Coastal and Rural Mental Health Realist Study (CARMHRS)

This research is about solving the problems people in rural and coastal areas face when trying to get mental health support. It will also look at how services are provided. Problems include not enough services, transportation issues, and poor internet connections. People in these areas also have challenges like floods and economic problems that can affect their mental health. This study aims to find ways to make mental health services better.

What will the project be doing?

The study will look at different plans being used to improve mental healthcare in three rural and/or coastal areas (Lincolnshire, Cornwall and North East and North Cumbria).  We will work with local communities and produce a guide to help other rural and coastal places improve their services. The goal is to make mental healthcare better for everyone, no matter where they live.

To find out what is happening, we will do qualitative research, which involves talking to local NHS staff and people in communities and understanding their experience of mental health care. We will also look at differences between places and how this affects mental healthcare. Here’s what we’ll do:

• Month 1 – We will set up the study, including approvals and involving patients and the public.
• Months 2-23 – We will collect data about what is happening. We will find out about social, historical, psychological, and geographical features that play a role in mental healthcare. Using this information, we will build ideas about how to improve access. Two researchers will work together. One will look at what is happening in the mental health system (called a Researcher-In-Residence). The other will learn what the community thinks about that (called a Community Researcher). People will meet to learn from each other.

Once we have a good idea about what seems to work, we will refine these ideas by talking to more people.  The people we will speak to are mental healthcare staff and community members. Our goal is to see if the plans work in real-life situations.

What is the project hoping to achieve?

We will bring together everything we’ve learned to create a guide for anyone looking to improve mental healthcare access and quality in rural and coastal areas.