The project, known as ORIGIN (Optimising cultural expeRIences for mental health in underrepresented younG people onlINe), is hosted by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, led by researchers from Oxford University and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Sheffield Hallam University’s Lab4Living is one of the partner organisations and will be leading the co-design activities.
It will run from 2023-2028 and is a collaboration between NHS Trusts, UK universities, and is partnered by museums and charities. The study involves diverse young people aged 16-24 co-designing an online arts and culture intervention aimed at reducing anxiety and depression.
Its effectiveness will then be tested in a trial of nearly 1,500 young people, including some of the most underrepresented young people, specifically LGBTQ+ and autistic young people, ethnic minorities and those who live in some of the most deprived areas of the UK, and those on NHS waiting lists for mental health support.
ORIGIN builds on preliminary research in which an online cultural experience called Ways of Being was co-designed and tested for mental health in young people. Despite limited time and resources in developing Ways of Being, it was enthusiastically received by young people and reduced negative feelings when compared with a traditional museum website.
Dr Rebecca Syed Sheriff, an NHS consultant psychiatrist and senior clinical researcher at Oxford University, led the preliminary work and is leading this programme, said:
“Most mental health problems start before 25, yet young people are the least likely to receive mental health care, with some groups such as ethnic minorities even less likely. Much of the support currently offered by health services, such as medication and talking therapies are inaccessible and unacceptable to many of the young people who need it most.
“Online support can be more accessible and this exciting project gives us the chance to work with diverse young people on their own terms to co-design an intervention that young people are engaged by and believe in. This programme could have significant implications for how arts and culture are used to improve the mental health of young people in the future in a way that is engaging and accessible across diverse groups.”
Dr Joe Langley, Lab4Living co-investigator, said “This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to learn from these young people, and to better understand the power of co-design in giving voice to people who are not listened to by society and the systems we live in.”
As well as co-designing the intervention, diverse young people will be an active part of the research team and will help shape the research and interpret the findings. The advisory board for the project will include young people, teachers, carers, charity workers, social workers, health professionals and people who work in arts and culture.
Find out more about the Ways of Being intervention produced as part of the Online Active Community Engagement (O-ACE) project.
Collaborators on ORIGIN include the University of Liverpool, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, University College London, University of Plymouth, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics. Partners include National Videogame Museum, National Museums Liverpool, Cornwall Museums Partnership, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Cornwall-based Making Waves, Dreadnought and Speak Up Cornwall, and Imagineear.
