Ripples in a pond
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Kate Horton and Neil Perron. It’s always sad to see a project end, particularly when it’s a project that’s brought joy and companionship as an integral part of the work. That is something that is felt, of course, by professionals* in the world of research, but it can be felt so much more by the public who have contributed to the project.
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How can we help?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
In our final blog post of 2025 the Institute's Public Involvement Lead, Kate Horton, reflects on the value of meaningful Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in shaping research. Find out how our Public Advisory Group can support researchers.
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My experience at the Digital Youth X MindTech conference
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Eve Park, MindTech Research Placement Student. On Thursday 13th November, I had the opportunity to go to the Digital Youth X MindTech conference at County Hall in London. It was my first ever conference and if I was to sum it up in three words they would be: empowering, exciting, and perhaps also exhausting.
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Reflecting on the film 'I Swear'
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
­Following the release of I Swear last month, a film depicting the life of Tourette’s activist John Davidson and his experience being diagnosed with tics at a young age in a time where Tourette’s Syndrome was very much unheard of, we asked researchers and people with lived experience for their opinions on the film.
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Research Involvement in the time of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Hello, my name is Kate. I recently started working for the Institute of Mental Health as the Public Involvement Lead.  I completed my induction with my Trust and then I set about meeting colleagues and peers around the building and those further afield connected to our work. Happily starting to understand the infrastructure of the Institu
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MindTech Work Experience
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
My name is Ruby Bradshaw, I'm in Year 12 of Sixth Form and from the 23rd to 27th of June I got the amazing opportunity to do some work experience with the MindTech team at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, a research facility focusing on mental healthcare and dementia technologies.
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We all have milestones that we like to celebrate…..
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Debbie Butler. I would like to share my latest milestone, 25 years of volunteering and paid work in Research using my experience as a long-term patient of the NHS in many of their services from Mental Health to many orthopaedic surgeries and beyond.
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Report from Dementia Symposium Curaçao
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Rianna Patterson, PhD Student on the LEND research programme The Dementia Symposium was held by Stitching Alzheimer's Curacao for their 25th anniversary at the University of Curaçao and brought together key stakeholders, advocates, and experts in dementia care.
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Making Connections: An exploration into mental health through art
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Lexine Glover - Student at The Becket Sixth Form At first glance I didn’t think much of the exhibition; “how can an exhibition relate depression to comic books?” and wondered how such a link could be explored. However, my work experience week with Professor Elvira Perez required me to write a blog post about it. So, despite my initial inertia, I decided to engage with the art.
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Creative Survival
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Professor Paul Crawford From books to films, and singing to dancing, our cultural health is very much part of our social, physical and mental health. We can lead healthier lives through participating in culture, in the arts. We can think of such activity as ‘creative survival’ (Crawford & Crawford, 2021), helping us to reduce our stress, connect with others, and enjoy a colourful and fulfilling life.
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Dementia and Poetry: Narratives of Wards and Words
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Author: Dr Ayokunmi Ojebode   “Poetry is an essential safety valve of relief and release” (Dowling, 2014)
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How the term ‘microaggression’ might backfire when used in training in British workplaces
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
There has been a recent increase in training about microaggressions. The term was first coined by Harvard psychiatrist Chester Pierce in the 1960s. We experience a microaggression when we feel an aspect of our identity has been slighted. This is particularly apparent for stigmatised or marginalised identities.
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Can personal accounts of mental health problems and recovery help others?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Dr Stefan Rennick-Egglestone, Institute of Mental Health A big change seems to have occurred in our society over the last few decades. Mental health problems, once somewhat more private, are now openly discussed by many.
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Forensic Research Nottingham: An update since inception
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
The Forensic Research Nottingham (FRN) group was established early in 2021, with a view to further developing forensic research both in Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and at the University of Nottingham. It provides a collaborative forum to bring together all those linked to either of the two organisations and interested or active in forensic research.
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Accidental Craft Instructor
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
I have worked in social care for my entire career, I am also a keen potter, in fact my DNA has shown me that despite my hopes to the contrary of some fascinating genetic past I am 80% Potteries born and bred. It also turns out that I can turn my hand to multitude of other crafts in pursuit of social connection, joy and reduced isolation for people affected by dementia.
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Remembering Lockdown and Mental Health and Wellbeing - Professor Paul Crawford 
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
We will be remembering our Covid lockdown experiences for some time yet! In such reflections on how we experienced “the greatest confinement in history” (Crawford & Crawford, 2021), we may well have engaged in creative practices such as writing, drawing, photography, painting and so on to capture these.
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We still need to talk about young people’s crumbling mental health
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
RAAC, the aerated concrete that turns out to be part construction material and part Aero bar, may be lousy at reinforcing school buildings. But it is pretty good at reinforcing the idea that very little is nowadays geared towards young people’s mental wellbeing. After all, there is something perversely apt about the image of a classroom suddenly caving in. It serves as a neat visual metaphor for the tremendous pressures that children and students now face: like RAAC, their mental health is too often shot full of holes and perilously fragile.
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Differences between online trial participants who have used statutory mental health services and who have not: my involvement in a research publication
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
My name is Scott Pomberth and I work as a Carer Peer Support Worker in the City Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
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Q&A with Edwina Kung
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
“Inner rooms, inner minds” is the latest exhibition from Nottingham-based artist Edwina Kung, shown at the Institute of mental Health from 13 December 2022 – 24 March 2023. As the event draws to a close, we asked Edwina about the relationship between her art and mental wellbeing.
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"My hearing's going" - Professor Tom Dening on hearing aids
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Professor Tom Dening, director of our Centre for Dementia, writes a personal account of using hearing aids, in the context of his research into dementia and hearing loss.
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