health care?

The Triangle of Care helps NHS Trusts to better involve and support family and friend carers in their loved one’s care. Vanessa Pinfold heard from participating Trusts and carers about a culture change that is still unfolding

Carers

Dec
4 2019

10 things we learnt working at the interface between virtual reality, involvement and mental health research

With digital mental health research now encompassing virtual reality treatments, we must learn how to effectively work with service users in this arena.

Digital mental health

Dec
3 2019

Principles tell us what good peer support for new mums looks like

Putting lived experience at the heart of a project about perinatal peer support has been key to its success, says Laura Wood

Maternal mental health

Nov
11 2019

Who do you involve when researching public mental health?

Laura E. Fischer explains why recruiting a team of co-researchers based upon ‘expertise by experience’ of public mental health is such a complex task and the guiding principles that helped

Public mental health

Jan
6 2020

Mental Health and Money Advice shows impact of joined up thinking

Mental Health and Money Advice is one of the first services in the UK to address these two interconnecting issues. It was inspiring to evaluate the service, says Lisa Couperthwaite, and hear the impact it has made on people's lives.

Money

Oct
15 2019

Fundraising for McPin: 300 miles to better mental health

David Bowman is running the Great South Run in aid of McPin. Here he explains how taking up regular exercise has improved his life

Oct
16 2019

What can women’s peer support projects teach us about being gender responsive and trauma-informed?

Andreja Mesaric, the project lead at McPin, outlines how we are evaluating a peer support programme for women who experience multiple disadvantage

Women

Trauma-informed

Children, young people and families

Oct
10 2019

We asked survivors of abuse to set the research agenda… are we willing to listen?

The violence and abuse research priorities make for uncomfortable reading but the only way to make things better is to hear and respond to what survivors are telling us, says Concetta Perôt

Violence and abuse

Oct
10 2019

Myth-busting through art: Designing a mental health audio tour for the National Gallery

Members of McPin’s Young People’s Network have co-created an audio tour that use artworks to dispel common mental health misconceptions. Here, Hannah Roberts, explains why she was keen to get involved

Oct
7 2019

5 things I learnt from working with the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network

While identifying research priorities for the network, Dan Robotham learnt a lot about abuse, how to involve survivors and how frustrating it is that their voices aren’t at the forefront of research and services in this area

Violence and abuse

Sep
26 2019

7 ways to improve wellbeing at work

This Happiness at Work week, Operations Manager Clare Walsby takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the things that have helped make the McPin office a more enjoyable place to be

Aug
13 2019

Applying common sense to show the benefits of relevant lived experience

One of the questions that people often ask about involvement is whether it makes any difference. If so, where is the evidence? Dan Robotham responds

Jul
26 2019

“Safer on the streets than at home”: women’s stories of homelessness

Gary Coyle, a peer researcher at McPin Foundation, reflects on a book that shows the stark reality of women experiencing homelessness through personal accounts. Read his moving review of Bekki Perriman's ‘Doorways: Women, Homelessness, Trauma and Resistance’.

Jul
22 2019

“Wrestling some power back for the women”: My experiences researching medication decision-making in pregnancy

Charlotte Walker was a peer researcher on a study looking at how women make decisions about taking psychotropic medications during pregnancy. She reflects on the strong bonds formed with participants and frustrations with the academic dissemination process

Jul
10 2019

“Who will support my son when I am gone?” What needs to change for carers

Research isn't the only thing that could make life better for carers. Money, common sense and clear leadership to implement the changes we all know are needed would go along way, found Vanessa Pinfold at an emotionally charged workshop on caring and mental health

Jul
3 2019

Sharing power in a complex mental health research programme

John Gibson, a service user researcher, reflects on his experiences as a member of a lived experience advisory panel and then as part of the university’s research team

Coproduction

Power

Jul
1 2019

How to break down power structures in coproduced research

It is Co-production Week and the theme is sharing power, something that is central to the very definition of co-production. But what does this look like in reality?

Jun
27 2019

User-testing VR for psychosis: Making a safe space for people to gain confidence

As a student, Thomas Kabir wished he’d had a place to try out situations he found difficult. He explains why VR therapy for psychosis could be a gamechanger and why it is essential that people with psychosis are part of every phase of its development

May
22 2019

Imposter syndrome and Public Involvement: How to make it easier to speak up

Involving people with lived experience in research often requires them to give opinions in meetings. Our Public Involvement in Research Officer, Rachel Temple, draws on her experience as attendee and researcher to come up with ways to put people at ease

May
15 2019

Vloggers, K-pop and family dinners – how culture impacts on body image

Our guest blogger explores the social and culture factors that influence how young East Asians feel about their bodies

May
2 2019

“The YPAG gave me a totally different perspective”: a researcher on receiving young people’s feedback

Miriam Avery was nervous about presenting her research proposals to McPin’s Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG) but the experience helped her hone her research question and gave her fresh ideas of how to involve young people

Apr
11 2019

Why we all need a social media detox once in a while

Guest blogger Erin has been using Instagram since she was 10. She opens up about her social media use and her concerns that the lack of research means we don't yet know what its impact is

Apr
4 2019

Predatory publishing and peer research – why we need to prepare people

Academic spam can be funny if you know how to spot it. But those who are new to research can be sucked in and have their time wasted. We need to prepare people to hit delete, says Dan Robotham

Mar
28 2019

Whose idea is it anyway? Using research infrastructure to turn people’s ideas into projects

Connecting with others and working in partnership is a big part of McPin’s ethos. One of the best ways to do this is to visit people on their home turf. In February, our Deputy Research Director, Dan Robotham, went to see an initiative at the University of Cambridge that helps people’s research ideas get off the ground.

