AIM BRADFORD

AIM Bradford: Adolescent Interventions for Mental Health in Bradford, is finding better ways to prevent mental health problems in young people. Adolescent mental health is a major public health concern and prevalence of anxiety, depression, and other forms of distress may be increasing. Funded through the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research, AIM is delivering a series of interconnected work packages that aims to improve understanding, prevention, and support for adolescent’s mental health in Bradford:

Work Package 1 – Coproduction

Co-leads: Shahid Islam & Jabu Phiri

We work closely with local young people and mental health organisations to shape the research. Our PPIE steering group, The Future Starts With Us, consists of young people with a strong interest in mental health.

They have taken part in co-design workshops, helped identify research priorities across the programme, and are currently co-creating a youth-focused mental health podcast series.

You can listen to one of the recordings here:

Work Package 3 – Natural Experiments

Co-leads: Dan Lewer & John Pickavance

WP3 evaluates five existing adolescent mental health interventions in Bradford using observational and natural experiment methods. The work integrates analyses of inequalities and considers site-level implementation where relevant.

Some of the projects are described below:

Mental Health Support Team (MHST) evaluation

This project evaluates the impact of Mental Health Support Teams, a school-based service designed to support young people’s mental health, on school absence in secondary schools across England. Using a natural experiment approach, we analyse how the gradual roll-out of MHSTs affects overall absence and persistent absence.

Young People’s Social Prescribing (YPSP) Evaluation

This project looks at a service in Bradford that helps young people feeling isolated by connecting them with local activities and support. We are studying how this affects their mood, wellbeing, loneliness, school attendance, and visits to the doctor between 2020 and 2025.

Work Package 4: Promoting Positive Adolescent Mental Health (PPAMH!) feasibility trial

Lead: Ruth Wadman

PPAMH! is a pilot study of a whole school intervention for positive school climate. Six Age of Wonder (https://borninbradford.nhs.uk/what-we-do/studies/age-of-wonder/) schools are taking part. Schools receiving the intervention will benefit from a dedicated PPAMH! wellbeing practitioner leading the whole-school, peer group and 1-2-1 activities.

More information can be found below:

https://openresearch.nihr.ac.uk/articles/4-66

https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14856201

Work Package 6 – Qualitative Research

Co-leads: Kate Lightfoot & Sufyan Dogra

WP6 uses qualitative research methods, such as interviews and group discussions to understand young people’s experiences of mental health interventions. The first study in this work package is an exploration of young people and parents’ experiences of accessing mental health support. Future studies will focus on social media and mental health, and interventions such as Mental Health Support Teams in schools.

Contact us for more information:

Chief Investigators: Dan Lewer – Dan.Lewer@bthft.nhs.uk  & Ruth Wadman – r.wadman@bradford.ac.uk

Study Manager: Ellen Silva – ellen.da-silva@bthft.nhs.uk