Work Package 1

Background

Research has found that social inequalities, such as low income, access to housing, and discrimination, increase the likelihood of both mental and physical health problems. To make matters worse, social inequalities can limit access to healthcare services, despite people subject to inequalities being more likely to have recurrent or persistent mental health problems and needing longer-term support and self-management strategies to support their recovery. For example, the risk of relapse for major depressive disorder has been reported to be 40-60% after one episode, increasing up to 90% after three episodes. With huge strains on healthcare services, there is now a movement to draw on community and individual assets and strengths to help support people to engage in personally valued and meaningful activities that can support recovery. Our work builds on locally developed innovations and practice-based research from partners across Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield to develop and evaluate psychosocial interventions. Psychosocial interventions refer to approaches/treatments/activities that draw on both psychological and social factors to help address inequalities and enable recovery from mental illness.