Mental health and Inequalities
Project Lead
Brief Description
Mental Health and Inequalities
Addressing mental health and inequalities in organisation and community services with experts by experience, our research brings together diverse range of disciplines, perspectives and approaches to advance the understanding of mental health and the broader determinants of health.
About Our Research
We co-create and collaborate closely with experts by experience to create meaningful contributions to our respective fields. Our work focuses on individuals with complex histories in inpatient and community settings alongside their carers and loved ones, ensuring their voices are central to our research.
Grounded in human rights and social justice, we are committed to tackling inequalities that underpin mental health outcomes, our work explores the social, economic, and cultural determinants of health, recognising how factors such as poverty, discrimination and access to care shape mental health and wellbeing and physical health. We work within the community to make sense of these complex factors and the vast inequalities across health and social care provisions.
Our Team
Dr Elaine Bidmead, Katie Goodall, Dr Paul Miller, Dr Liz Bates, and Dr Sue Wilbraham.
About Our Research
Addressing mental health and inequalities in organisation and community services with experts by experience, our research brings together a diverse range of disciplines, perspectives and approaches to advance the understanding of mental health and the broader determinants of health.
We co-create and collaborate closely with experts by experience to create meaningful contributions to our respective fields. Our work focuses on individuals with complex histories in inpatient and community settings alongside their carers and loved ones, ensuring their voices are central to our research.
Grounded in human rights and social justice, we are committed to tackling inequalities that underpin mental health outcomes, our work explores the social, economic, and cultural determinants of health, recognising how factors such as poverty, discrimination and access to care shape mental health and wellbeing and physical health. We work within the community to make sense of these complex factors and the vast inequalities across health and social care provisions.
Our Expertise
- Minimising restrictive practices such as physical restraint and coercion across health and social care, criminal and educational settings.
- Health and social inequalities with a particular focus on coastal and rural communities.
Our Impact is Demonstrated Through
- Leading global efforts to reduce restrictive practices in mental health and related settings.
- Championing nurse-led, trauma-informed care that prioritises dignity, compassion and inclusivity.
- Driving policy and practice changes at local and national levels to address disparities in mental health services and outcomes.
- Embedding co-design and co-production in every stage of the research process, partnering with experts by experience to ensure their insights shape meaningful solutions.
- Developing improvement-focused initiatives that challenge cultural barriers, structural inequalities and power imbalances.
Spotlight on Our Research
Funded Research
Hickman Dunne, J. et al. (2025) Working towards social media literacy: co-producing new PSHE resources for secondary schools. UKRI Impact Accelerator Account Pilot Grant, £29,381.78, 6 month project. https://www.so-me-study.org/socialmediapshe.
Duxbury J, Parry S Co Leads et al (2024) Recovery and Resilience Framework for Children in Care: A Realist Co-production Development Study NIHR £320, 000 The NEST Study NIHR funds new study to improve care for vulnerable children | NIHR. NIHR funds new study to improve care for vulnerable children | NIHR
Duxbury J, Haines A et al (2022) SWAP UPLIFT to existing NIHR Grant amounting to an additional £ 43, 000 for a further 6 months Realist review of complex interventions to prevent & reduce the use of restrictive practices on people with learning disabilities in hospital settings Cost for full project in total £401, 806 Research: The LEARN Project | Manchester Metropolitan University. Research: The LEARN Project | Manchester Metropolitan University
Haines A, Duxbury J (2022) Evaluation of the National HOPE(S) Programme to End Long Term Segregation (LTS) for People with Learning Disabilities and Autism Cost to funder NHS England Via Merseycare NHS Trust £159, 248 2 Year Project
Haines A & Duxbury J (2022) Project 514952: Models of care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism with forensic needs who require detention under MHA in secure settings: a mixed methods study. 2-year Project £196, 495.Funder Merseycare mental Health Trust
Duxbury et al 2021 NIHR PRP funded project aim at “Improving the experiences of Black African Caribbean men detained under the Mental Health Act: a co-produced intervention using the Silences Framework (ImprovE-ACT) £830, 000. Research: Mental health act reform | Manchester Metropolitan University. Research: Mental health act reform | Manchester Metropolitan University
Contact
Joy Duxbury (joy.duxbury@cumbria.ac.uk)
Katie Goodall (katie.goodall@cumbria.ac.uk).