Absorptive capacity and mental health organisations; the role of improvement services and the impact on the mental health priority areas for research

This project looks to explore the provision of and uses of implementation research in mental health services.

The Roadmap for Mental health Research in Europe project (ROAMER) formed a consensus for future recommendations for mental health research, with the aims to strengthen research on implementation and dissemination and reduce disparities.

Improvement teams such as quality improvement (QI), research & design (R&D) and audit etc, by their very nature will acquire new knowledge; either as individuals or teams and make decisions on its relevance and how/if it is transferred into the organisation.

Previous research has identified some gaps in the evidence, e.g. that actionable dissemination and exploitation has been poorly defined and emphasised the need for a better understanding of local knowledge dissemination within mental health organisations.

To contribute to this knowledge base this project aims to use the concept of absorptive capacity to explore the extent to which organisations identify new knowledge, assimilate it and exploit it to improve their performance.

The project will explore these issues by conducting case studies of relevant services to assess how priority areas as described by ROAMER are likely to be achieved.

We welcome PhD applications on similar themes to those proposed. We are committed to creating a workplace that promotes and values diversity. We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds including gender identity, race, age, class, and ethnicity.

You will normally need a postgraduate masters degree or a first/upper second class honours degree or equivalent in a subject relevant to your proposed research programme. Please check the relevant faculty's research degrees webpage for specific requirements.