Could collective community power direct future public health research?

Guest post by Liam Spencer, Research Assistant, Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University

The Tyne & Wear Citizens are a local division of Citizens UK, a community organising group, which comprises of schools, universities, faith groups and charities. The group launched a ‘Commission on Mental Health’, which aimed to map problems, and identify solutions around mental health services in the region. In early 2018, The Tyne & Wear Citizens approached AskFuse [Ed – Fuse’s responsive research and evaluation service] in order to identify researchers to contribute to the analysis and production of their final report, ‘Living Well: Mental Health and Public Life in the North East’.

Through Professor Eileen Kaner (Newcastle University/Fuse), I had previously been involved in another AskFuse-supported project called ‘PROMOTE:NE’, which looked at young people’s mental health across the North East, and we met with Dr Peter van der Graaf and Lesley Haley from AskFuse to discuss this piece of work. Following this, I met with Revd Dr Simon Mason and Dr Joe Barton from the Tyne & Wear Citizens, and they were very happy to have me working with them, with supervisory support from Eileen.

The Commission had collected over 300 individual written ‘testimonies’ from people across the region, who articulated what was good, and what was not so good about mental health services in the region. It was these testimonies, which formed the basis of the Living Well report, and helped shape what the Citizens were asking local politicians and organisations to commit to. Prior to being involved in this piece of work, I had no understanding of what community organising was, and initially it was a challenge to grasp the concept of what the Commission were aiming to achieve, and how I could best contribute to this. In order to gain a better insight, I attended one of the Mental Health Commission Public Hearings in Durham, where key themes were discussed in front of a public audience, and a meeting of the Mental Health Action Team, where the group refined the ‘asks’ of the report.

Due to my interest in mental health, and experience in this area of research, I wrote the ‘Context’ section of the report, which aimed to set the tone, and provide the audience with relevant information about mental health in the region, and further afield. I was also able to provide relevant literature for, and make comments on the themed sections of the report, which were written by the editor.

Coming from a qualitative research background, it was interesting to learn about the methodologies employed by the Citizens for this piece of work. Community organising is a process where people who live locally come together into an organisation that acts in their shared self-interests. This method was used in order to best capture the voices of those who may not engage with traditional methods of research. This was one of the most fascinating insights I gained from the process, and I believe this method of collective power from the community, could be utilised in directing future public health research, and that groups such as these may well be a starting point for meaningful patient and public involvement work. 

The Citizens had a small pot of money to support our involvement, and seven working days were costed for me to undertake the work. The biggest challenge I faced was the tight timescale. I was working full-time across other projects, and was in the process of writing my MSc dissertation, so the work had to fit around these existing commitments, which meant working outside of normal work hours.

The final report was launched in November 2018, at an event attended by over 500 people at Newcastle’s Civic Centre. Eileen and I were delighted to attend and speak at the event, and it was fantastic to see so many individuals interested in finding out about the work. Although the timescale was tight, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be involved in this important and innovative piece of work. I had a great working relationship with Simon and Joe, and was well supported by Eileen and Lesley. 

I am passionate about mental health research, and I am proud to have played a part in the production of a report, which aims to improve the lives of those in my home region.

Find out more about the work on the Citizens UK website.