CHOICE Research Project: Challenging Health Outcomes/ Integrating Care Environments

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Description

People with long-term mental health problems face profound social exclusion. They also die much younger than the general population from preventable causes. This is not just a medical issue; there is a need to address the contributory social and psychological factors. While some of the poor health of this population may be attributed to lifestyle behaviours and psychotropic medication, other social and psychological factors such as low self-esteem, exclusion, loneliness, and discrimination are indirectly implicated. The mechanisms behind such disparities are systemic and multifactorial, requiring integrated cross-sectoral and person-centred approaches that are currently patchy or absent. Missing too are the voices of people with mental health problems and their families.

We propose using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to harness the ideas, skills, energies, and resources from a spectrum of agencies and people in Northern Ireland, with the longer-term goal of creating evidence-based interventions to support and enable these approaches. Our overall aim is to establish and sustain a community partnership to co-produce innovative arts-based approaches to tackling social exclusion and reducing the health inequalities experienced by people living with mental health problems. Our vision is that people living with mental illness can lead healthy, flourishing lives.
Period7 Feb 202330 Jul 2023
Event typeOther
LocationBelfastShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational