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- Mental and Physical Multimorbidity
ARC Mental and Physical Multimorbidity
Our aim is to address complexities arising from coexisting mental and physical health problems, identified as priorities in the NHS Long Term Plan (2019). This includes severe mental illness where life expectancy is reduced by around 20 years (the SMI 'Mortality gap'), and common mental disorders, where physical illnesses like diabetes and COPD are associated with anxiety and depression, leading to increased hospital admission and greater mortality.
This programme of work is funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Yorkshire and Humber and led by Professor Simon Gilbody at the University of York and Professor Scott Weich at the University of Sheffield.
We have six main streams of work in our Mental and Physical Multimorbidity theme:
- Smoking and mental health (led by Elena Ratschen)
- Natural environment and mental health (led by Pete Coventry)
- Bridging the digital divide in mental health (led by Olivia Taylor)
- Youth mental health (led by Ruth Wadman)
- Social prescribing (Sheffield)
- Mental health services learning health system (Sheffield)
Working closely and collaboratively with partners across the region, our long term aim is to mobilise new knowledge, targeting individual, social and environmental risk factors to improve physical and mental health, and to reduce health inequalities. Importantly we aim to help local and national NHS services respond to the needs of people with mental and physical illness via capacity building and knowledge mobilisation. Central to our work is the unique national resource of 10,000 people with severe mental ill health (Closing the Gap Cohort, initiated in 2017), providing a vehicle for trials within cohorts to answer policy-driven questions.
This theme is managed by Kate Bosanquet and supported by Jo Orchard.
