On
Thursday
29
January,
last
week, we
launched
RCOMH
nationwide
at a
special
event
held at
The
Royal
Society
of
Medicine
in
London
with key
people
and
partners
in
attendance.
We were
delighted
that
representatives
from all
of
RCOMH’s
founding
partners,
The
College
of
Occupational
Therapists
Specialist
Section
in
Mental
Health,
South
London &
Maudsley
NHS
Foundation
Trust,
Northumberland,
Tyne &
Wear NHS
Trust,
Tees,
Esk &
Wear
Valleys
NHS
Foundation
Trust,
developing
partners
(a
service
user
research
organisation)
and The
Retreat
based in
York,
were
able to
attend.
The
event
was
chaired
by
Pauline
Gacal,
Dean of
Faculty
of
Health &
Life
Sciences,
and
Professor
Dianne
Willcocks,
Vice
Chancellor,
officially
opened
the
launch.
In
her
speech
Dr
Katrina
Bannigan,
Director
of RCOMH,
explained
that the
Centre
is the
first
research
centre
of its
kind in
the
world
reflecting
a shift
in
approach
to
research
capacity
building
from
working
with
individuals
on a
one-to-one
basis to
facilitating
a
research
network
across
and
between
disciplines
helping
enhance
the
evidence
base for
occupation,
mental
health
and well
being.
She also
outlined
how this
will be
achieved
by
developing
strong,
strategic,
local,
national
and
international
partnerships
to bring
key
researchers
in the
field of
occupation
and
mental
health
together.
Dr
Katrina
Bannigan
Director
of
Research
Centre
for
Occupation
& Mental
Health
Dr
Elizabeth
White,
Head of
Research
&
Development,
College
of
Occupational
Therapists,
endorsed
the work
of RCOMH
and
described
how the
Centre
had a
role to
play in
achieving
both the
aims of
‘Recovering
Ordinary
Lives’,
The
College
of
Occupational
Therapists
strategy
for
Occupational
Therapy
in
Mental
Health
Services,
and the
establishing
centres
of
excellence
for
occupation
focussed
research.
She set
RCOMH
some
challenges
for
being
benchmarked
as a
centre
of
excellence
which
will no
doubt
drive us
on to
achieving
these
standards.
Dr
Elizabeth
White
Head of
Research
&
Development
College
of
Occupational
Therapists
Gabrielle
Richards,
Professional
Head of
Occupational
Therapy,
South
London &
Maudsley
NHS
Foundation
Trust,
shared
what it
meant
for her
organisation
to be
working
in
partnership
with
RCOMH.
Her talk
not only
reflected
on the
great
history
of the
Bethlem
and
Maudsley
hospitals
but also
looked
to the
future.
She
focussed
on
social
inclusion
and the
need to
keep the
people
we serve
at the
heart of
our work
which
was a
timely
reminder
that
RCOMH’s
mission
is not
just
about
developing
world
class
research
in
occupation
and
mental
health
but
about
influencing
best
practice.
This was
a strong
note on
which to
end the
speechs
and it
set the
tone for
the chat
over
afternoon
tea.
Gabrielle
Richards
South
London &
Maudsley
NHS
Foundation
Trust
The
launch
provided
a real
opportunity
for
celebration
but it
was also
about
looking
to the
future.
A lot of
the chat
on the
day was
about
the work
that
needs to
be done
to
ensure
that we
are able
to bring
people
together,
grow
research
capacity,
and
conduct
relevant
programmes
of
research.
We hope
that
relationships
developed
on the
day will
result
in
people
sharing
their
expertise,
more
people
getting
involved
in our
research,
and an
increased
awareness
of
RCOMH’s
work
generally.
Delegates
chatting
Overall
it feels
like the
launch
has
established
RCOMH as
a unique
collaboration
that
will
bring
people
together,
who use
and work
in
mental
health
settings,
to
develop
the
evidence
base
around
occupation
and
mental
health
to
influence
best
practice.
Here’s
to the
future…