There are 14 allied health professions (AHPs) in England. We work across various practice settings, often in specialised mental health roles. Regardless of the setting, AHPs provide instrumental services to help people with complex health needs. We have roles in preventing ill-health, responding to crisis, aiding recovery, promoting health and preserving good quality of life across the life-course.

Thanks to the diverse contexts we work in, AHPs bring unique insights which can deepen and broaden applied mental health research. Across roles, we work with service users, their families and carers and so have developed advanced skills in making sense of nuanced and complex clinical information. AHP skills in thinking, implementing, learning and working together with others make AHPs strong clinicians, strong researchers and capable of combining clinical practice, research and leadership.

5 REASONS WHY ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS MAKE GOOD RESEARCHERS

1. We are person-centred; we therefore naturally aspire to carry out meaningful and robust patient and public engagement in research.
2. We are familiar with complexity and asking insightful questions
3. Our drive to create new pathways with people
4. Our resilience
5. We build new collaborations, expand our networks and build teams with shared purpose and clear aims