Mental Health & Society research group

Our research group investigates the socio-political conditions of mental health in diverse settings. We ask how social conditions shape the lived experience, knowledge and policy, and the care for mental health problems in context. We seek to better understand the historical, therapeutic, and locally salient configurations of mental life in order to identify appropriate responses. The following areas are of particular interest to our group: the lived experience of distress and adversity, urban mental health, neuroscience and society, global mental health, mental health in conflict and war, ecosocial perspectives, culture and mental health, and mental health policy change.

Members

Gargie Ahmad

PhD student

Christine Aicardi

Senior Research Fellow

Zeina Amro

PhD student

Katya Baker

PhD Student

Dominique Béhague

Reader in Global Health & Anthropology

Dörte Bemme

Lecturer in Society and Mental Health

Rasmus Birk

Affiliate Research Associate

Sofia Bowen

PhD student

Gabriel Abarca Brown

PhD student

Sanchika Campbell

PhD student

Carla De Utra Mendes

Research Associate in China and Mental Health

Heilien (Lienkie) Diedericks

PhD student

Annahita Ehsan

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Guntars Ermansons

Research Associate

Sebastian Fonseca

PhD student

David Graham

PhD student

Annie Irvine

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Sohail Jannesari

Post-doctoral Researcher

Hanna Kienzler

Professor of Global Health

Sally King

PhD student

Victoria Lozano Esparza

PhD student

Nick Manning

Professor of Sociology

Sam McLean

Lecturer

Michelle Pentecost

Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine

Penelope Quinton

PhD student

Ursula Read

Research Associate

Kelly Rose-Clarke

Lecturer in Global Mental Health

Gabrielle Samuel

Research Fellow

Nancy Tamimi

Research Associate

Anthea Tinker

Professor of Social Gerontology

River Ujhadbor

Pre-doctoral Research Fellow

Charlotte Woodhead

Lecturer in Society & Mental Health

Jiawei Wu

PhD student

Emma Wynne Bannister

PhD student

Wei Yang

Director of the Institute of Gerontology

Mental health, migration and the megacity in São Paulo

Looking at the relationship between mental health and urban transformation since the late nineteenth-century in São Paulo.

The Human Brain Project: The Foresight Lab

Building a completely new ICT infrastructure for neuroscience and understanding the human brain and its diseases to emulate its computational capabilities.

Urban Brain Lab

Understanding the connections between the social and the neurological lives of urban citizens, with particular attention to mental health.

Global Social Medicine Network

Bringing together scholars from all regions who are committed to a vision of social medicine as a vital intersection of social sciences, medical practice and policy. The network is funded by a Wellcome Trust Small Grant in Humanities and Social Science (£42,043) and launched in 2018.

Find out more about the Global Social Medicine Network

Neurovision

Exploring the ways in which film introduced a new way of creating, staging and producing of a neurological ‘imaginary’ for neurologist-filmmakers. This 2016 project was led by Professor Nikolas Rose and was funded by the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy Faculty Research Fund (£25,000).

Find out more about Neurovision

Mental health and justice

Addressing the complex interface where mental health and mental healthcare interact with principles of human rights. Funded by the Wellcome Trust, Dr Hannah Kienzler leads Work Stream 2 'Support and independence in the community' and Dr Ursula Read is a postdoctoral researcher supporting the project.

Find out more about Mental Health and Justice

Research for health in conflict: Developing capability, partnerships and research in the Middle and Near East (R4HC-MENA)

Striving to build research and policy capacity in conflict-affected areas, focusing on health, political economy of health and complex non-communicable diseases, such as mental health and cancer. It also aims to facilitate more effective translation of research into policy. Dr Hanna Kienzler co-leads the 'Mental Health and Conflict' workstream of this Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funded project.

Find out more about R4HC-MENA

Together for mental health: Using visual research methods to understand how health workers, families and healers work together to improve mental health and reduce coercion and restraint in Ghana and Indonesia

Exploring how mental health nurses work together with faith-based and traditional healers in Ghana and Indonesia to prevent the use of coercion and restraint and improve care for persons affected by mental illness. Although there have been long-standing calls for such collaboration there has been little investigation of how such relationships work in practice in specific locations with differing healing traditions and mental health systems. The use of participatory visual methods aims to engage stakeholders, including persons with lived experience of mental illness, across differing socio-economic backgrounds, educational status and languages. The project will build a south-to-south network to share experiences and examples of best practice to reduce the use of coercion and improve care for people with mental illness.

Vulnerability among older people ageing with deafblindness
Simcock, P., Manthorpe, J. & Tinker, A., 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Social Work. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1177/14680173221109447
Does informal care reduce health care utilisation in older age? Evidence from China
Wang, Y., Yang, W. & Avendano, M., Aug 2022, In: Social Science and Medicine. 306, 115123. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115123
Containment and conversion: urban livelihoods and the circulation of value amid South Africa’s avian influenza outbreak
Cousins, T., Pentecost, M. & van Helden, L., 24 Jun 2022, In: AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13083
A salutogenesis approach to ageing with impairment: The managing and coping experiences of older people ageing with deafblindness
Simcock, P., Manthorpe, J. & Tinker, A., 9 Feb 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ageing and Society. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X22000083
Niche sociality: approaching adversity in everyday life
Manning, N., Hoffman Birk, R. & Rose, N., 16 Mar 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: Sociology. 35 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Structural barriers to refugee, asylum seeker and undocumented migrant healthcare access.: Perceptions of Doctors of the World caseworkers in the UK.
Asif, Z. & Kienzler, H., 17 Mar 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: SSM - Mental Health. 2, 100088. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100088
Depressive symptoms among older empty nesters in China: the moderating effects of social contact and contact with one’s children
Xu, M. & Yang, W., 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: Aging and Mental Health. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.2019190
The Clostridium difficile problem: a South African tertiary institution’s prospective perspective.
Rajabally, Pentecost, M. & Pretorius, 2013, In: South African Medical Journal. 103, 3 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.6012
Role of colonoscopic biopsy in distinguishing between Crohn’s disease and intestinal tuberculosis
Kirsch, Pentecost, M., Hall Pde, Epstein, Watermeyer & Friederich, 2006, In: Journal of Clinical Pathology. 59, 8 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1136/jcp.2005.032383
Contested leadership and the governance of COVID-19 in Brazil: The role of local government and community activism
Ortega, F. & Behague, D., 24 Jan 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Global Public Health. 17, 4, p. 483-495 13 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2022.2028304

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Mental health & society reading group

The Mental Health and Society reading group is held online on the last Thursday of the month (3:30-5.00pm). Convened by Ursula Read (GHSM) and Gargie Ahmad (IoPPN) together with GHSM affiliate Rasmus Birk (Aalborg University, Denmark) the group brings together scholars across disciplines with an interest in critical social theory of mental health. We engage in a variety of readings to stimulate conversation across different fields and widen and our theoretical perspectives. Readings are circulated two weeks prior to the group meeting. We are open to suggestions of topics and readings. If you are interested in attending please email Ursula Read (ursula.read@kcl.ac.uk).