Mar
8 2019

We need a wider lens on equality in science than gender alone

On International Women's Day, our research director Vanessa Pinfold reflects on equality in the mental health research sector, inspirational women and the recent LancetWomen event

Feb
27 2019

Mental health research – it is still underfunded

"There are significant gaps in terms of types of research being prioritised, the topics invested in and the health areas targeted": Research director, Vanessa Pinfold, discusses the key findings from MQ's latest look at the mental health funding landscape

Feb
7 2019

This Time to Talk Day, take time to time to listen

When someone opens up about their mental health difficulties, my personal experience and McPin's research into peer support, has taught me that the most valuable thing is to listen, says Rose Thomson

Mental Health

Time to Talk Day

Jan
17 2019

Getting closer to our goal of more research into personality disorder & autism

In 2019, our partners Words that Carry On, will realise their ambition to commission research that will improve the lives of people with personality disorder and autism

Jan
11 2019

We need research into Relationship OCD so that it doesn’t ruin relationships

University student Rhianna shares her experiences of Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and why she is grateful she found a therapist who was already familiar with it

Dec
17 2018

Why do the Top 10 priorities for young people’s mental health need answering?
by Jessica Bond

We revealed the Top 10 questions for young people's mental health research at the end of November. Since then, staff and members of our Young People’s Advisory Group have been reflecting on the importance of the questions. Here are a few edited extracts

Dec
13 2018

Not Quite Right, a play about the NHS, hits the right buttons

Audience participation helped explore how things could have been handled better, says Gary Coyle, who advised on script development

Dec
7 2018

Capturing the life stories of people living with psychosis

Researcher Gary Coyle explores alternative approaches in research that prioritises the personal stories, memories and broader life experiences of people living with psychosis.

Dec
6 2018

Let’s break the taboo and find out what helps young people on waiting lists

There is plenty of research on waiting lists, proving they are long and variable. What has been neglected is how people with mental health difficulties can be supported while they wait. This needs to change, says Thomas Kabir

Dec
4 2018

No more shiny things: Digital mental health priorities show e-health has grown up

Head of Research and Evaluation, Dan Robotham, reflects on what the Top 10 priorities for digital technology and mental health tell us about how we can use technology to address real (and timeless) areas of concern

Dec
3 2018

Universities need to find ways to prevent students reaching crisis point

Student mental health is in the spotlight and many universities have publicly stated that they are taking it seriously. That isn’t always how it feels on the ground, says Lucy Power, a first-year English Literature student

Nov
30 2018

Therapy without the therapist: what role should self-help play?

Exercise, meditation and self-help books: A self-directed approach to mental health won’t work for everyone but as Rachel Temple explains, she gained most of her tools from books. She explains why researching which self-management approaches are the most effective is vital

Nov
28 2018

Why we shouldn’t be scared to talk about how parents impact children’s mental health

The Right People, Right Questions project revealed a lack of research investigating the impact of parental attitudes, parenting styles and family relationships on young people's mental health. McPin's research director and mum of two girls, Vanessa Pinfold, reflects on why this needs to change

Nov
13 2018

Involvement on the curriculum

Lecture I was incredulous. How could we allow a master’s student to complete an entire module on global mental health assuming “involvement in research” meant “involvement as a subject of research”? This wasn’t a failure by the student; it was our failure as educators.

Nov
9 2018

What is Eco-Anxiety and what can we do about it?

We all know what climate change is and the effects it’s having on the planet. But what about the effects it’s having on our mental health?

Having concerns about the environment is perfectly natural and it is never a bad thing to be more aware of your surroundings and the impact we are having.

Oct
25 2018

Five year forward view – a backwards step at a mental health conference.

Conference By Vanessa Pinfold

I recently attended a mental health conference, reflecting on talks delivered by national policy leaders, voluntary sector providers and others exploring progress on delivering the five year forward view for mental health. NHS England, Public Health England, Department of Health, NHS mental health provider’s forum, charities were all represented.

Sep
24 2018

Exercise and mental health

Girl Running We know that exercise is good for mental health… so why aren’t we doing it? This blog from our Public Involvement Officer and Researcher, Rachel explores why people might not be utilising the power of exercise to maintain and improve our mental health and wellbeing.

Oct
12 2018

Poacher turned gamekeeper

By Dr Sam Robertson Initially, I suffered severe post-natal depression after the birth of my son. This ended my career as a teacher and started a period of nearly twenty years as a service user of mental health services. However, being encouraged to get involved in service user and carer activities helped me back into the world. From a very a small and slow start, service user involvement has supported me in so many ways including helping to rebuild my confidence and to develop a more positive identity. It has been part of my individual recovery journey – has given me a sense of purpose. It has contributed to what I do now as someone who has something to offer.

