Scope
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is interested in funding high quality applied health and social care research to increase and improve the evidence base about mental health nursing and the mental health nursing workforce.
The research priorities, identified by the Mental Health Nursing Demand Signalling exercise and outlined in the Research demand signalling: mental health nursing report, that are of particular relevance to the following NIHR research funding programmes:
- Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) - funds rigorous research to inform the quality, delivery and organisation of health and social care services. Providing evidence for NHS and social care decision-makers to inform the best ways for deploying staff and shaping services to deliver proven effective treatments and care, at scale, for all.
- Health Technology Assessment (HTA) - funds research that assesses the clinical and cost-effectiveness of healthcare treatments in comparison with the current best alternative(s), and that is therefore immediately useful to patients, clinical practice, and policy or decision-makers.
- Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) - funds research into day-to-day practice and has a clear trajectory towards benefiting the health or wellbeing of patients and users of the NHS and social care services.
Applicants may wish to seek advice on the content of an application via the Research Support Service (RSS). It is advisable to make contact as early as possible to allow sufficient time for discussion and a considered response. Additionally, general questions about the funding opportunity and programme remits may be obtained by sending a short summary (max 1 A4 page) of the proposal to the programme specific email addresses noted in the contact us section at the links above..
Background
The NHS Long Term Plan set out a commitment to improve services and widen access to care for children and adults needing mental health support. The mental health nursing workforce has a key role to play in delivering these ambitions. From nursing associates to registered nurses, and those in advanced practice roles, mental health nurses provide a range of assessments, interventions, support and advice to service users and their families. They work in a variety of settings, including primary and secondary care, residential settings and in the community, working with patients across all age groups to provide holistic care.
In addition to the NHS Long Term Plan commitment mentioned above, in 2021, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England published the Strategic Plan for Research, setting out a policy framework for developing and investing in research. It called for nurse-led research aligned to public need and processes to identify and prioritise the most pressing areas for research and, specifically, those most pertinent to the practice of nursing.
In 2022, NHS England published a research demand signal for the national mental health programme and, in response to this and the Strategic Plan’s recommendations, the CNO for England’s research team, along with the Deputy Director for Mental Health Nursing and the Demand Signalling Team, brought together clinicians, academics, policy experts, patient and public representatives and people with lived experience to identify high-level priority areas for research in the field of mental health nursing.
Mental Health Nursing priorities identified by NHS England Demand Signalling
Demand Signalling aims to identify, prioritise and outline the most important research questions and innovation challenges that need addressing to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan. The NHS England Demand Signalling Team used a process of iterative workshops and evidence reviews to refine the areas of unmet need and to set research priorities in three mental health nursing priority areas:
- Health equity, prevention and health promotion
- Person centred practice
- Workforce, people and culture
Each themed area generated several research questions. The following list identifies the research priorities in each area. The research question in bold was identified by the demand signalling exercise as the highest ranked question for each of the themed areas.
Through the participating research programmes named above, NIHR welcomes research proposals which address one or more of these research priorities. For further information on the rationale, the process, and the key evidence gaps, please see the Research demand signalling: mental health nursing report.
Theme 1: Health equity, prevention and health promotion
- What mental health nurse-delivered health promotion interventions can best improve the long-term physical health conditions of people with mental illness?
- How can people with mental illness be best supported to access, engage, and sustain involvement with interventions to improve physical health?
- What are the specific needs of people (and their families) with severe mental illness who are receiving palliative or end-of-life care?
- What approaches to palliative and end-of-life care are most effective for and acceptable to people with severe mental illness?
- What are the factors that influence unwarranted variation in the use of restrictive practices in relation to gender and ethnicity and how might these be addressed?
- What interventions can mental health nurses implement to address unwarranted variations in restrictive practices and to reduce inequities across diverse populations (gender, ethnicity, language, learning difficulties, substance use)?
- What impact does the application of restrictive practices have on patients, families and staff and how might these be addressed?
