Data & Research
The Data and Research Working Group has been created for members to share experiences and best practices in utilising data and research for mental health advocacy. It serves as a platform for accessing high-quality mental health data and research, and promoting integration into various policy areas. The group endeavours to enhance sustainability in mental health research by fostering collaboration, advocating for common metrics, and championing ethical standards in data collection and utilisation.
Stephanie Whiteman
University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus
Working Group Co-Chairs
Ameh Zion Abba
The Mandate Health Empowerment Initiative
Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie
Ghana Association for Suicide Prevention
Our Focus
Initial priority areas and deliverables for the group include:
Developing a calendar for the group that identifies global moments, external events and advocacy opportunities relating to mental health data and research.
Developing a programme of knowledge exchange sessions.
Providing an update on data, research and funding opportunities to be included in the monthly GMHAN newsletter.
Promoting members’ stories on using data to support advocacy.
Developing guidance on how to collect mental health data, especially relating to young people/people with lived experience.
Developing a roadmap with targets/a framework to support countries to produce a landscape analysis and evaluate mental health data.
Surveying members on what kind of training and/or tools they would find most useful in building their capacity to use data and research to support their advocacy.
Our Work
Our webinar in April 2024 focused on mental health implementation research. It was a partnership between The Lancet Psychiatry, The Being Initiative, United for Global Mental Health, and the Global Mental Health Action Network. You can read the note and watch it back here: Webinar: Mental Health Implementation Research in Action
Recommended Readings: Mental Health Data and where to find it
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission: transforming mental health implementation research.
Countdown Global Mental Health 2030 background and the Dashboard hosted by UNICEF
How to join us:
Ensure you are a member of the Global Mental Health Action Network. Sign up here.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive an email inviting you to sign up for our Working Groups and register for our networking platform, Circle. Please use the same email address that you used when registering for the Action Network when submitting the Working Group form.
If you are already a member of the Action Network, sign up for the Working Group using this form.