Mainstreaming global mental health: Is there potential to embed psychosocial well‐being impact in all global challenges research?

Abstract

We explore if there is potential to embed psychosocial well-being impact in global challenges research where the primary aims are not mental health related. We are interested in the use of material practices to deliver impact through routine project activities of working with concrete things together. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) gateway to research was searched for information on Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grants from 2015 to May 2020. Analysis shows that only 3 per cent of projects self-categorise as engaging with mental health. Thirty-six non-mental health GCRF grants were purposefully sampled for diversity, and each was coded independently by two researchers for relevant information. Findings suggest that 50-70 per cent of non-mental health GCRF projects already engage implicitly, but nonstrategically, with psychosocial well-being impact; opportunities for psychosocial well-being impact, from most to least frequent, are community mobilisation, community building, skills development, positive sense of self, positive emotions and sociocultural identity; the presence of material practice from most to least frequent is as follows:(i) interactions between or enactments upon people,

Using cocreated visually informed community mental health education in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A case study of youth substance misuse in Assam, India

“…As stated in the introduction, mental health is framed increasingly as a crosscutting development issue and our project has engaged with forward‐looking priorities, such as involving a wide range of stakeholders beyond health, targeting social causes and making innovative use of digital technologies 2 . Integrating mental health community education within the larger global development agenda could also be helpful in broaching this largely stigmatized topic within the easier‐to‐have conversations 25 …”

“…2 Integrating mental health community education within the larger global development agenda could also be helpful in broaching this largely stigmatized topic within the easier-to-have conversations. 25 AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS…”

How can we mainstream mental health in research engaging the range of Sustainable Development Goals? A theory of change

“…GCRF grants were scoped using information on the UKRI gateway to research (GtR: https:// gtr.ukri.org/) [15]. GtR is a searchable database allowing analysis of information on publiclyfunded UK research.…”

“…Regarding the challenges identified, it is recognised increasingly that the mental health impact of humanitarian crises are often unattended [25], that effective strategies need to orient to the long-term [7], and that there is a lack of data on global mental health or, as is our contention PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH with regard to global challenges research across the SDGs, evidence of the impact which is already being made through routine project activities [15]. As Ryan et al state: "If indicators on psychosocial disability, mental health, and wellbeing were regularly used, many more development activities would likely come to be recognised as effective psychosocial interventions" [6 p17].…”

“…In short, we transfer the concept of mental health mainstreaming to development-oriented research. We used the terminology 'psychosocial wellbeing' because it allowed us to identify "where diverse projects rub-up against mental health through defining broadly what this means; mental-health-related activity in disciplines that do not employ a medical perspective but spans interest at the level of the individual, group, community and region; and routes to impact aligned with SDGs in domains including economic, demographic, environmental, social, and cultural" [15]. Given the impact we believe is in reach, our approach to mainstreaming mental health forefronts transformative social change with its emphasis on long-term, sustainable, and community-owned benefits.…”