Project Description

Healthcare for common mental health problems is often delivered remotely via a range of digital channels, using audio, audio-visual and/or text/images. This can be as effective as face-to-face delivery. Many patients like the accessibility and importantly, the ability to engage with healthcare in a space where they feel comfortable, for example, their bedroom or car. Receipt of this care can remain hidden from all other people, including those close to the recipient. In our previous research on teleconsulting, care users and providers told us remote delivery is an advantage as it reduces the fear and/or experience of stigma related to mental health, particularly among population groups where this stigma remains strong. Our more recent ethics-framed re-examination of this issue hypothesised the opposite – increased fear and/or experience of stigma because the mental healthcare is hidden.

This PhD will test this hypothesis through empirical mixed methods research among a range of population groups in the UK, including those where stigma remains strong. The research will explore and evaluate the interaction of stigma and remote care delivery. It will bring together multidisciplinary perspectives – clinical, ethical and social science. Methods will include public engagement activities, surveys among a range of population groups, interviews with those with experience of living with a common mental health problem and workshops with citizen groups. The completed PhD will provide an in-depth understanding of stigma in relation to mental health for the digital age and recommend how health services and society respond.