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Institute for Mental Health
The Institute for Mental Health (IMH), based at the University of Birmingham, builds on a strong history of research and innovation, and a close working partnership with the NHS. It is focused on improving mental health services for young people and championing early intervention and prevention, while recognising those will high levels of need may need high quality care throughout their life.
The IMH works with young people to share knowledge and generate ideas, recognising user experience as essential to shape, challenge and champion the work that they do. It also partners the Centre for Human Brain Health also based at the University, aimed at improving diagnosis and interventions using the state-of-the-art technology.
The strength of the IMH lies in its close collaboration with other academics and researchers, health partners and professionals, and charities and service providers. It is through this shared knowledge and understanding that it aims to make a lasting impact to improve the care and outcomes for young people suffering from problems in their mental health.
How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?
The objective of the IMH is to carry out high quality research to improve the care and outcomes of young people with mental health difficulties, ensuring a sustained impact on public policy and practice.
One of our strategic priorities is to create a transformational change in our understanding, conceptualisation and response to suicide and suicide prevention in research, clinical practice, policy-making and community practices.
What are your current priorities?
We will develop and grow our Advisory Group of young people with lived experience of mental-ill health so they can meaningfully engage in our work as equal partners. We also plan to build capacity within the IMH to ensure that world-class research into suicide prevention is being developed and funded.
What challenges are you currently facing?
Our biggest challenge as an organisation is to secure funding for cross-disciplinary research in the field of suicide and self-harm in young people with multiple vulnerabilities. Funding for mental health research is limited even more so for research in suicide prevention.