Creative Connections 2026
The Creative Connections workshop was delivered online by UKRI Mental Health Platform (MHP) in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It brought together researchers, people with lived experience, creative practitioners, and third-sector partners to explore how creative research methods, social science, arts, humanities and lived experience can work alongside mechanistic research to generate new knowledge and strengthen research into severe mental illness.
Mental Health Platform Hubs Flash Talks
- Brain & Genomics – Georgia Dash
- Complex Emotions – Sally Ohlsen
- DATAMIND – Charlotte Stockton-Powdrell
- ImmunoMIND – Sullivan Holderbach & Laura Fischer
- Metabolic Psychiatry – Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots
- Social Health – Lenny Buxton
Creative Perspectives - Artist Talks
- Lynne Hocking
- Robyn Dowlen
Creative research methods use artistic, technological, participatory and embodied approaches to explore complex research questions and engage people in new ways. They can generate new forms of evidence, create opportunities for co-production and produce creative outputs that deepen understanding and communicate research beyond traditional academic audiences.
This workshop explored how these approaches might be applied within severe mental illness research. Rather than focusing on clinical interventions or service delivery, the day asked how creative methods and interdisciplinary collaboration can help us:
- Generate new research questions that matter to people affected by severe mental illness;
- Deepen understanding of the causes, consequences and lived experience of severe mental illness;
- Integrate biological, clinical, social science, arts and humanities perspectives;
- Capture experiences and forms of knowledge that traditional research approaches may overlook;
- Challenge existing assumptions and develop more strengths-based and participatory approaches to research; and
- Identify new opportunities for collaboration across disciplines, sectors and communities.
Throughout the day it was discussed how creative approaches can help us communicate research more effectively with diverse audiences, including people with lived experience, healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators, employers and the wider public.