Jul
4 2018

Co-production in Research: Barriers and Solutions

By Vanessa Pinfold

Here at the McPin Foundation, we are pleased to support the third year of the Social Care Institute for Excellence’ (SCIE) co-production week and its focus on learning. This year has seen the introduction of co-production in research principles from INVOLVE.

Jun
11 2018

Maternal mental health peer support
by Andreja Mesaric

Maternal mental health problems affect up to a fifth of all women

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.

May
30 2018

Macmillan Peer Evaluator Training
by Jennie Parker

Brighton September – October 2017 and May 2018

Co-design and co-delivery are part of the ethos of the McPin Foundation. We have just completed our second successful three-day training for Peer Evaluators with Macmillan cancer support. Running the training a second time gave us the freedom to improve and develop materials and content from the first time around.

May
23 2018

Object-based storytelling can help start a conversation about mental health
by Kat Berry

Kat Berry

Object-based storytelling can help start a conversation about mental health. A pop-up exhibition by the Soul Relics Museum during Mental Health Awareness week aimed to do just that using photographs of a wide range of objects that have held special significance to their owners during times of distress.

May
15 2018

Interviewing Peter Fonagy
by Humma Andleeb

A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to interview Peter Fonagy as part of the #LetsTalkMentalHealth series by Louise Arseneault. Peter is a renowned clinical psychologist specialising in early attachment disorder and borderline personality disorder and CEO of the Anna Freud centre.

May
11 2018

Mental Health Awareness Week 2018: are awareness dates useful for mental health?
by Tillie Cryer

Stress is a normal bodily response, but is usually considered a negative feeling. Stress is a major factor in survival and is an important part of the ‘flight or fight response’, which makes us react to dangerous situations such as moving out of the way of a reversing car.

Apr
27 2018

Soul Relics Museum
by Vanessa Yim

The Soul Relics Museum project will be having a pop-up exhibitions in the SGDP for a month from 16th April – 20th May 2018

The Soul Relics Museum collects photographs of objects which relate to a time of personal struggle with mental wellbeing.

Apr
4 2018

Words That Carry On: Lindsay’s Fund
by Vanessa Pinfold

On Saturday afternoon (24/3/2018) I went by bus across London to the memorial service of an amazing person I had never met, but wish I had. Lindsay Riddoch, who died on the eve of her 25^th Birthday – late December 2017 – when she ended her life and her battle with mental health issues.

Mar
20 2018

When two cultures collide: The reality of being British Asian
by Humma Andleeb

Disclaimer: this blog post is an exploration of mental health issues within the south Asian community, and is not intended to disregard the positives of being British Asian.

Racial discrimination is an issue that manifests in multiple ways and affects most people of BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) background.

Mar
12 2018

Psychosis and the Mortality Gap
by Vanessa Pinfold

Did you know that people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar or psychosis have a life expectancy lower than twenty years compared to the general population? This is a shocking statistic and more needs to be done to support the physical health needs of this group of people.

Children, young people and families

Feb
15 2018

Social Anxiety: More than Shyness
by Rachel Temple

Before Christmas, Radio presenter Iain Lee discussed his experiences of mental health difficulties on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here. In particular, he talked about how living with social anxiety affects his daily interactions, especially in groups of people.

Jan
8 2018

Developing peer support in the community: A toolkit
by Alison Faulkner

We have a new toolkit to use, launched in early December by Mind based upon work carried out by an evaluation team I know well at the McPin Foundation and St George’s, University of London. They had spent 2 years evaluating the Side by Side community peer support programme initiated by Mind and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

Dec
15 2017

Our Yearly Round Up

McPin will be marking its 5 year anniversary in our current form. Before this the charity had no members of staff. It was essentially a grant making charity. The most important aspect of our work is working alongside people with mental health problems as colleagues, advisors and friends of the charity.

Dec
15 2017

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Insomnia
by Dan Robotham

A good night’s sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle. Several years ago, I was involved in writing a report for Mental Health Awareness Week, based on findings from the Great British Sleep Survey. The report argued that insomnia and poor sleep were public health concerns.

Dec
7 2017

A framework for mental health research – what next?
by Vanessa Pinfold

We have been involved over the past 18 months in the development of a 10 year strategy for mental health research in the UK. Developing such a strategy was one of the recommendations in the 2016 Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report.

Dec
4 2017

INVOLVE at 21
by John Gibson | Thomas Kabir | Vanessa Pinfold

Last week we attended a public involvement conference organised by INVOLVE. INVOLVE was originally set up by the Department of Health in 1996. It remains one of the oldest Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) organisations in the world. We had a stand promoting our own work championing expertise from experience in mental health research.

Nov
6 2017

Bipolar research – working together to decide which outcomes matter.

When researchers are developing a study that involves a trial in order to compare treatment A to treatment B, they need to decide on what outcomes to measure. Often this is through a series of questionnaires with research participants and sometimes through tests like measuring weight, blood tests or saliva samples.

Nov
1 2017

Managing stress: It’s personal
by Amy Peabody

Today is International Stress Awareness Day, I thought I’d share my personal ways of coping with stress and highlight while there are underlying themes to some of these coping techniques, the exact measure we employ are likely to be personal to our own preferences.

