Trish Darcy, Research Associate, Department of Health Sciences
Trish is a Research Associate with the Mental Health & Addiction Research Group (MHARG) in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York.
Trish is also currently undertaking a PhD in ‘Natural Environments & Health’ at Staffordshire University.
email: trish.darcy@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Trish:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I contribute to the ‘Natural Environments and Mental Health’ and ‘Mental Health and Physical Multimorbidity’ research themes within MHARG. My PhD research involves exploring the role of nature in supporting people living with long-term conditions, specifically people living with a chronic pain condition, where co-morbid anxiety and depression may also be present.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
The most rewarding part of my work is working directly with people with lived experience through applying participatory research approaches to co-produce and co-design outputs and interventions that are tailored, targeted and relevant to the patient group.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
As a PhD researcher, the most challenging part of my work relates to funding support to embed participatory approaches and PPIE within research projects.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
I hope that by placing the community at the centre of the research process and prioritising their expertise that we can generate new insights and knowledge and also bring about change at a micro-level (e.g., individual), meso-level (e.g., community) and macro-level (e.g., organisation and policy).
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
Connect with nature daily, whether that be through micro-moments (such as having a nature view at your workstation) to getting outdoors and making the most of the natural world around us and connecting with its beauty.