Research and Evaluation

Recovery and Resilience: African, African-Caribbean and South Asian Women's Narratives of Recovering from Mental Distress

This project aims to explore the concept of recovery from the perspectives of African, African-Caribbean and South Asian women using in-depth interviews that will focus on positive stories of recovery from mental distress.  Through these interviews, we hope to explore the language that women from these communities use to refer to their journeys of recovery and resilience, and to add these perspectives to the current knowledge base on recovery.

The project is based at the Mental Health Foundation and funded by the London Development Centre. The report is expected in October 2010. If you would like to know more or would like to be interviewed for the project, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Evaluating the Implementation of the Mental Health Act Amendments

The National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP)  - currently reshaped as the National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) - led the implementation of the 2007 amendments to the Mental Health Act (1983). The Mental Health Foundation was commissioned to conduct an evaluation of this work. Survivor Research  undertook the evaluation, collecting feedback from a range of stakeholders including regional and Trust-level implementation team members, frontline staff, service users, carers, CAMHS staff, and social workers.The report was submitted to NMHDU in September 2009.

User Involvement and Black and Minority Ethnic Service Users

This work, commissioned by the National Survivor User Network (NSUN) in collaboration with Catch-a-Fiya, explored what user involvement means for service users/survivors from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Research in the field suggests that there is an "under-representation" of service users from BME backgrounds in user involvement initiatives. What have been some of the experiences of BME service users/survivors of “being involved” in mainstream user groups and in policy-driven involvement initiatives? Does involvement constitute positive change in the way in which people from BME communities experience mental health services? 

The report, Dancing to Our Own Tunes, was launched on 24th March 2009.  Read more about this work and download the report.

Mental Health Needs of Irish Women in Birmingham

Michelle Bhalroo worked as one of the community researchers on this project looking at the mental health needs and awareness of Irish women in Birmingham. The report, Éirim Mná, co-written by Catherine Horn, Mary Jones, Michelle Bhalroo and Bernadette McFall, contributes to filling a significant gap in knowledge about Irish women's needs and makes recommendations for providing culturally appropriate services for them.

Download a copy of the report here.

Engaging with Black and Minority Ethnic Communities about the Mental Capacity Act

We know very little about how the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), which received Royal Assent in 2005 and came into full effect on the 1 October 2007, is understood amongst BME communities. What efforts are going on in raising more awareness and supporting communities in engaging with the MCA? This work, commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation, aimed to describe the extent to which BME communities have been able to engage with the MCA and to identify factors that successfully promote engagement.

The data was collected using one-to-one interviews with representatives of key voluntary sector, community and service user organisations. You can download a free copy of the report here.

Mapping User-Controlled Research in Health and Social Care

INVOLVE, an organisation working to increase user involvement in health, social care and public health research, carried out a survey of user-controlled research projects, in collaboration with Shaping Our Lives, The Centre for Citizen Participation (Brunel University) and the Social Perspectives Network. The aim of the survey was to gather information about all user-controlled research projects since 2002.

Survivor Research’s role was to gather information about user-controlled research from Black and Minority Ethnic communities in mental health. You can read the comments we made here.

Evaluation of the Testimony Project

Mental Health Media’s Testimony Project aimed to increase understanding of and challenge attitudes towards mental health using the testimonies of survivors of mental asylums. The project used a series of exhibitions, with short films, art work, and installations, around the country to promote its messages. The evaluation used an action research methodology that allowed responses from viewers to be incorporated in developing the next stages of the project. Watch the testimonies, films and other elements of the exhibitions at www.insidestories.org.