Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

What we do

The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health works to improve the quality of life for people with mental health problems. We carry out research, policy work and analysis to improve practice and influence policy in mental health as well as public services.

Our work focuses on those areas where we can make the greatest difference to people's lives. Our priorities are now mental health care in prisons and the criminal justice system and employment and mental health. In addition, we continue to work on key issues in mental health.

Developing opportunities

We aim to improve the life chances of people with mental health problems. Research shows that those with the most severe conditions face discrimination in getting work and a range of barriers to an ordinary life. Our work is about opening up opportunities by improving the ability of services to respond to people's needs as well as tackling prejudice and promoting equality in society as a whole.

Tackling inequalities

Some groups of people with mental health problems face especial difficulties getting the support they need. Those in prison who have mental health problems get inadequate support from over-stretched services and in many instances should not be there at all. Our work is about finding ways of securing equal treatment for these groups.

Improving services

In our broader policy and research role, we look at services and identify gaps. We carry out research and targeted projects to find new ways of improving services.

Communication and campaigning

The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health is a national charity. Much of our work is very local. We aim to ensure that what we develop, find and learn is communicated widely and helps people across the UK. So we communicate our work through respected publications and work with and lobby the media and government through news and events.

The role of research

Our research informs our policy and service development work and helps us contribute to the existing evidence base. Our research is primarily focused on our two main areas of criminal justice and employment. We are keen to identify important gaps in these areas and carry out work to bridge these gaps and raise the profile.

Much of our research is applied research using both qualitative and quantitative methods to do surveys, case studies, evaluations, scoping and mapping exercises. We also use secondary data sources, such as national statistics, and conduct reviews of the literature and carry out consultations with relevant stakeholders.

Our research also fulfills a 'horizon scanning' role to help us keep abreast of broader mental health issues by identifying new developments that can contribute to our two work streams and wider mental health policy.

We are committed to service user involvement in our research.