Health Sciences

Wellcome Trust 'Society and Ethics Fellowship'

Understanding the relationship between mental health interventions, the social determinants of health and health inequalities

One third of the UK’s population will experience a common mental disorder (CMD) such as anxiety or depression in their lifetime. People who are socio-economically disadvantaged are more likely to have a CMD, less likely to have their disorder recognised by the health service and less likely to benefit from treatment. Currently, we know little about how to reduce this mental health inequality.

This fellowship project proposes to address the research gap by investigating the impact of interventions on mental health inequalities in the UK. There will be three stages, first a synthesis of theory and evidence of how social characteristics influence CMD and drive mental health inequalities. Second will be a check of these findings in a range of contemporary datasets, followed lastly by the compilation of what is known about the effects of health, social or policy interventions on CMD and social characteristics.

Using population data from the Humberside and data compiled in the above stages, the effects of different interventions on CMD, social characteristics, and CMD inequalities in disadvantaged groups will be simulated. Project outputs will include academic papers and conference proceedings, and a predictive toolkit on the mental health and social effects of different interventions.

Funding
Members

Funding

Funder:	Wellcome Trust
Start Date	May 2016
End Date	April 2019

Members

Internal Staff

Stephanie Prady