Guest editorial
| Published date | 05 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-09-2019-083 |
| Pages | 153-153 |
| Date | 05 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
The Crisp Team
This important special issue highlights research and learning from the transatlantic “Citizenship,
Recovery, Inclusive Society Partnership”(CRISP). CRISP has worked for four years to bring
together academics, policy-makers and peers from across the USA and Europe in exchanges,
conferences and research projects. Partners include Yale University, New York University, Illinois
Institute of Technology, Ulm University, The Mental Health Foundation and Finland Association
for Mental Health. Dozens of beneficiaries spent a month or more in another country learning
from and with them.
Together we explored the social exclusion faced by people with mental health conditions, and
the initiatives and policies that can promote greater equality and inclusion. We framed this in the
context of stigma, recovery and citizenship. These are important areas of mental health research
in their own right but our approach was to understand how these concepts related to one
another and how they can inform policy solutions.
A number of themes emerged through CRISP. One was the value of peer support, leadership
and peer research as an important way to ensure that we see the world through the eyes of those
most affected, and also that we co-produce solutions. This is a feature of many of our articles in
this special edition. Second, we highlight the importance of seeing the whole person and
intersecting identities. So many of our articles include a focus upon those who experience
additional disadvantage such as poverty, race and experience of the justice system. Third, we
examine issues that are very sensitive within the mental health field, for example stigma and
recovery associated with suicide. Fourth, we recognise the importance of arts and culture, as
agents of change through activism, but also as a research methodology to bring the experiences
of inequality to life. Finally, the impact of social determinants has been a common concern
through the life of the project –at a time when we are facing considerable relevant challenges in
Europe and the USA including increasing economic disparities, political turmoil and a
programme of austerity which disproportionately affects our most marginalised citizens.
Issues of policy were a consistent focus of the collaboration. Within countries the challenges
include how to mobilise resources for prevention; the balance between targeted and general
policy measures, and the potential for international policy and practice transfer. We led several
examples of this international development work such as applying Yale’s peer-development
citizenship scale in the UK, Chicago’s disclosure programme in Europe, sharing recovery models
and arts approaches. These have resulted in publications and practical outcomes but what has
emerged strongly is that whilst adaptations may be needed in different socio-cultural contexts,
the participatory learning process is what matters most. We would like to thank NHS Lothian,
NHS Glasgow, Thrive NYC and NGO’s for participating in the policy workshops and discourse.
This special edition is linked to an international conference in July 2019 involving the World Health
Organisation. It is our intention that the learning here –and in wider publications –shapes inte rnational
policy and practice, and that our transatlantic community of learning and practice endures.
The CRISP team:
www.crisppartnership.eu
This project has received funding
from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under the
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant
Agreement No. 690954. Any
dissemination of results must
indicate that it reflects only the
author’s view and that the Agency
is not responsible for any use that
may be made of the information
it contains.
The CRISP network includes
University of Strathclyde,
New York University, Mental
Health Foundation, Mieli Mental
Health Finland, ULM University,
Yale University and Illinois
Institute of Technology.
DOI 10.1108/JPMH-09-2019-083 © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH
Guest editorial
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