BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Objectives:

• Provide ECRs with a structured, consensus-building exercise that enables open sharing of practical insights, and solutions related to the conduct of qualitative research with mental health service users.
• Develop ECRs' confidence through active participation in collaborative discussions and decision-making processes.
• Facilitate interactive workshops where ECR’s collaborative develop a set of best-practice recommendations.
• Produce outputs to communicate findings and recommendations to academic and non-academic audiences.

We conducted two nominal groups consensus building sessions (approximately 3- hours each) with ECRs who had expertise in conducting qualitative research with mental health service users. In this session, sixty-five strategies were identified that individuals had implemented, or planned to implement to ensure that research with this population is sensitive, effective and methodologically sound.

The strategies were subsequently grouped into thematic categories, and ranked by participants based on their perceived feasibility and importance in practice.

This project brought together ECRs to develop shared recommendations foconducting qualitative research with mental health service users. The recommendations produced through this process will support both new and experienced researchers to work more effectively and ethically with people who use mental health services.

An academic paper based on the project’s findings is currently being prepared and will be submitted for publication. We also plan to produce a non-academic blog that will summarise the main outcomes and key recommendations in accessible language. These outputs will be shared publicly once available.

The support of the MHR Incubator has been essential to the success of this project. It provided the funding needed to bring together early ECRs working in qualitative mental health research, enabling us to run collaborative activities that would not otherwise have been possible. This support allowed ECRs to share their experiences, and develop a set of practical, co-produced recommendations for working with mental health service users.

In addition, the Incubator’s support has directly supported the professional development of the ECRs involved. All participating researchers will be co-authors on the academic paper arising from the project, giving them valuable experience in academic publishing and strengthening their research profiles.