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The University of Southampton
Public Policy|Southampton

Mentally Healthy Southampton: A whole communities approach to mental health prevention

Mentally Healthy team

The research project

Mental Health has been highlighted as a government priority, however in the current climate resources are often over stretched. Therefore prevention of these difficulties in the first instance as well as prevention of their re-occurrence and deterioration may be a vital area for further work and improvement.

Whilst there has been many reports into prevention at a national level, implementation on the ground has yet to be established. This project focuses on achieving just that through mapping the services currently available, identifying areas of need for improvement and then developing guidance on how to implement prevention measures in a city wide approach within Southampton.

A key area of this work will include measurement of current and future indicators of mental health difficulties and also mental wellbeing through easily accessible data sets. From this work it is envisioned that a template for implementing prevention measures in other geographical areas will be made accessible.

Meet the research team

Professor David Kingdon

Professor of Mental Health Care Delivery within Medicine at the University of Southampton and Clinical Service Director for Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. He now does policy and implementation work for NHS England and is editor of their mental health website. He chaired the Expert Working Group leading to the Council of Europe’s Recommendation 2004(10) on Psychiatry and Human Rights (1996-2003). His research interests are in cognitive therapy of severe mental health conditions and mental health service development on which he has published over 150 papers, chapters and five books translated into languages including Mandarin, Japanese, Greek, Italian, and French. He is currently working on a number of research studies as well as the development of mental health care pathways and commissioning tools. He received the Aaron T Beck award for exceptional cognitive therapy in 2015.

Isabella Goldie

Director of Development and Delivery, Mental Health Foundation. During her time at the Mental Health Foundation, Isabella has developed a range of research & service improvement projects. Key areas of interest include later life; refugees and asylum seekers; and the role of the arts in reducing stigma and discrimination. She has a master’s in public mental health from the University of Glasgow and is a registered mental health nurse. Isabella is Chair of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and has contributed to a number of publications including the Public Mental Health: A Handbook. Isabella enjoys mindfulness meditation and music.

Partners

The working group is made up of both local stakeholders from the CCG, LA, Public Health, Primary and Secondary Mental Health Care, Substance misuse services and the Voluntary Sector alongside national involvement from the Mental Health Foundation.

More about Emotional WellbeingProf Kingdon's views on preventing mental health difficulties
Researchers at work

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