Linda is Head of Policy at SCMH and was appointed to that position in June 2006. Previously (2002 – 2006) she was Policy and Research Development Manager at mentality @ the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
As Head of Policy she develops and manages the policy function within the new style SCMH and works with the staff team providing analysis and support to the organisation about mental health policy and other public policies as they affect the lives of and services for people with mental health problems.
For more than twenty years Linda has worked extensively in health promotion and public health. She has worked in tobacco control at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in London (1980-85) and at the Health Education Council (HEC) (1985-88). She was a member of the national research team (1994-99) evaluating the Health Education Authority’s Health at Work in the NHS programme. She is an experienced trainer and worked for five years with the Public Health Resource Unit (PHRU) at Oxford Health Authority delivering workshops on critical appraisal skills, assessing the rigour and reliability of quantitative and qualitative research. After completing a Masters Degree in Health Studies from Brighton University in 1998 she worked as a Research Fellow in Health and Social Policy at the University’s Health and Social Policy Research Centre.
She has served as a Board level Director in the NHS for seven years, first at a health authority (East Sussex Health Authority, 1993-96) and then at South Downs Health NHS Trust (1998-2002), a community, mental health and learning disability service provider.
Samele C, Seymour L, Morris B et al (2006) Closing the gap. Health Inequalities in primary care of people with mental health problems and learning disabilities. Report for the Disability Rights Commission’s Formal Inquiry.
Seymour L, Porter R and Adger D (2005) Breakout: Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention Programme for Young Men. (unpublished)
Seymour L and Grove B. (2005) Workplace interventions for people with common mental health problems: A systematic review. London. British Occupational Health Research Foundation.
Seymour L and Gale E. (2005) Mental Health and Mental Health Promotion. in Ewles L. (ed) Key Topics in Public Health. Oxford. Headspring.
Tel: 020 7716 6758
Email: linda.seymour@scmh.org.uk