This research project is a 16-month user-led, co-produced exploratory study funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research and undertaken by a research team at Middlesex University. The project commenced in February 2016 and is due to conclude in June 2017. It is led by Dr Sarah Carr, Associate Professor of Mental Health Research.
The work seeks to address an important gap in research and practice knowledge relating to ‘disability hate crime’, targeted violence and hostility against people with mental health problems and adult safeguarding.
The Care Act 2014 ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’ reforms explicitly state that ‘safeguarding everybody’s business’. This study seeks to understand how adult mental health service user experiences can inform personalising safeguarding and the practice focus on resilience and prevention.
The study investigation will explore the following questions:
- Mental health service user concepts and experiences of mental health-related targeted violence and hostility, risk, prevention and protection
- Where mental health service users go to get support if they are frightened of or have been victims of targeted violence and hostility because of their mental health problems
- Responses of adult safeguarding agencies, mental health services and other organisations to mental health-related targeted violence and hostility against people with mental health problems
Study aims
The first research aim is to explore mental health service user perspectives and concepts of abuse relating to targeted violence and hostility on the grounds of their mental health problem, and to examine how mental health service users approach protection and prevention.
The second aim is to begin to explore aspects of help-seeking, resilience, protection and prevention with people with mental health problems to provide a basis for taking forward investigations into how agencies involved in adult safeguarding could potentially address mental health related targeted violence and hostility against people mental health problems
