{"id":1699,"date":"2019-08-06T13:04:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T13:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/?p=1699"},"modified":"2019-08-06T13:04:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T13:04:43","slug":"meet-the-researcher-professor-ben-hannigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/meet-the-researcher-professor-ben-hannigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the researcher \u2013 Professor Ben Hannigan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Why did you choose to do research into mental health?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Working in the mental health field came first for me, with\nresearch following. I studied for a social sciences degree when I left school, and\nafter a short period teaching English as a second language gravitated to mental\nhealth work as a full-time volunteer in a day service run by the mental health\ncharity Mind. I met mental health practitioners and students there and began\nexploring routes to professional practice ahead of enrolling on a four year mental\nhealth and general nurse training course. This was at the time that most nurses\nwere prepared for practice in NHS schools, with no higher education involvement.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I remember as a student of nursing thinking that we had much\nto do as a profession to generate an evidence base and to prepare practitioners\nto think as well as to do. I was curious as a student, and then as a practising\ncommunity mental health nurse, and had (as I still do) a motivation to improve\nthe experience of people living with mental health problems. I worked with\ncolleagues whilst in practice to undertake some small-scale, local, research on\ninterprofessional working and on service users\u2019 views, and when I made the leap\nfrom practice into higher education for what was advertised as a teaching-focused\njob I was determined that applied mental health research would be an equal part\nof my role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Who inspired\/inspires you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve always admired people who can use, and create, ideas\nand evidence which cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. I can think of\nnumbers of people working in the mental health field able to do this. In\naddition, relative to our numbers nursing has relatively few researchers. I\u2019ve\nbeen supported and inspired by people, here in Cardiff and beyond, who have\ninvested their energies in growing research capacity and in putting services\nand practice on a more informed, evidenced, footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What are you currently working on?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m an applied mental health services researcher with\ninterests in people\u2019s experiences of using, and working in, the system of\nmental health care. I\u2019m involved in two projects at the moment, as well as\nsupervising doctoral students: one is a synthesis of the evidence in the area\nof end of life care for people with severe mental illnesses, and the second is\na trial and evaluation of a novel intervention for people with\ntreatment-resistant PTSD. I\u2019m learning lots in both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How does your research inform your (clinical) practice\nand vice versa?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I no longer work as a practitioner, but every research\nproject I have led or contributed to has been a service and\/or\npractice-oriented one. The research questions I\u2019m interested in answering arise\nfrom the experiences and observations of people receiving and providing mental\nhealth care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What changes have you seen in attitudes towards mental\nhealth during your career?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s remarkable how much more mental health is talked and written\nabout now compared to the 1980s, which is when my career commenced. I think\nthis is a very positive thing, which I hope is also reflected in growing public\ntolerance and understanding. I also observe how mental health remains a\ncontested area: much more so, I suspect, than is the case in other health care\nfields. There continue to be sharp debates and disputes in all sorts of areas,\nincluding the explanatory frameworks for understanding distress, competing claims\nto knowledge, the content and boundaries of professional practice and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What do you think the key challenges are for mental\nhealth?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mental health services have struggled in an era of\nausterity, and the mental health workforce is seriously depleted. If we\u2019re\nserious about improving mental health and in developing services we need new investment,\nand to do better at telling people how rewarding careers in mental health care are.\nWe also need to expand the numbers of people involved in mental health services\nresearch, including people with backgrounds in nursing and the allied health\nprofessions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What advice would you give to people starting out in a\ncareer in mental health research?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find friends and collaborate. If applied mental health\nsystems and services research appeals, then listen carefully both to the\nexperiences and views of people living with mental health difficulties and\nusing services, and to the experiences and views of people working in the\nsystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why did you choose to do research into mental health? Working in the mental health field came first for me, with research following. I studied for a social sciences degree [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1037,"featured_media":430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health-and-society","category-mental-health-nursing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7swiU-rp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1861,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/knowledge-exchange-through-elective-mental-health-nursing-placements-abroad\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":0},"title":"Knowledge exchange through elective mental health nursing placements abroad","author":"Abigail Fisher","date":"31 July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A successful knowledge exchange for mental health nursing practice, policy, research and education between our School of Healthcare Sciences and Mid North Coast Local Health District (New South Wales, Australia) provided an opportunity for further knowledge exchange through international student placements. Seren Roberts (Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing) The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adult mental health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/07\/MHB-Australia-placement-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1831,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/physical-health-care-in-mental-health-settings-how-a-knowledge-exchange-can-shed-light-on-opportunities-for-policy-practice-education-and-research-improvement\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":1},"title":"Physical health care in mental health settings: how a knowledge exchange can shed light on opportunities for policy, practice, education and research improvement","author":"Dr Seren Roberts","date":"30 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Seren Roberts Penny Jones\u00a0 Allyson Wilson\u00a0\u00a0 People with severe mental illness experience poorer physical health than the general population, with 13\u201330 years shortened life expectancy. This health inequality is well known. Many health policies world-wide are seeking to close this health gap. Health promotion and improving access to health services\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adult mental health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2024\/04\/View-from-Southern-Cross-Campus-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1667,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/mental-health-nursing-as-a-career-choice-ben-hannigan-nicola-evans\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":2},"title":"Mental health nursing as a career choice &#8211; Ben Hannigan &amp; Nicola Evans","author":"Ben Hannigan","date":"29 April 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"How to describe what mental health nurses do? That\u2019s a challenging question, and one that underpinned a recent review of the work of graduate and registered mental health nurses, Playing Our Part. This made the case for the person-centred work of nurses, involving the skilled provision of face-to-face care. More\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mental health nursing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mental health nursing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/mental-health-nursing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/mental-1831391_1280.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/mental-1831391_1280.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/mental-1831391_1280.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/mental-1831391_1280.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/mental-1831391_1280.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1354,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/mental-health-nursing-in-palestine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":3},"title":"Mental health nursing in Palestine","author":"Dr Mohammad Marie","date":"30 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mohammad Marie \u00a0-\u00a0 mental health nurse academic at An-Najah University Mental health services vary from country to another. This variation depends on many factors, including those related to culture, politics, and resources. In the case of Palestine, with its history of conflict, mental health services are underdeveloped and face many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adult mental health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-506122072.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1754,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/skellern-lecture-and-lifetime-achievement-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":4},"title":"Skellern Lecture and Lifetime Achievement Award","author":"Ben Hannigan","date":"16 August 2023","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Eileen Skellern made a major contribution to the development of modern, interpersonally mediated, mental health nursing and following her death in 1980 a lecture series was founded in her name. Since 2006 the Skellern Lecture has been delivered on an annual basis, alongside a Lifetime Achievement Award. This combined event\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adult mental health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2023\/07\/Photo-3-Dr-Anne-Aiyegbusi-and-Prof-Daniel-Kellyskellern-award-2023-scaled-e1692175602417.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1276,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/mhnr2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":1699,"position":5},"title":"#MHNR2017","author":"Ben Hannigan","date":"27 September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Cardiff welcomed delegates to the 23rd International Mental Health Nursing Research Conference (#MHNR2017), which took place at City Hall on September 14th and 15th 2017. This was the conference\u2019s first visit to Wales, with the theme for the year being Imagination, Invention and Inquiry. Papers were welcomed emphasising the need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adult mental health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-614138202-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/06\/Hannigan-Ben.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1037"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1699"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1706,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions\/1706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}