Browsing by Author "Weeks, Lauren"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    ItemMetadata only
    Mental health in the pandemic: a repeated cross-sectional mixed-method study protocol to investigate the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK
    (BMJ, 2021-08-27) Bortel, Tine Van; John, Ann; Solomon, Susan; Lombardo, Chiara; Crepaz-Keay, David; McDaid Shari; Yap, Jade; Weeks, Lauren; Martin, Steven; Guo, Lijia; Seymour, Catherine; Thorpe, Lucy; Morton, Alexander D.; Davidson, Gavin; Kousoulis, Antonis A.
    Introduction The WHO declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. Since then, the world has been firmly in the grip of the COVID-19. To date, more than 211 730 035 million confirmed cases and more than 4 430 697 million people have died. While controlling the virus and implementing vaccines are the main priorities, the population mental health impacts of the pandemic are expected to be longer term and are less obvious than the physical health ones. Lockdown restrictions, physical distancing, social isolation, as well as the loss of a loved one, working in a frontline capacity and loss of economic security may have negative effects on and increase the mental health challenges in populations around the world. There is a major demand for long-term research examining the mental health experiences and needs of people in order to design adequate policies and interventions for sustained action to respond to individual and population mental health needs both during and after the pandemic. Methods and analysis This repeated cross-sectional mixed-method study conducts regular self-administered representative surveys, and targeted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with adults in the UK, as well as validation of gathered evidence through citizens’ juries for contextualisation (for the UK as a whole and for its four devolved nations) to ensure that emerging mental health problems are identified early on and are properly understood, and that appropriate policies and interventions are developed and implemented across the UK and within devolved contexts. STATA and NVIVO will be used to carry out quantitative and qualitative analysis, respectively. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval for this study has been granted by the Cambridge Psychology Research Ethics Committee of the University of Cambridge, UK (PRE 2020.050) and by the Health and Life Sciences Research Ethics Committee of De Montfort University, UK (REF 422991). While unlikely, participants completing the self-administered surveys or participating in the virtual focus groups, semi-structured interviews and citizens’ juries might experience distress triggered by questions or conversations. However, appropriate mitigating measures have been adopted and signposting to services and helplines will be available at all times. Furthermore, a dedicated member of staff will also be at hand to debrief following participation in the research and personalised thank-you notes will be sent to everyone taking part in the qualitative research. Study findings will be disseminated in scientific journals, at research conferences, local research symposia and seminars. Evidence-based open access briefings, articles and reports will be available on our study website for everyone to access. Rapid policy briefings targeting issues emerging from the data will also be disseminated to inform policy and practice. These briefings will position the findings within UK public policy and devolved nations policy and socioeconomic contexts in order to develop specific, timely policy recommendations. Additional dissemination will be done through traditional and social media. Our data will be contextualised in view of existing policies, and changes over time as-and-when policies change.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    ItemMetadata only
    Resilience across the UK during the Coronavirus pandemic
    (Mental Health Foundation, 2020-09-03) Kousoulis, Antonis; McDaid, Shari; Crepaz-Keay, David; Solomon, Susan; Lombardo, Chiara; Yap, Jade; Weeks, Lauren; O’Sullivan, Chris; Baird, Rachel; Grange, Richard; Giugliano, Toni; Van Bortel, Tine; John, Ann; Lee, Sze; Morton, Alec; Davidson, Gavin; Morillo, Hannah
    -Resilience enables us as individuals, communities, nations and as a country, to cope with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic. -This study shows that most people (64%) say they are coping well with the stress of the pandemic. However, many are struggling with the current crisis. -Of those who have experienced stress due to the pandemic, almost nine out of ten (87%) are using at least one coping strategy. -People have used a wide range of strategies to cope; these most often included going for a walk, spending time in green spaces, and staying connected with others. -We found that some people are resorting to potentially harmful ways of coping, including increased alcohol consumption, substance misuse, and over-eating, putting their mental and physical health at greater risk. -While each nation has made available mental health literacy resources in response to COVID-19, this study’s findings point to where more policy and investment could be targeted to support people and communities to remain resilient in the face of local or national restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    ItemMetadata only
    The COVID-19 pandemic, financial inequalities and mental health in the UK
    (Mental Health Foundation, 2020-05-01) Kousoulis, Antonis; McDaid, Shari; Crepaz-Keay, David; Solomon, Susan; Lombardo, Chiara; Yap, Jade; Weeks, Lauren; O’Sullivan, Chris; Baird, Rachel; Grange, Richard; Giugliano, Toni; Thorpe, Lucy; Van Bortel, Tine; John, Ann; Lee, Sze; Morton, Alec; Davidson, Gavin; Knifton, Lee; Rowland, Mark
    We all can experience mental health problems, whatever our background or walk of life. But the risk of experiencing mental ill-health is not equally distributed across our society. Those who face the greatest disadvantages in life also face the greatest risk to their mental health. The distribution of infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown and associated measures, and the longer-term socioeconomic impact are likely to reproduce and intensify the financial inequalities that contribute to the increased prevalence and unequal distribution of mental ill-health. This briefing discusses the mental health effects of these financial inequalities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws evidence from the ‘Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic’ research – a UK-wide, long-term study of how the pandemic affects people’s mental health. The study is led by the Mental Health Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, Swansea University, the University of Strathclyde and Queen’s University Belfast.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    ItemMetadata only
    The divergence of mental health experiences during the Coronavirus pandemic in the UK
    (Mental Health Foundation, 2020-07-02) Kousoulis, Antonis; McDaid, Shari; Crepaz-Keay, David; Solomon, Susan; Lombardo, Chiara; Yap, Jade; Weeks, Lauren; O’Sullivan, Chris; Baird, Rachel; Grange, Richard; Giugliano, Toni; Thorpe, Lucy; Van Bortel, Tine; John, Ann; Lee, Sze; Morton, Alec; Davidson, Gavin
    The Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic study provides unique insights into the mental health effects of the pandemic since mid-March, with five waves of data collected so far across the UK specifically focused on mental health and well-being. We want to use good quality evidence to influence the actions that we need to take as a country to prevent a mental health crisis in the years to come. While we have all been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the evidence from the Foundation’s Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic (‘our’) study shows a divergence in people’s experience depending on their social and/or economic context in society. As has been said: we are all in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat. Even as the measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 change, with reduced restrictions for most and sustained isolation for a minority, with some having been affected directly by the virus and many less so, some returning to normal work life and many others experiencing changed employment status, differences in the mental health impact will persist and likely increase.