University of Northampton Psychology team awarded grant to evaluate mental health in the Midlands

Psychology academics at the University of Northampton have secured a grant of £30,000 to evaluate the Midlands and East Mental Health and Wellbeing Project.

Dr Jane Callaghan, Dr Lisa Fellin, Ms Jenna Goodgame and Dr Catherine Fritz secured the grant as part of a regional project to widen access to mental health services for children and young people across the area. A further £81,000 has been awarded to the team to develop two Continual Professional Development (CPD) modules for this project, including the development of online materials to support learning in this area.

The programme will attempt to address the national ‘Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies’ (IAPT) initiative developed by the Department of Health. Specifically, the money used in this grant will help broaden access to psychological therapies and embed routine outcomes monitoring in practice, resulting in more responsive services that are participatory for children, young people and their families.

“These projects fit well with the Division of Psychology’s established record of research and teaching excellence in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. The University already offers a wide range of Postgraduate degrees within the area of mental health. This project will further enhance our teaching, as well as supporting to develop the local community and area in raising

awareness of mental health.”

Doug Rae, Deputy Dean for the School of Social Sciences

Dr Jane Callaghan, Psychology lead at the University in Child and Adolescent Mental Health said: “In this project our expertise in training professionals in Child and Adolescent Mental Health will be put to excellent use. In addition we have the opportunity to evaluate and support projects in local services that are designed to broaden young people’s access to mental health services, and to ensure that these services are working well for children and young people.”