Oct
25 2017

Friends in Europe: A mental health conference with a difference
by Vanessa Pinfold

A warm welcome awaited me when I arrived at the European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation (more commonly referred to as ENMESH) recently. ENMESH develops and maintains a network of active researchers in mental health service research in Europe. I met service users and carers, junior researchers, professors and international policy experts.

Oct
16 2017

Sweating it out for mental health research

Kat Berry, Operations Manager at the McPin Foundation talks to us about her 30 DAY hot yoga challenge and why she’s raising money for mental health research.

Where did the idea to do hot yoga for 30 days come from?

I’ve always wanted to do the 30 day challenge but I have always found an excuse not to – either the time commitment or just the fear of knowing how tough it was going to be held me back.

Oct
10 2017

Workplace wellbeing: a no-brainer?
by Rajvi Kotecha-Hazzard

Taking steps to enhance wellbeing in the workplace seems like a no-brainer. It can improve productivity, create happy teams and generally make Monday mornings feel worth getting out of bed for. If you are contending with mental health problems, it can make finding your workplace ‘zen’ even more pressing yet, unfortunately, harder to achieve.

Oct
5 2017

Another step forward – Research into wellbeing networks
by Vanessa Pinfold

The places we go, the things we like to do and the people we know all play an important contribution to our wellbeing. Yet, this is not a key focus of current clinical mental health interventions. We are hoping our research will change this.

Sep
27 2017

Are Coercion and Co-Production Compatible?
by Harminder Kaur

I was fortunate to attend a very stimulating seminar entitled ‘Co-production in Coercive Environments’ on 6^th July 2017 at the University of Huddersfield. The key question for the seminar was the possibility, or impossibility, of co-production in the conditions of detention under the Mental Health Act (MHA).

Sep
25 2017

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.

Sep
7 2017

Being a part of the Right People, Right Questions ‘Young People’s Advisory Group’.
by Lucy Power

Before becoming involved in any of the McPin Foundation’s work, I had originally held a position on the NHS Hertfordshire Young Peoples Mental Health Council. I was actively involved in a process which enabled those at the “bottom” (the service user or carer) unlike those in top positions (the clinician and institutional researcher) to have a voice in transforming the way we treat and understand young people’s mental health.

Sep
7 2017

Social media: The next big thing in research?
by Nhung

With the boom of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the use of social media in research has received much attention in recent years. As some of our keen-eyed followers may have noticed, we’ve been using social media to spread the word about a survey as part of the Right People, Right Questions project.

Aug
30 2017

Everyone’s business: research councils unite on mental health
by Dan Robotham

Last week, the UK research councils published their agenda for working in partnership on mental health research. For me, it is interesting to see how mental health has united all seven research councils, not just the traditional “key players” like the Medical Research Council (MRC, who have their own mental health research strategy) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Aug
17 2017

Men’s mental health: Research into online stress support for men
by Daryl Sweet

Online Support for Men

Research consistently finds that men are less likely than women to reach out for support for their mental health, or even recognise it as a problem. In June 2016, The Men’s Health Forum created ‘Beat Stress Online’ to offer an anonymous and confidential chat support and signposting service for men experiencing difficulties with mental health such as stress, anger and depression.

Aug
2 2017

Evaluating the Side by Side peer support programme
by Rose Thompson

Over the last 2 years the McPin foundation has been working with St Georges University of London and the London School of Economics to evaluate the Side by Side programme of peer support. Funded by the Big Lottery and delivered by a collaboration between Mind, Bipolar UK and a number of smaller organisations, it aimed to make peer support available to people across nine regions in England.

Aug
2 2017

Finding the right people to ask the right questions: new survey on young people’s mental health
by Thomas Kabir

What do we really know about young people’s mental health? We know it’s a big issue. Around 1 in 10 young people have experienced a mental health difficulty. Around 75% of people with a mental health problem start developing it before the age of 18¹.

Aug
2 2017

Research in the News
by Ian Bradshaw

When we wrote our last ‘Research in the News’ update in early April the General Election was not even in prospect. It’s fair to say that there has been a lot of news since. The jury is still out on the impact it will have on mental health research.

Jul
27 2017

RideLondon 2018 – ride for Mental Health research!

Are you up for a challenge? Do you want to raise money for life-saving mental health research? McPin has places for RideLondon 2018 and we would love for you to join our team. Over the last three years our riders have raised thousands of pounds to support life-saving mental health research, and had great fun doing it.

Jul
18 2017

“Good Work” and good mental health
by Ian Bradshaw

Our jobs are central to many of our lives. They provide us with money; but also social interaction, an identity, a sense of worth or value. It is not surprising that our work and our mental health are often inter-connected. Generally unemployment is bad for your mental health.

Jul
13 2017

“The question is not if patients should be remunerated, but how”
by Dan Robotham

This recent BMJ blog explores the topic of paying patients to advise on health research, policy and service design. I was surprised to discover that there was still a debate about whether to pay patients or not!

The question of whether to pay people who bring ‘expertise from experience’ to research is nothing new.

Public Involvement

Jun
30 2017

Why I’m doing Ride London to support Mental Health Research
by Ian Bradshaw

Our policy manager Ian writes about why he is doing RideLondon, and the special challenges of doing it whilst in recovery from anorexia.

