Our scoping review of mental health policing has just been published: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... It provides an overview of existing research, a thematic review of findings and highlights some research gaps. Enjoy!

Great blog by Stephanie Tierney on our inclusive volunteering project on the Oxford Social Prescribing Research Network site for social prescribing day: socialprescribing.phc.ox.ac.uk/news-views/v...

The THRIVE Centre at the University of Worcester is offering 3 PhD studentships in mental health in rural contexts. Full information at www.worcester.ac.uk/research/res... or contact @lizhughesdd.bsky.social

Here's a little introduction to our new inclusive volunteering project which explores how best to support people to volunteer in heritage and nature-based organisations: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Two international social work conferences coming up that are worth checking out: -Social Work Congress, Australia, 18-20 November 2026 - socialworkcongress.com.au -International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health, India, 5-8 January 2027 - icswhmh.com Abstracts open!

Blurred responsibilities between police, ambulance, and mental health services are hindering responses to mental health crises. Our study calls for better coordination. 🔗 vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/news/police-... @york.ac.uk @martinwebber.bsky.social @lizhughesdd.bsky.social

Summary findings of our study of mental health policing have just been published - full papers to follow shortly... @vp-centre.bsky.social @lizhughesdd.bsky.social vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/news/police-...

The social prescribing link workers involved in our @nihr.bsky.social funded feasibility study of community-enhanced social prescribing have spoken out! Here are some of their reflections: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our review has just been published - Practitioner training and user experience of Seeking Safety for people with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder - peerj.com/articles/200... @peerj.bsky.social

I'm really looking forward to the online launch tomorrow of our Inclusive Volunteering Guide. Please join us if you can at 1pm BST: www.york.ac.uk/business-soc.... Thank you!

Our Umbrella Review of the conceptualisation and measurement of social frailty has just been published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... This informs our current work in developing a screening tool for social frailty for health and social care professionals (sphr.nihr.ac.uk/prevention/d...).

📣 Heritage Volunteering Group Conference 2025 🗓 25–26 Nov | ⏰ 9.30am–1.15pm | 💻 Zoom Join @martinwebber.bsky.social, @heritagevols.bsky.social and amazing volunteer engagement pros as they explore how volunteering transforms lives and communities: linktr.ee/heritagevolu... #Heritagevolunteering25

Final call for papers for special issue of Social Work in Health Care on the role of social workers in addressing social and health inequalities: think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu... Please take a look and share with anyone interested. Thank you!

I’m looking forward to speaking at the Heritage Volunteering Group Conference: 🗓25–26 Nov ⏰ 9:30–13:15 💻 Zoom It's a great opportunity to explore how volunteering transforms lives & communities 🎟 Info:https://linktr.ee/heritagevolunteeringgroup #Heritagevolunteering25 #Volunteering #Heritage

Worrying. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

World Health Organization flagship report on social connections has just been published - worth a read: www.who.int/publications...

New International Handbook of Social Work just published - with chapters about social work in 30 countries. It's a tad pricey, so one for libraries to stock up on I think! editorial.tirant.com/es/libro/int...

editorial.tirant.com/es/libro/int... Handbook of Social Work with our chapter @martinwebber.bsky.social

Illustrations of the effects of poverty and health inequality in the UK - www.theguardian.com/society/2025.... Worth a read.

The increasing prevalence of mental health problems found in the National Psychiatric Morbidity Society is, unfortunately, not surprising, but very worrying. Tackling causes, including social determinants of mental health, is now as important as ever. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

We are exploring good responses to mental health emergencies so that we can evaluate (and hopefully scale up) good practice from the perspective of people with lived experience. If you know of UK examples that you can share, please do get in touch - www.nsun.org.uk/a-place-of-s.... Thanks.

NIHR Research Programme for Social Care has a special call out for research in Children's Social Care - www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/rpsc.... It's worth checking out!

NIHR School for Social Care Research Career Development Awards are now open for applications - sscr.nihr.ac.uk/career-devel.... This is an excellent opportunity for social work practitioners who want to get some research training or experience.

The Mental Health Social Care Research Centre has just joined Bluesky! We'll be posting news here about our work - new studies, publications, conferences, impact, findings - and engaging with discussions about policy and practice relevant to our work. Please follow us at @mhscrc.bsky.social. Thanks!

If you're looking for a place to publish research on social workers addressing structural or social determinants of health, please take a look at this call for papers for a special issue of Social Work in Health Care: think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu.... Thank you!

Next Monday from 11am-12pm for Mental Health Awareness Week, I'll be giving a webinar on Connecting People and how we can support people to connect with others. Please do come along: www.bespokementalhealth.co.uk/live-events/.... Thank you @bespokemh.bsky.social!

