King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR)

The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for research with the Armed Forces Community. Independent of the Ministry of Defence, Office for Veterans’ Affairs and chain of command, our research has provided much-needed evidence on the health and well-being of serving and ex-serving personnel and their families.

What does KCMHR do?

Our research relates to conflict and health, occupational psychiatry, personnel issues, wellbeing and social policy. We conduct research in four main areas:

• Serving personnel;
• Ex-serving personnel;
• Families of serving and ex-serving personnel;
• Interventions.

We work closely with the Academic Department of Military Mental Health.

Impact and dissemination

Findings from the studies conducted at KCMHR are regularly published in high-impact journals such as the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Lancet series. The high-quality of this research is regularly cited by leading research organisations in the UK and used as impact case studies within academia. We strive to ensure that our research is disseminated widely throughout academia but also to military providers, medical professionals, policy makers, charities, and serving and ex-serving personnel and their families.

Our research has contributed to changes on policy and services regarding serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. These include:

• Improved mental health provision for reservists entitling them the same care after deployment as their regular counterparts;
• Armed Forces campaigns on road safety;
• Evidence regarding the delivery of anthrax vaccinations to military personnel;
• Contributing to the Ministry of Defence Armed Forces Families’ Strategy and underlying action plan, the Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2017-2022 and the Veterans Strategy 2018;
• Contributing to the Mental Health Services for Veterans in England Consultation and Action Plan 2016;
• Influencing the formulation of NHS TILS service and Complex Treatment Services 2017;
• Contributing to international policy in Five Eye Nations, such as the reduction in US deployment lengths from 1 year to 9 months.

Collaboration

KCMHR regularly collaborates with other academic institutions, military charities and government organisations within the UK and internationally to produce high-quality and valued evidence regarding our military population.

If you have an idea for a research project, please email us at kcmhr@kcl.ac.uk.

Members

Gemma Archer

Research Associate

Walter Busuttil

Consultant Psychiatrist & Visiting Professor

Bethany Croak

Research Assistant & PhD Student

Glen Dighton

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Daniel Dyball

PhD Student

Nicola Fear

Professor of Epidemiology

Sofia Franchini

Research Assistant

Neil Greenberg

Professor of Defence Mental Health

Rachael Gribble

Lecturer in War & Psychiatry

Edgar Jones

Professor in the History of Medicine & Psychiatry

Jamie Kwan

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Daniel Leightley

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Amber McKenzie

PhD Student

Niamh Molloy

Research Assistant

Laura Palmer

Lecturer

Steven Parkes

Research Assistant

Marie-Louise Sharp

Research Fellow

James Shearer

Lecturer in Health Economics

Amos Simms

PhD Student

Anna Verey

Research Assistant

Simon Wessely

Interim Executive Dean, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.

Charlotte Williamson

PhD Student

DrinksRation

DrinksRation is a smartphone app designed to reduce alcohol misuse in the Armed Forces using digital technology and behavioural change theory.

Health and Wellbeing Cohort Study

A long-term study investigating the health and wellbeing of UK military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Porton Down Veterans Cohort Study

A study exploring long-term health of former servicemen who were exposed to chemical warfare agents as part of the ‘human volunteer programme’ at Porton Down.

VeteransCHECK

A study investigating the current experiences and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, wellbeing and lifestyle behaviours of ex-serving personnel.

Highlighted Publications

Intimate partner violence and abuse experience and perpetration in UK military personnel compared to a general population cohort: A cross-sectional study. MacManus, D., Short, R., Lane, R., Jones, M., Hull, L., Howard, L. M. & Fear, N. T., Sep 2022, In: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe. 20, 100448.

Post-Traumatic Growth amongst UK Armed Forces personnel who deployed to Afghanistan and the role of combat injury, mental health and pain: The ADVANCE cohort study. Dyball, D., Bennett, A. N., Schofield, S., Cullinan, P., Boos, C. J., Bull, A. M. J., Stevelink, S. & Fear, N., 12 Jul 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: Psychological Medicine.

Mental health outcomes of male UK military personnel deployed to Afghanistan and the role of combat injury: analysis of baseline data from the ADVANCE cohort study. Jul 2022, In: The Lancet Psychiatry. 9, 7, p. 547-554

Evaluating the Efficacy of the Drinks:Ration Mobile App to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in a Help-Seeking Military Veteran Population: Randomized Controlled Trial. Leightley, D., Williamson, C., Rona, R. J., Carr, E., Shearer, J., Davis, J. P., Simms, A., Fear, N. T., Goodwin, L. & Murphy, D., 1 Jun 2022, In: JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 10, 6, e38991.

Recruiting Military Veterans into Alcohol Misuse Research: The Role of Social Media and Facebook Advertising. Williamson, C., Rona, R., Simms, A., Fear, N., Goodwin, L., Murphy, D. & Leightley, D., 11 May 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: TELEMEDICINE JOURNAL AND E-HEALTH.

To find more KCMHR & ADMMH publications, please visit our page on the King's research portal.