Engaging People and Communities in Global Mental Health Research

Meaningful engagement is at the heart of ethical, relevant, and impactful mental health research — especially in global and low-resource settings. Drawing on guidance from the WHO, NIHR, Wellcome Trust, CAMH, and others, here are the key lessons for doing it well.

What Matters Most

• Inclusion and Equity: Everyone affected by mental health challenges should have a voice — especially people and communities often left out of research. Engagement should share power, not just collect opinions.
• Lived Experience as Expertise: People with lived experience bring vital knowledge. Involve them as partners throughout: in shaping research questions, designing studies, interpreting data, and sharing results.
• Cultural and Local Relevance: Good engagement respects local cultures, languages, and traditions. Methods should be adapted to fit the setting — not copied from elsewhere.
• Ethics and Wellbeing: Engagement must feel safe. Protect privacy, recognise potential distress, and make sure consent is truly informed and voluntary.
• Trust and Continuity: Meaningful involvement takes time. Build relationships, provide feedback, and make sure communities see how their input makes a difference.
• Shared Learning and Support: Offer training for both researchers and community partners. Engagement works best when everyone learns together.
• Clear Roles and Resources: Define responsibilities early, include engagement in project budgets, and make sure contributors are paid fairly for their time and expertise.
• Measuring Impact: Track what engagement changes — from better research design to stronger community partnerships — and share what you learn openly.

Effective Approaches

• Co-production: Researchers and lived-experience experts make decisions together.
• Participatory research: Communities help identify problems, act, and review outcomes.
• Advisory groups: Ongoing community or peer boards guide research direction.
• Peer researchers: People with lived experience work as co-investigators or facilitators.
• Feedback loops: Regular updates and two-way communication keep engagement transparent.
• Culturally adapted tools: Use local languages, formats, and community networks to reach more people.

The Core Principle

“Nothing about us, without us.”

Engagement in global mental-health research isn’t a box to tick — it’s about partnership, respect, and shared purpose. When researchers and communities work together, the result is better science, stronger ethics, and real-world impact.