SOCial MEDia (SOCMED) and Youth Mental Health

Led by Prof Louise Doyle (TCD) and Prof Mary Cannon (RCSI) with Dr Yulia Kartalova-O’Doherty and Sarah Watters from TCD, Dr Lorna Staines (RCSI) and Nikki Horkan (Mental Health Ireland). Social media is central to the lives of many young people in Ireland today, playing a role in self-expression, social engagement, peer support and wellbeing. Much research focuses on the negative impact social media can have on mental health; however, Sharing the Vision recommends harnessing the positive role evidence-based social media can play in the promotion of mental health and signposting to support and services. SOCMED is a mixed methods study which explores the barriers to, and enablers of, social media use as a tool for mental health promotion and signposting to supports and services by adolescents and young people  This study is ongoing with a scoping review underway to identify the implementation determinants to the use of social media for youth mental health, and qualitative data collection to capture the views and opinions of young people and other key stakeholders, such as families, youth organisations and teachers in Ireland on how social media can be used to promote mental health. A quantitative phase involving secondary analysis of the data on social media use by young people from the Planet Youth study is also underway. The qualitative and quantitative findings will be used for the development of a national survey which will capture information about the barriers to and enablers of using social media for youth mental health promotion. The overarching aim of this project is the development of a blueprint for the utilisation of social media in youth mental health promotion, and the development of for a psychosis-focused social media campaign.

IMPIC

Prof Colm McDonald (NUIG) leads this work package along with Prof Agnes Higgins, Prof Louise Doyle, Prof Brian Keogh and Dr Olivia Longe (TCD), Dr Shaakya Anand-Vembar (TCD and NUIG) and Nora Hanney (Mental Health Ireland). The IMPIC study focuses on improving involuntary care pathways in Ireland. Involuntary care (inpatient psychiatric care implemented for a person without their consent) within the health service can be a traumatic experience for those with psychosis. Evidence-based interventions, such as person-centred care planning are known to improve the experience of involuntary care for service users and staff and reduces future involuntary admissions. Such interventions are recommended as part of the Irish mental health policy, ‘Sharing the Vision’. However, a quality gap exists whereby these are not consistently implemented. The overall purpose of this research project is to find out why these interventions are not consistently applied. The project comprises four main steps.  1: A scoping review that identifies and analyses implementation factors for evidence-based practice across the involuntary care pathway.  2: Interviews with various stakeholders (e.g. those who have experienced involuntary care previously, their family members or carers, mental health workers) about what helps or hinders putting good practices into use.  3: Developing and rolling out an online national survey to seek opinions of several different stakeholder groups, including GPs, Gardai, psychologists, authorised officers, psychiatrists and nurses.  4: Findings from these steps will be used to develop a blueprint (plan of action) to improve practices and outcomes for people who experience involuntary care. 

Public and Patient Involvement (PPI)

Led by Dr Donal O’Keefe (Mental Health Ireland and TCD), Prof Brian Keogh and Prof Agnes Higgins (TCD) and Dr Shaakya Anand-Vembar (TCD and the University of Galway). This work package has two overarching aims. Firstly, it will oversee and support meaningful PPI within each of the work packages to ensure that the voices of people with lived experience are involved in the co-design of all elements of the VISTA project. Secondly, to support the wider implementation of PPI in the mental health context, a robust and dynamic capacity strengthening initiative will be co-designed. This initiative will be informed by a process evaluation of all key stakeholders’ perspectives on how PPI was enacted as part of VISTA. It is anticipated this capacity strengthening initiative will be rolled out across Ireland through the HSE Recovery College Network. A scoping review, based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, to identify barriers and enablers to the implementation of capacity-strengthening initiatives for PPI contributors in mental health research is also being conducted as part of this work package.