📢 New project alert: @martinwebber.bsky.social has been awarded funding from @nihrsphr.bsky.social, to undertake a major follow-on study to develop and validate a new screening tool for social frailty among older adults. Read more: sphr.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-eve... #YorkResearch

1. Motorist kills cyclist and is jailed for 14 months: www.theguardian.com/football/202.... 2. Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England: www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap.... Any loss of life is a tragedy, but can we please get our priorities in order?

Just finished reading Act Now by @plancommonsense.bsky.social. This presents a radical yet achievable alternative future for the UK, which progressives can get behind. Change is needed. Let's start talking about some of these ideas @podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Social frailty in older people is a growing issue and there are no robust tools available to health and social care practitioners in the UK to identify it. Well, not at the moment anyway... @nihrsphr.bsky.social sphr.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-eve... Watch this space for updates!

🙌Very excited to share our new support network for mental health and/or addiction research academics with lived experience. We have called it LENS (Lived Experience Network for Scholars). Read more and sign up on Eventbrite for our 1st online meeting in May: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lived-expe...

New study funded by @nihr.bsky.social and co-led by @ruthndwrites.bsky.social is underway to explore support for young mothers and birthing people: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Our review of interventions that support unpaid carers of adult mental health inpatients that was published online 3 years ago, has now been published in print in the Journal of Mental Health. It's still available open access online, so please do take a look! Thanks. doi.org/10.1080/0963...

Great new review led by @ruthndwrites.bsky.social on interventions that prevent or reduce perinatal loneliness. Open access - so please take a look! bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Read our latest newsletter for more on 🏫 Our Vulnerability and Policing International PhD Summer School 💻 A blog by @martinwebber.bsky.social & @lizhughesdd.bsky.social on the impact of Right Care, Right Person 📔 Our accessible research summary reports mailchi.mp/8bf9b9f43444...

📣 Calling all PhD students 📣 Applications are now open for the Vulnerability and Policing International PhD Summer School! 📅 Monday 7 – Friday 11 July 2025 📍 University of York, UK Deadline for applications: 28 February 2025. Read more and apply: vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/vulnerabilit...

ICYMI @martinwebber.bsky.social and I have some thoughts on the recent evaluation of Right Care Right Person… there’s still so much we don’t know for sure about the wider impact of this policing policy or how mental health services should be strengthened so that the police are less involved anyway

Read a new blog by @lizhughesdd.bsky.social and @martinwebber.bsky.social about the impact of Right Care, Right Person, based on the initial evaluations that have been published. vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/whos-job-is-...

Check out our blog which is our reflections on the recent evaluation of the policy of Right Care Right Person - still a lack of evidence about impact on mental health and ambulance service especially given the under resourcing of health and social care

Two evaluations have recently been published exploring the impact of Right Care Right Person on the police, health and social care. @lizhughesdd.bsky.social and I have just posted a blog with our thoughts on them - vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/whos-job-is-....

Our paper on training students to use motivational interviewing in their practice learning has just been published in the latest issue of Social Work Education (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Voluntary sector, community-based + non-clinical social support to prevent or reduce mental ill health experienced by young mothers and young birthing LGBTQ+ people in the perinatal period: what works, for whom and in what circumstances? Our review starts in Jan! www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/dis...

Here's a good news story about a talented 6 year old trying out something new at the local art club. This is what Arts Council funding is really for. thestrayferret.co.uk/news/latest/...

I’m looking for academic researchers who research mental health and also (like me) have lived experience of mental ill health! Please share and get in touch if that’s you ❤️#academicsky @academic-chatter.bsky.social @mhrincubator.bsky.social @nihrspcr.bsky.social

Our new NIHR Research Programme for Social Care funded project is exploring community-based support for perinatal young women and young birthing LGBTQ+ people. Study page is now live! #perinatalmentalhealth #youngparents #youngmums www.york.ac.uk/business-soc...

Here's more information about joining the UK's largest health research programme - Our Future Health. Its findings can lead to real improvements in our health. study.ourfuturehealth.org.uk/welcome?utm_...

Published today, a new @childofthenorth.bsky.social @cfyounglives.bsky.social report coordinated by @vp-centre.bsky.social researchers argues for a whole-child approach to childhood vulnerability that focuses on needs vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/news/new-rep...

We are delighted to be a part of this project. We will link in with @vp-centre.bsky.social mental health project as well…. Watch this space!

Hi Bluesky friends and colleagues 👋🏻. I'm starting here with my new journal article out today: AMHPs: Teamwork, 'Safety Nets' and 'Buckling Under'. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hello! I’m trying to put together a perinatal mental health research starter pack. Please comment if you want to be added and share to advertise! ❤️ #academicsky go.bsky.app/9oEsdih