13 May 2025
Our Mental Health Research for All (MH-ALL) programme seeks to improve research opportunities for allied health and community staff, particularly those from diverse backgrounds. Following the success of the first three years of the programme and the programme's continuation, programme leads Dr Fran Zanatta and Dr Jenny Shand share their reflections one what they've learned so far.
1.Acknowledge and celebrate different pathways into research
Our journeys into research are varied and non-linear. They started at different moments of our careers and lives and are taking us onto a great variety of roads and places.
We believe our research is enriched by our different experiences, informing what to research, different ways to do it, and ensure impact.
Image shows: MH-ALL fellow Charlotte Crowl, who says: "My journey into research wasn’t linear or planned; it was lived, and life prepared me by personal experience, community work, and a commitment to inclusion. When we embrace these varied pathways, we create space for research that truly sees, hears, and serves the diverse communities it aims to impact. Not all researchers arrive via academia; some arrive by surviving, which is just as vital as data.”
2.Trust the richness of diversity and be aware of privileges
There are many different layers of privilege that inhabit the world of mental health research.
It is crucial to consider and reframe the structures that frame research, moving beyond a focus on individuals and organisations.
We have been reflecting on the importance of diversity in methods, dissemination, evidence creation, and amplifying different voices.
Image shows: MH-ALL Fellow Angela Kinn, who says: “It is vitally important for us to bring both our disadvantages and privileges to our work. I was profoundly excluded due to my lived experience for most of my life but I'm also a cis, white, heterosexual, middle class woman and I believe this has led to fewer barriers in my recovery journey. All of us need to hold the lens of intersectionality, have a strong focus on reflexivity, and carry out rigorous privilege checking to ensure world class inclusive mental health research.”
3.Remember: Research is Knowledge, Knowledge is Power, Power is Political
All research has a starting point. This may be a question, a curiosity, an inspiration, an experience, a call for evidence or a gap in our understanding. All starting points are political in their own way.
- Be open and honest in your intentions and keep your biases in check.
- Invite diverse voices to enhance the breadth of your thinking.
- Acknowledge where there are limitations.
- Be prepared to change your mind!
Image shows: MH-ALL Fellow Helen Boyle, who says: “As researchers with lived experience, our 'self' and existence is politicised. We have a duty to make our research felt whilst understanding that other people sit in different positions and welcoming their thoughts. No matter our starting points, all research can be perceived as activism.”
4.Welcome diverse impacts
Researchers are often asked about the impact of their research.
Impact can be different from different perspectives - patients, their families, their communities, their staff members.
What impact could mean to these different audiences needs to be considered from the beginning. Make your research matter to the people that matter!
Image shows: MH-ALL Fellow Ian Callaghan, who says: "Mental health research has the power to transform lives, offering people hope and healing through improved care, treatment and support alongside the strengthening of the wellbeing of communities.”