‘You are MAD…’

That was my Mum’s response to the news that I am doing RideLondon 100 mile bike ride at the end of July.

May
25 2017

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.

May
19 2017

Manifesto Commitments To Mental Health Research Are Great – Action Will Be Even Better.
by Ian Bradshaw

We have reached the stage of the General Election were the main parties have published their manifestos and charities check whether their issues have made the cut. When the election was called we worked with the Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders to send a joint letter to all the parties setting out the case for including mental health research in their manifestos (read it here).

May
10 2017

Thriving or surviving? Our work on personal wellbeing network mapping to help people thrive #MHAW17

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme ‘Thriving or Surviving?’ is a reminder that good mental health and wellbeing is about more than the absence of a mental health problem, but the opportunity to live a full and meaningful life. This means more than simply ‘getting by’, or managing symptoms of mental distress, but supporting people to thrive and flourish – develop positive resources for mental health such as resilience, social support, and a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.

Apr
12 2017

Our Evaluation News

Over the last few weeks we’ve been giving our website a bit of a spring clean. As part of that we’ve added a new page showcasing the work we do for partner organisations including our work on evaluations. This is a growing part of what we do, helping other organisations to understand what impact their work is having and how it can be improved.

Apr
7 2017

Depression: Let’s Talk (About How We Talk About It)
by Ian Bradshaw

Today (7 April) is World Health Day, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO). They have picked the theme of “Depression: Let’s Talk”.

It would be easy to be cynical. Yet another campaign about talking about mental health. Between Time to Talk Day and the new HeadsTogether campaign it feels like we are not short of people urging us to open up about our mental wellbeing.

Apr
5 2017

The glass ceiling of Patient and Public Involvement
by Dan Robotham

In his first blog for us our new Head of Research and Evaluation Dan Robotham explains one of the reasons he decided to join McPin.

Health and social care research has a good public image. Polls suggest that university-based researchers are trusted by up to 90% of the public (Ispos Mori, 2014).

Public Involvement

Mar
23 2017

Why we should include everyone and everywhere in mental health research
by Ian Bradshaw

Our new policy briefing Everywhere and Everyone Included? describes the wide disparities in the research activity of NHS mental health trusts in England. This is despite the government’s commitments to create a “culture of innovation and research that is embedded at every level” of the NHS, with a “workforce that embraces research and innovation”.

Feb
16 2017

“Yes, and” – mental health research funding needs both better evidence and better public and patient involvement
by Ian Bradshaw

Ian examines a call for a new ’empirical’ approach to mental health research funding, and finds that the voice of people affected by mental health problems seems to be missing.

The Lancet Psychiatry published a comment piece last week arguing that in a ‘post-truth era’ mental health research funders should adopt a more ‘empirical’ approach to their work [requires registration].

Feb
9 2017

Run for McPin in Vitality London 2017

The McPin Foundation is looking for runners to take part in Vitality London 10k, to raise money for life-saving mental health research. The event takes places on 29^th May 2017, and we would love for you to join us!

Jan
13 2017

Thrive Employment Survey

Thrive London is a citywide movement for mental health supported by the Mayor of London, the London Health Board, and the Greater London Authority. They want to find out how to better support people with their mental health at work, and also how to help people with mental health problems find work.

Jan
9 2017

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s speech on Mental Health
by Ian Bradshaw

Today’s speech by the Prime Minister on mental health is important, but delivering her promises will need a new commitment to evidence and research.

My conclusion on mental health policy in 2016 was that we should see it as a glass half full.

Jan
6 2017

Lived experiences in research – opportunities and problems
by Ruth Sayers

The roles of a therapist and a research interviewer have different goals, but both involve personal conversations. And both challenge us to think about how we use our lived experience to facilitate a conversation, how it may affect what is said to us and how we interpret that

The researcher is often described as having power in an interview situation – she sets the agenda and guides the conversation, and may be perceived as having a more powerful status than the interviewee.

Jan
4 2017

Expertise from Experience in Peer Review – Dolly’s Experience
by Dolly Sen

Earlier in the year MHRUK asked for our help in reviewing applications for three PhD Studentships. They wanted to strengthen the peer review process by including reviewers who could contribute their expertise from experience. We asked Gary, Dolly and Ryan to reflect on their experience of acting as reviewers, and we publish their blogs here.

Jan
4 2017

Expertise from Experience in Peer Review – Gary’s experience
by Gary Coyle

Jan
4 2017

Expertise from Experience in Peer Review – Ryan’s Experience
by Ryan Freeman

Dec
16 2016

Research in 2016
by Agnes Hann | Johanna Frerichs

To mark the end of 2016, we’re taking a look back at some of what the McPin team has learned over the past year.

Dec
16 2016

Mental health policy and research in 2016 – a glass half full?
by Ian Bradshaw

At McPin we know that research and evidence are vital to improving the lives of people affected by mental health problems. But research does not take place in a vacuum. Decisions about what questions are seen as relevant, and what research (and how much) is funded are driven by people and how they respond to events in the outside world such as Brexit.

Dec
16 2016

Reflections on Patient and Public involvement (PPI) at McPin in 2016
by Thomas Kabir

This year has seen the expansion of our mental health science theme of work. We have engaged with scientists developing new treatments and testing them in research studies. Are these treatments that patients want? What are the ethical considerations of developing the treatment?

