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Throughout October, we're showcasing our Nottinghamshire Healthcare colleagues, and the path they have taken into research. To discover Your Path in Research, visit the National Institute of Health Research website for information and inspiration.

Throughout October, we're showcasing our Nottinghamshire Healthcare colleagues, and the path they have taken into research. To discover Your Path in Research, visit the National Institute of Health Research website for information and inspiration.

Throughout October, we're showcasing our Nottinghamshire Healthcare colleagues, and the path they have taken into research. To discover Your Path in Research, visit the National Institute of Health Research website for information and inspiration.

Throughout October, we're showcasing our Nottinghamshire Healthcare colleagues, and the path they have taken into research. To discover Your Path in Research, visit the National Institute of Health Research website for information and inspiration.

In our latest guest blog post, involvement colleague Caroline Yeo talks about her experience of working on the NEON project, and the value of meaningful involvement in research.

Image ©Josh Mallalieu, the above image gives an impression of one of the interviews conducted during my study.

Centre for Dementia PhD student Emma Putland has written this guest blog post for World Alzheimer's Month. Emma talks about her recent research around representations of dementia and how we might improve the way we communicate messages about dementia and those who live with it.

Our latest guest blog post is from PhD researcher, Katja Milner, talking about her research into spirituality and mental health recovery.

In this guest blog post, author and fomer Nottinghamshire Healthcare clinical psychologist Anne Goodwin writes about portraying mental illness in fictional characters.

As we begin to move out of lockdowns and contemplate new ways of working, our Public Involvment Co-ordinator, Kate, reflects on what that might mean, and how we work together in future.

Professor Paul Crawford talks about his recent work on the subject of Cabin Fever, including the life and experiences of Florence Nightingale.

Research suggests that older people who volunteer have greater life satisfaction and improved well-being, and that spending time in nature can lead to significant improvements in mood. This has been especially relevant during the last year, as many of us have turned to nature for comfort. Indeed, the theme for this year’s ‘Mental Health Awareness Week' was nature and how we connect with it.

In this guest post, written for Mental Health Awareness Week, Open House co-founder Sarah Brumpton talks about the mental health benefits of wild swimming.

‘The first ten minutes are always the worst’

That’s something I say to myself whenever I launch myself into open water particularly when I’m swimming in the winter months.

Cynthia, Steve, Ghazal

With nature as the theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, Ghazal Mazloumi talks about her work with Trent Dementia, connecting people with dementia to nature and the outdoors.

Image reproduced with kind permission from the artist

Professor Paul Crawford, Director of our Centre for Social Futures, shares his thoughts on lockdown, cabin fever and the joy of nature.

We know that the prolonged confinement and isolation during the pandemic has brought increased levels of anxiety, depression and irritability. Over 4.2 billion people worldwide found themselves in some kind of lockdown and social restriction since the pandemic began (IEA, 2020). Even now, many are still in or only slowly emerging from this indoors life that has led to great turbulence and suffering alongside new opportunities to reflect, adapt to different work, leisure and social implications.

Recently I was aware that I was exhausted all the time. My mood was dropping and everything was becoming too much to bear. It was like clinging on by my finger tips to the edge of a very high cliff edge. However, I did hang on and bore the tiredness until I discovered a rash.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare is the first site nationwide to recruit 200 participants to the STADIA trial, with the Research Delivery Team well on their way to reaching the target of 242.

Our local television station recently invited viewers to summarise their experience of the covid-19 pandemic in a single sentence. In our household, we came up with ‘Funny old year, eh?’ and ‘I’m getting a bit fed up with it now’.

Perhaps that sums it up for many people.

On the 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Since then, a staggering 1,074,791 people at 5,559 sites across the UK have taken part in Covid-19 research. We’ve embarked on the biggest mass vaccination programme of our time, thanks to 34,527 volunteers taking part in vaccine trials.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has supported an incredible 3,152 local participants to join this national effort, primarily through the Research Delivery Team, based at the Institute of Mental Health.

I have been reflecting a lot. Thinking hard about the welfare of those I help and importantly, the staff whom I employ to help them.

Especially since the start of 2021 I feel as though I am standing in the eye of the storm wondering, and in many ways waiting for the impact of all that we’ve faced, to hit us.

I am the CEO of a mental health service that sits in the third sector. We provide support to those who do, or are at risk of self harm and suicide via a range of services and we’ve been doing what we do for enough time to know our sector well.

With that comes both privilege and price.

Christmas was not always great for Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of nursing and so many other public health works. In this bicentenary year of her birth in 1820, we head towards an insecure and problematic Yuletide, unsure who will pull our crackers (after sanitising!).