The Trust hosted its 19th annual Research and Innovation half-day conference on 2 November. Taking place in Charterhouse Square, a new venue for the event, the first half of the event was chaired by Steve Gillard, Professor of Mental Health, at the School of Health Sciences at City, University of London. While Claudia Cooper, Professor of Psychological Medicine and Lead of the Centre of Psychiatry and Mental Health at Queen Mary, University of London as well as an honorary consultant psychiatrist at ELFT, chaired the second half. Attendees were able to preview early findings and ask questions.
For those unable to travel to London in person, the event was live streamed and they were able to engage meaningfully with the speakers by posing questions via mentimeter. But for those attending in person, there was the opportunity during the break to network with representatives of our research partners including the local North Thames NIHR Clinical Research Network and Applied Research Collaboration UCL Partners, Research Design Service London, Noclor Research Support Service, and ELFT’s own R&I team. The noise levels during the break reflected how long people had waited to meet and how much they had to say to each other!
Chief Executive Paul Calaminus said, "Staff and service users in ELFT benefit greatly from the Trust's long partnership with our universities and research bodies. It was particularly striking this year to hear such an emphasis on studies looking at the mental health of children and young people who have been greatly impacted by global life events. Areas such as parenting, the health needs of asylum-seeking children, neurodiversity and emotional resilience, whilst continuing to develop understanding of mental health in adults and older adults. Thank you to all those who presented on the day and who are involved in ongoing research.”
A big thank you to all the researchers who managed to condense months (or years) of work into a coherent 10-minute overview, to all who attended, and to Associate Research Director Karin Albani and her team for providing such an informative and interesting event.
To learn more about R&I at ELFT check out www.elft.nhs.uk/research or follow us on @NHS_ELFT_RI