Substance Use & Mental Health Interventions using Digital Technology (SUMIT)

The SUMIT project is addressing one of today’s most pressing health challenges: the fact that many people experience both mental health difficulties and substance use issues, often without getting the right help. Barriers such as stigma, long waiting lists, and fragmented services mean too many people go unsupported.  Led by Queen’s University Belfast with partners including Trinity College Dublin, the University of St Andrews, and Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre, SUMIT has been awarded €6.8 million through the EU PEACEPLUS programme. At Trinity, Mental Health and Recovery research theme members Dr Peter Kelly and Philip James are co-applicants, bringing expertise in mental health, addiction, and service evaluation.  Over the next four years, SUMIT will work with communities in Belfast, Derry–Donegal, Newry–Louth, and Scotland to co-design digital solutions that make support easier to access. This includes providing devices and data to service users, developing trauma-informed digital tools, and building innovative ways for people to connect with care. The project will directly benefit 800 people initially, while also digitally upskilling more than 4,400 staff and community members.  A cornerstone of SUMIT is the creation of a cross-border Community of Practice, connecting service users, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share learning and sustain change. By blending digital innovation with compassion and collaboration, SUMIT seeks to reduce stigma, improve access to care, and support healthier futures across the island of Ireland and beyond.

Sarah Watters, Assistant Professor

Adolescence and young adulthood are pivotal developmental stages, marked by identity formation, peer influence, and growing social pressures. These transitions can heighten vulnerability to body image concerns, low self-esteem, and disordered eating behaviours. Research consistently shows that LGBTQI+ individuals experience a disproportionate burden of eating disorders compared to heterosexual and cisgender peers, with minority stress, stigma, discrimination, and rejection intensifying these risks. Yet, protective influences such as social support and community belonging remain underexplored.  Sarah Watters’ PhD research seeks to address this gap by investigating the factors that both increase risk and promote resilience among LGBTQI+ adolescents and young adults in Ireland. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study combines a secondary analysis of the Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland dataset, the most comprehensive national survey on LGBTQI+ wellbeing, with qualitative interviews involving 14–24-year-olds. This dual focus will generate both statistical evidence and personal narratives, providing a more nuanced understanding of disordered eating within this population.  The overall aim of this work is to generate evidence that informs more equitable and inclusive approaches to mental health care. In the context of World Mental Health Day, the study highlights the importance of recognising diversity within mental health research, ensuring that the specific needs of marginalised young people are at the forefront of service design and policy development.

Róisín Reilly, Assistant Professor

About 1 in 6 people in countries like Ireland and the UK take medication to help them with experiences of mental distress.  Although we know a lot about why people take these medications and the side effects that they can cause, we know surprisingly little about what it's like for people to come off them, what actually happens, what challenges they face and what actually helps.  Using a Grounded Theory research methodology, this study seeks to add to the evidence base in this area of discontinuing psychiatric medication, starting with uncovering the main concern of people during this process, and how they try to overcome this concern.  Through talking to people about their experiences of discontinuing psychiatric medications, and using Grounded Theory principles in the analysis of these interviews, a theory will be generated that explains this process from their perspectives, in their own terms.   This theory can help to develop an evidence-based framework that can be used to help people feel seen during this process, one that can guide them, their families, their health care practitioners and their policymakers towards safer, more compassionate and more informed choices when choosing to discontinue psychiatric medication.

Gerard Farrell, Assistant Professor

This PhD project is focused on exploring the context within which mental health care is delivered in the Irish Prison Services for people with mental health difficulties and the impact this has on the family, friends and supporters who support them. By reviewing how people in prison receive mental health treatment and how services have developed over time, this study will examine trends in service delivery and the impact of this on families. This project is reviewing legislative changes both in the Mental Health Act (2001) and the Criminal Law Insanity act (2006;2010) and is set within a contextual landscape where 5000 people in Ireland are currently in prison of which approximately 8% of people have serious mental health problems. Historically, it is noted that when psychiatric beds are reduced, this has an inverse relationship with an increase in committals to prisons.   Prisons are not Approved Centres as provisioned for by the Mental Health Act.  This leaves limitations for many in accessing adequate treatment and their rights to access treatment. Many people in prison are considerably vulnerable with mental health problems. Given the restrictive nature of the environment of a prison, families are limited in supporting their family member. Through qualitative methods, this project aims to develop insights that family members have when supporting family, friends and significant others who are in prison.  The overall goal is to determine the needs of family of people in prison.