Public Involvement

Dec
16 2016

McPin Methods
by Ian Bradshaw

The 30th of November saw the first of what we will hope will be a series of methods workshops. It brought together over 70 researchers to discuss how to integrate ‘lived experience expertise in mental health research teams’. The event was massively oversubscribed and if the fact that we had to cut short discussions before we were physically kicked out of the venue is any guide, it succeeded in its aim of stimulating debate and the sharing of ideas.

People continued to be discriminated against by the very systems that are supposed to support them. Within health services, welfare and housing, people reported no improvement or even more discrimination than they did in 2008.

Today (10 October) is World Mental Health Day.

Sep
30 2016

Long term impacts of medication for Bipolar
by Megan Rees

hot-off-the-press-pharmacy-shelves Medication side effects are a burning issue for many service users and carers. Yet research to date has failed to accurately reflect the prevalence of the adverse events and effects resulting from long term psychiatric medication use. This is a particularly urgent issue for people diagnosed with Bipolar, as influential guidelines on its management, including those of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Association for Psychopharmacology, advocate the long term use of medications.

Sep
30 2016

Influencing the debate – peer research in academic journals
by Sarah Hamilton

A new special edition reporting findings from the Viewpoint survey was published in July. It includes a paper on our qualitative research into mental health discrimination experiences which was co-authored with four peer researchers. We reflect on the importance of experts by experience being named as authors, and why they are so often absent from peer reviewed journal articles.

Sep
30 2016

The Inflamed Mind
by Thomas Kabir

the-inflamed-mind-scans There is a growing amount of evidence that some mental health problems may be due in part to the brain becoming ‘inflamed’. In August BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme about this titled ‘The inflamed Mind’. You can listen to the programme by clicking here.

Sep
30 2016

Ride London – Evan’s blog
by Evan Champion

thank-you-image-cycling

McPin Rider 2016

When I feel the black dog sniffing around I’ve learned to hit the gym. I suppose I’ve always dealt with depression, though generally it’s nothing too serious. I went through one period of doing every intensive aerobic session I could find at the YMCA in Montreal.

Sep
14 2016

New Investment in NHS Research Infrastructure shows Mental Health research is gaining traction
by Ian Bradshaw

On Wednesday the Government announced the next five years of funding for NIHR’s 20 Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). These are collaborations between universities and NHS trusts that provide facilities and support for medical research, and in particular experimental medicine. What is exciting is the prominence that Mental Health is now getting.

Sep
1 2016

Involvement in Research on Loneliness
by Anjie Chhapia | Jackie Hardy

Birdseye meeting - newsletter header Reducing loneliness – how do you do that then? Hopefully through recruiting the right Community Navigators! Here we reflect on how involving experts by experience in a recruitment exercise can add value and hopefully contribute to a successful research study.

Aug
19 2016

Sad but inspiring: In memory of Donald Campbell
by Vanessa Pinfold

Monday morning and I was on my way to work catching up with the news and social media. I had missed an excellent piece in the Sunday Times by Alistair Campbell about his brother Donald who died recently aged 62. Luckily it is available as a blog. Reading, I was immediately absorbed. That’s the power of the personal narrative. I also felt very, very sad. Another person dying far too early after years of treatment for schizophrenia.

Aug
15 2016

Taking a challenge – cycling for research into suicide
by Vanessa Pinfold

20x30-RLDR0352 On Sunday 31^st July I got up very early – 4.45am – and cycled to the train station to start my Ride London-Surrey Prudential challenge. Getting to the start line was quite an effort as I live in West London and it started in Stratford over to the east.

Aug
1 2016

Drawing up Research Priorities – different perspectives
by Ian Bradshaw

One of the most significant aspects of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health was the Department of Health’s commitment to develop a ten year strategy for mental health research. We at McPin are now working with the Department on the process for drawing up the strategy.

Jul
25 2016

Getting our Report Card – asking people what they think of you and acting on their responses, the Your Experience in Mind Survey
by Madeleine Musgrove

Research and Evaluation Officer, Mind

Mind have been worki Your Experience in Mind pic 550x356 ng together with the McPin Foundation since 2014 to evaluate the experience of people using our federated local Minds through the annual ‘Your Experience in Mind’ survey. We have 146 local Minds across England and Wales providing over 50 different types of service.

Jun
14 2016

What does the research tell us about how you talk about and beat stress? #MHW2016
by Daryl Sweet

‘How do you beat stress’? was the question for Men’s Health Week which ran 13th to 17th June 2016. How do men talk about stress? How do men manage it rather than let it build up and harm us? Read Daryl's blog on the role of research in answering this question. We link this to some of our work at McPin and we are keen to hear your views on how research can play a role in creating mentally healthier communities ....

May
13 2016

Relationships for Mental Health
by Johanna Frerichs

Oct
8 2015

Talking Point: RCTs- the straitjacket of mental health research?
by McPin Foundation

We had our first public event and the launch of our Talking Point series on Thursday 8th October 2015 at Jerwood Space in Southwark. We looked at the role of the Randomised Control Trials in mental health research with the help of Professor Sonia Johnson from University College London and Dr Steve Gillard from St George's University of London. Alison Faulkner, survivor researcher and trainer provided an overview of her Talking Point paper and we hosted a discussion. We also had a live twitter discussion during the event: #RCTDebate.

