IoPPN Research Culture Insights: Research & Development Team

What do you think of when you hear 'research culture'?

The Research and Development (R&D) team works across the IoPPN and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and we have incorporated both organisational visions within our day-to-day work. With this in mind, our roles revolve around encouraging research to be at the centre of our aim to improve clinical care.

By ‘research culture’ we understand this as the overall mindset of the researchers we work with, both in the Trust and the IoPPN. This includes the expectations we have within our partnerships and how to promote collaboration and inclusion in order to improve research, and in turn, mental health care.

To us, ‘research culture’ also means all the different people who are involved in research. This includes the Clinical staff we work with who incorporate research into their day-to-day roles, as a way to increase knowledge and understanding, as well as the students learning from experienced researchers and wanting to find new ways to understand and treat mental health.

In addition, the participants and people with lived experience who are recruited through the Trust to take part in all our different projects, are at the centre of our research culture. Without them, we would not be able to progress and change how things work within our University and NHS.

What aspects do you think are done well in IoPPN?

The R&D team take pride in our willingness and ability to share knowledge and information. This is both with our team members to bring out the best in one another, but also with researchers requiring assistance with R&D processes. We recognise that these processes can appear complex and daunting, particularly for those new to research, like students, but we are always ready to offer support. We regularly update our guidance documents to ensure they are as clear and concise as possible, as well as assisting on projects individually.

The Joint IoPPN and South London and Maudsley R&D Office has also been working closely with the Building Race Equity and Diversity (BREaD) in Research Network. We have taken on board feedback received from people with lived experiences to improve our processes and create a more welcoming experience. By addressing the barriers raised by our community, we hope to encourage a research culture centred around inclusivity, which enables a diverse range of people to engage in mental health research and subsequently allow healthcare needs to be met in the whole population.

Going forward, what do you want to see in the research culture space?

The Bullying and Harassment training conducted recently across the IoPPN has been a useful way of exploring areas where staff experience could be improved, and opportunities for us all to make cultural change. It highlighted the IoPPN Code of Conduct Principle of ensuring that Professional Services staff are valued for their expertise as equally as academics and researchers. We believe it is important that values such as these are shared across all teams in King’s.

As part of our work with BREaD, we are focusing on reviewing communications and processes around requirements to speak English in research studies. Feedback from our communities has suggested that it can be off-putting when phrases like ‘participants must be able to read/write/speak English to take part’ are used on recruitment posters, and can deter potential participants from taking part. We are working with the BREaD Network, researchers and Professional Services staff to understand how to remove this barrier.

We hope ultimately to shift the mindset of researchers to ensure inclusivity, openness and diversity are incorporated from the very start of all our studies which involve the South London and Maudsley.

This blog is part of a ongoing series looking at research culture at IoPPN. If you would be interested in contributing, please contact aneita.pringle@kcl.ac.uk.