Aisling Ryan, Research Fellow, York Law School

She is a socio-legal researcher of public law, with a particularly interest in how bureaucracy shapes the relationship between people and the State.

She joined the University of York from University College Cork where she completed her PhD thesis on administrative discretion. She previously worked in practice as a regulatory solicitor and adjudicator of landlord-tenant disputes. 

Our 60-second interview with Aisling:

Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health

Together with the healthcare team in the Administrative Fairness Lab, we are investigating the relationship between the administrative processes of healthcare systems and mental health outcomes. People navigate the administrative processes of mental health services in many different ways, including through application forms, digital interfaces and through interactions with frontline staff, but we have very little evidence on the relationship between these processes and mental health outcomes.

What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?

The relational nature of the work is rewarding and inspiring. We are all connected to each other through complex networks and systems. This research represents an opportunity to develop theory and practice around how the State supports people and how we support each other in pursuit of shared societal goals.

What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?

The most challenging aspect of the work is the lack of literature or data on the intersection between mental health and administrative processes. It is an exciting challenge to be tasked with developing a research agenda in an underexplored area that has the potential to contribute to better mental health outcomes and fairer public service delivery processes.

What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?

I hope that we can develop a toolkit of interventions for mental health service delivery that are grounded in lived experience understandings of what an administratively fair process looks like and feels like. This work could also potentially capture the wider societal consequences of administrative fairness (or unfairness) in how people interact with the State in other areas of administration including social security, education and housing.

Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?

I find spending time in nature to be the best way of minding my own mental health. Some days that might be a short walk, on others a dip in the sea or a longer hike, but no matter what is going on with life or work I think it is important to get fresh air and sunshine, even if the later is hard to get in this part of the world during winter!