Sep
30 2015

Reflecting on our mission to #transformMHresearch
by McPin Foundation

Just recently, the McPin Foundation have been reflecting on our mission to "transform mental health research". We have been busy in the past year as our info graphic shows: McPin Foundation 2014 2015. We seek to build a community who share our mission to #transformMHresearch - and to do that we need to develop conversations on our twitter feed @mcpinfoundation on facebook, at events, in blogs, at conferences and in person. Please do join the conversation!

Sep
30 2015

Mental health research priorities for Europe
by Vanessa Pinfold

There seems to be a lot of conversations at the moment about priorities for mental health research. What should funders fund to improve the lives of individuals and communities with regard to mental health? Where are the promising breakthroughs? How can we gain parity for mental health research funding alongside other health areas?

Sep
30 2015

Marking world suicide prevention day
by Karen James

On the 10^th September 2015, across the globe, people came together to mark the 13^th annual World Suicide Prevention Day. This saw reports of candlelight vigils in the UK, flash-mobs in India, the release of balloons across America, and in Ireland, famous landmarks were lit up in orange.

Aug
5 2015

Genetic link to depression discovered?
by Thomas Kabir

Genetic link to depression discovered? A consortium of researchers from Oxford and China has discovered two specific regions of DNA that have been linked to depression. These findings were published in Nature in July this year. The results are some of the strongest evidence yet that genetics do indeed have some part to play in depression. Our Public Involvement in Research Manager, Thomas Kabir shares his thoughts on this exciting research in our latest blog.

Jul
3 2015

Reflections from working on an evaluation project: Your Experience in Mind
by Julie Billsborough

We are keen to look at new ways of involving mental health service users and carers in research. Part of our commitment to developing new approaches has been to investigate the things that have worked well and not so well about the methods we have tried in our own research and evaluation studies. We will publish a series of methods papers describing our work. Our first methods paper describes the 'Survey Champion' approach used in an evaluation of Local Minds.

Jun
25 2015

Research in the News – Mindfulness for the masses?
by Agnes Hann

Over the past couple of months, mindfulness has been making headlines again. This is partly due to a new study, published in the Lancet that suggests that the practice is ‘as effective as pills for treating recurrent depression’.

It is fair to say that for some years now, there has been a lot of hype surrounding mindfulness – a type of therapy that draws on aspects of ancient Buddhist practices and is aimed at ‘increasing people’s awareness of themselves, their emotions and the environment around them, through meditation, yoga and breathing’.

Jun
25 2015

Right Here Right Now: The CQC on the state of crisis care
by Susanne Gibson

The Crisis Care Concordat was launched in February 2014 with the aim of improving the quality and availability of help and support for people experiencing a mental health crisis; support before reaching crisis point, urgent access to safe, respectful and effective care in an emergency, and support for recovery and the prevention of future crises.

Jun
25 2015

A new area of work for the McPin Foundation – mental health sciences
by Thomas Kabir

“Thomas – you need to look at a protein structure from lots of different points of view to understand how it works”. This was some of the most valuable advice I ever got when I was doing my PhD. I was studying how proteins stick to one another to form complexes at UCL in London.

Jun
1 2015

Reflections from 10 years of service user and survivor research event
by McPin Foundation

On Monday (1st June, 2015), St George's University of London celebrated 10 years of doing service user and survivor research with a fantastic day of discussions attended by many inspirational leaders in mental health research, from a lived experience perspective. Three of us from the McPin Foundation attended. In one of the sessions, Sarah Carr, Peter Beresford, Diana Rose and Jayasaree Kalathil reflected on the place of collaborative and survivor research in Universities. Is it safe in universities?

May
30 2015

Reflections from my research placement
by Katrina Heyman

As a mental health student nurse, evidence based practice is a term that is regularly thrown about. But what does evidence based practice mean? It means that all the essential components of a nurse’s knowledge and skills, in providing excellent health care, is based on information emerging from the best available evidence- evidence which stems from research.

May
24 2015

#mymadidea from West London Collaborative
by McPin Foundation

I attended a very interesting event at Chelsea Football Club on 21st May organised by the West London Collaborative – a new, independent organisation that is working with West London Mental Health NHS Trust to enable service users, carers and staff to work together in equal partnership to design, deliver and evaluate services following co-production as a way of working.

May
13 2015

Research into practice – reflections from a primary care event
by Vanessa Pinfold

Today we attended a learning and development event for primary care practitioners - GPs, practice nurses, information specialists in London. The opening session particularly addressed local practitioners about current changes in mental health - both local and national agendas including how funding is allocated and services join up. With the new mental health task force working away to create a 5 year forward view of the future it will be interesting to see how issues raised in local meetings can find their way to the task force because crucial concerns are being raised particularly about collaborative provision of solutions for people with mental health problems. How to remove the barriers between teams or system elements so that better care is provided? Can research help with some answers? I hope so. The importance of research linked to practice was mentioned several times.

