King's College London

The disconnect between academic research, public policy, practice, and lived experience is a significant limitation for improving the mental health of all members of society. The lack of effective communication and integration across these interdependent groups has led to siloed systems and structures which perpetuate inequality and restrict improvement for health outcomes.

The objective of this cross-cutting platform is to build a coalition across government, public sector agencies, voluntary organisations, people with lived experience, and academic stakeholders, to innovate creative methods for practice-informed evidence synthesis and policy-driven research, centred on lived experience.

The key outputs of this platform will democratise processes around how knowledge is produced, shared, and used. This will include developing:

1. An embedded peer researcher methodology.
2. Creative methods approaches.
3. Three ‘sandpit’ events, which are inclusive of people who have not applied their expertise to population health previously, to innovate intervention development.
4. Policy roundtables, led by the Mental Health Foundation with support from English, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Ireland Government representatives, to bring together stakeholders, experts, policymakers, and the public to gather feedback, build consensus, and develop actionable recommendations on the Population Mental Health Consortium challenges.

Collaborators

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Public Health Northern Ireland, Public Health Wales, Centre for Mental Health, Toynbee Hall, Greater London Authority, Mental Health Foundation, Inspire Wellbeing, National Youth Theatre, NICVA, Dr Paul Patterson (Forward Thinking Birmingham), Professor Lisa Marzano (Middlesex University), Dr Caglar Koksal (University of Manchester)