To understand how social factors shape severe mental illness, we’ll start by taking a broad view, using existing clinical data from electronic health records and linking this with information about the places that people live, work and spend time.

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We’ll then take a closer look by collecting new data that includes detailed information about people’s social lives: their networks of family, friends, colleagues and neighbours, their day-to-day social interactions and exchanges. We will use these data to understand key mental health outcomes such as mood and life satisfaction. We will also link these data with biological markers that reflect stress and vulnerability to inflammation in the body.

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Throughout, we’ll work alongside our lived experience partners and research collaborators to turn what we learn into practical recommendations for the delivery of social interventions for people living with SMI. In turn, we hope that this will drive changes in everyday healthcare practice and in policy.

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This article was written and reviewed in collaboration with people with lived experience of SMI.

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