Mar
26 2015

Involvement in research and trials: the participants’ perspective
by Ben Gray

A crucial factor in making a piece of research successful or not is participant engagement. Do people want to take part and can you keep them engaged for follow-up if that is required? But very little research has been carried out of participant experiences of what’s involved in “taking part in research” and why people do.

Children, young people and families

Feb
12 2015

Young People Rethinking Mental Health Conference
by Naomi Clewett

A few of us from McPin attended the Young People ReThinking Mental Health event last week run by the Clinical Research Network: Mental Health. It was a really engaging event showcasing how young people can be involved in mental health research as active advisors and shapers of that research, rather than merely as participants. Read Naomi's blog about the event.

Nov
25 2014

The genetics of schizophrenia
by Thomas Kabir

To say that schizophrenia is a controversial diagnosis would be putting it mildly. Almost everything relating to schizophrenia has been contested, often ferociously. Putting that to one side, there is a lot of research into schizophrenia particularly to understand causation and treatments.

Nov
25 2014

Understanding psychosis and schizophrenia – new report from the British Psychology Society
by Vanessa Pinfold

The end of November saw the launch of a new report by the, British Psychology Society (BPS) with the aim of challenging stereotypes of schizophrenia and psychosis. This is 14 years on from the publication of the first edition “Recent Advances in Understanding Mental Illness and Psychotic Experiences” which was a really useful overview emphasising the contribution of a psychological perspective to making sense of ‘serious mental illness’.

Aug
13 2014

Suicide happens. We need to talk about it. And we need to research it.
by Amy Meadows

Robin Williams death is a tragedy. He was undoubtedly a comic genius who has brought so much laughter and joy to millions of people around the world in his memorable (and at times immortal) roles. So many of his films and prophetic musings have been powerful way markers for my childhood and early adulthood.

Jul
29 2014

Personalisation and mental health – new research report launched
by McPin Foundation

A research project commissioned by Mind, the mental health charity has just reported its findings. It was carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) as part of a programme of work on personalisation in mental health funded by the Department of Health.

Jul
14 2014

Mental health intelligence network
by Julie Billsborough

I attended the launch of the Public Health England pilot website a few weeks back – the National Mental Health, Dementia and Neurology networks. I found the event interesting, partly because I was involved in the PHE consultation report to gather people’s views on the design and accessibility of the site, but also because I am keen to use this tool myself to campaign for change in my locality.

May
27 2014

Ups and Downs
by Julie Billsborough | Roger Smith

We have been involved in a study looking at experiences of support and treatment in bipolar disorder. And it has recently been published in the Journal of Mental Health so it felt like a good time to reflect on this piece of work.

Mar
28 2014

We are concerned about the mental health of PhD students. By Sarah Hamilton
by Sarah Hamilton

The McPin Foundation’s vision is to ‘transform mental health research’ to ensure that lived experience is at the heart of all research affecting people with mental health problems. This means making research accessible at lots of different levels to allow people with different interests and skills to have their contribution valued in research.

Mar
19 2014

Hearing people’s stories: interviewing with the McPin Foundation
by Katherine Barrett

Katherine Barrett describes her experience of working with the McPin Foundation to interview people about experiences of discrimination

I have just been involved in some very interesting research at the McPin Foundation. I have been a telephone interviewer for the Viewpoint Survey for two years now and in October 2013 I was invited to take part in a qualitative study using the Viewpoint questionnaire.

Dec
20 2013

World Innovation Summit on Health (WISH)
by Vanessa Pinfold

Last week I attended WISH as a guest of Lord Ara Darzi along with around 800 international delegates representing health fields across the globe. The Institute for Global Health Innovation at Imperial college London has posted some highlights online and Richard Horton provided a comment piece in the Lancet this week.

Dec
2 2013

Does service user involvement in research make a difference?

A major interest of the McPin Foundation is how service user and carer involvement in mental health research, reaching beyond taking part as participants, improves any project. It is a topic that is of interest to research funders as well, with programmes of research being commissioned by the NIHR to answer this question.

Nov
22 2013

Doing PPI better: why we are always learning
by Sarah Hamilton

Last week, I attended a fantastic conference on Patient and Public Involvement in Exeter, organised by the South Peninsula CLAHRC.

The conference was a very inspiring event with a wide variety of researchers, practitioners and people who have used health services and are engaged in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research.

Jun
6 2013

What helps personalisation flourish?
by McPin Foundation

It sometimes seems as though our health and social care systems are in a constant state of change. Queen’s speech announced more changes to social care, at a time of increasingly difficult financial constraints. One area which is being widely discussed is the need to improve integration between Local Authorities and the National Health Services.

Apr
30 2013

Reporting stigma experiences – views of practitioners, families and people living with mental health problems
by McPin Foundation

In March, the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN) ran their Annual three day National Scientific Meeting in London. The scientific meeting is an opportunity for mental health professionals, researchers, service users and carers to get together and find out about the different research that is currently being supported by the MHRN.

Apr
4 2013

Time to Change
by McPin Foundation

Findings from the evaluation of the first three years of Time to Change England’s biggest ever anti-stigma campaign, were published on 3 April in the British Journal of Psychiatry and commented upon by journalists at the Times and Guardian. This evaluation includes the Viewpoint Survey, run by King’s College London in partnership with the McPin Foundation.