Theme 2: Person centred practice
- What are the most appropriate approaches for mental health nurses to effectively manage the risks of harm to patients in different healthcare settings (for example inpatient, community, and secure mental health services)?
- What are the best approaches to safety planning and risk management by mental health nurses, for the prevention of suicide and self-harm, that meet the needs and preferences of individuals and families?
- How can we enable service users, families and caregivers to co-design safety plans, and do these sorts of plans reduce incidents and aid recovery?
- What are the determinants of effective care planning by mental health nurses in different groups of service users, including those from marginalised groups?
- What works in enabling mental health nurses to co-produce personalised, recovery focussed, collaborative care planning?
- How do mental health nurses develop, implement and evaluate family-focussed approaches to collaborative care planning?
Theme 3: Workforce, people and culture
- How do we measure nurse staffing inputs in mental health nursing services in a meaningful way?
- What numbers and mix of nursing staff achieve best outcomes for patients in mental health services (across a range of settings and contexts)?
- What are the costs and benefits associated with deploying nurses in advanced practice roles in mental health?
- How do different nursing service delivery models (including skill mix, specialism and interventions offered) affect the experience and outcomes of patients with mental illness?
- What types of interventions offered by mental health nurses (including those in advanced practice roles) are associated with improved clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes and experiences, and service outcomes?
- What are meaningful measures of effectiveness in mental health nursing services, including clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes, and service outcomes (for example length of stay, readmission rates)?
Applying
Please note that the HSDR, HTA and RfPB programmes are all running calls for research in this area. Please refer to individual funding opportunities for further details, timescales and to apply:
- Research in Mental Health Nursing (HSDR Programme)
- Research in Mental Health Nursing (HTA Programme)
- Research for Patient Benefit - Competition 55
Additional comments
Please take note of the following studies within the NIHR portfolio to ensure that research proposals do not directly overlap with, but build upon, existing/ongoing studies. This is not an exhaustive list and applicants should carry out their own overlap checks:
- Understanding and improving therapeutic engagement between nurses and patients on acute mental health inpatient wards: a feasibility and evaluation study of Experience-Based Co-Design
- The Self-harm, Assessment, Formulation, Engagement Trial of Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy (SAFE-PIT)
- The Role of Staff and Team Communication in Reducing Seclusion, Restraint and Forced Tranquilisation in Acute Inpatient Mental Health Settings
- Establishing components of interventions to reduce restrictive practices with children and young people: an evidence synthesis
- New Roles, New Challenges: Understanding boundary work to support the implementation of new roles in mental health Trusts
- Thriving therapeutic relationships in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
- Experiences of the 'Nearest Relative' provisions in the compulsory detention of people under the Mental Health Act: a rapid systematic review
- Increasing Physical Activity in a Medium Secure Service: The Development and Feasibility of a Physical ACTivity Intervention (IMPACT)
- Multicentre Intervention Designed for Self-Harm, using Interpersonal Problem-Solving (MIDSHIPS) trial: A feasibility study
- Rehabilitation Effectiveness and Activities for Life (REAL): a multicentre study of rehabilitation services and the efficacy of promoting activities for people with severe mental health problems
- The acceptability, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Enhanced Patient Observation in reducing the risk of self-harm and suicide on psychiatric wards – In contracting
Research inclusion
The NIHR is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, as outlined in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy 2022-2027. We encourage,, therefore, applications from people from all backgrounds and communities. We are committed to having leadership and teams that contain diverse skills and experiences.
All NIHR research proposals need to demonstrate that they have met the requirements of the Equality Act (2010). Researchers should consider being diverse and inclusive in the location, design, planning, conduct, impact, and dissemination of their research study.
NIHR also welcomes partnerships between research active and other less research active institutions and with those located in geographical areas of deprivation. Applicants are also expected to pay attention to populations that have been underserved and, to conduct research in locations where the need is greatest.