Primary Care and Mental Health
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Enhancing mental health and wellbeing support, and primary healthcare provision.
The Department of Primary Care and Mental Health’s (PCMH) goal is to enhance mental health and wellbeing support, and primary healthcare provision. PCMH engages in scholarly activity to develop theories, models and interventions for primary healthcare and to promote mental health and wellbeing. Our research and teaching activities aim to enhance excellence in primary, community, mental health and social care at a local and global level.
PCMH seeks to enable and develop all our staff and students by providing research and learning opportunities, training, mentorship, and peer support. Colleagues working in health and social care, experts by experience and members of the public are welcomed into our research and education activities, and research group meetings.
Our underlying principles include inclusion and diversity, multi-disciplinarity and co-production. We achieve these through various means including working closely with the department’s committees (e.g. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee, Postgraduate Research committee, Research committee, Education committee) promoting research equity. We adhere to robust governance and standards of professional and research ethics.
Our research programmes include, for example:
- Global mental health
- Chronic conditions and polymorbidity
- Children and families
- Older adults
- Primary care and community mental health
- Big data – CIPHA and System-P
- Suicide and self-harm
- Dementia and ageing
- Clinical psychology (including forensic, pain, dementia, physical health)
- Visual impairment in acquired brain injury
Our challenges
Community based approaches to tackle health inequalities
How might we clarify what ‘community’ means to people, and ensure that ‘community-based’ approaches can adequately tackle socioeconomic determinants and structural inequalities, and human rights abuses?
Wellbeing, illness prevention, recovery and rehabilitation
How do we build links between efforts to promote physical and mental wellbeing, prevent ill health and support recovery and rehabilitation?
Increasing the clinical and health psychology workforce
How can we contribute to increasing the clinical and health psychology workforce to meet mental health needs in the face of public health emergencies?
Research centres
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The Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (ARC NWC)
The Department hosts The Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (ARC NWC). A collaboration of health and social care providers, NHS commissioners, local authorities, universities and public advisers working together to tackle health inequalities through applied research. It works with its member organisations to implement research findings into practice which improves the health of both individuals and their communities.
Education programmesOur institutes
Clinical Psychology Doctorate (DClin) programme
The Department is home to the Clinical Psychology doctorate (DClin) programme, which is delivered as a partnership between the University of Liverpool, the NHS and clinical psychologists across the North West of England region. The programme leads to the award of the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, leading to eligibility for registration as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council. Successful completion of the programme also leads to eligibility for Chartered Status as a clinical psychologist with the British Psychological Society. The programme aims to equip trainees with a theoretical understanding of a wide range of clinical problems, models and approaches; together with essential clinical skills and a variety of practical experiences such as are required for effective practice as a clinical psychologist in the NHS.
Case studies
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Community-based Sociotherapy Adapted for Refugees (COSTAR)
The project aims to culturally and linguistically adapt CBS for use with Congolese refugees, and evaluate its efficacy and cost-effectiveness for addressing the elevated levels of mental health difficulties experienced by populations that have been subject to conflict and displacement.

Improving access to psychological therapies for perinatal depression in low and middle-income countries
Perinatal depression affects one in four women in low and middle income countries with over 90% not receiving any treatment for this condition. Our researchers published the Thinking Healthy Programme (THP), becoming the first fully manualised psychological intervention to be adopted by the World Health Organization for global dissemination. Training has been implemented in 90 countries with over 90,000 community health workers being trained in Pakistan alone.
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Vision, Orthoptic and Brain Injury Research Unit (VISION)
The VISION group evaluates visual impairment in acquired brain injury and neurological conditions, explores and develops outcome measures in orthoptics, and seeks to explore the complexity of co-existent visual and functional impairments
Accreditations and partnerships
Our local and global partnerships provide vital support to our research activity.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
The University of Liverpool Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology trains applicants to become clinical psychologists, qualifying to provide psychological services with the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust to people who are experiencing a wide range of mental health issues, physical health difficulties, learning disabilities, and relationship issues.
Liverpool Experts by Experience (LExE)
LExE (Liverpool Experts by Experience) is a strategic stakeholder group acting as a ‘critical friend’ to the University of Liverpool‘s Doctorate in Clinical Psychology training programme. The initiative aims to develop networks between ‘Experts by Experience’, university staff and students with the aim of improving the training experience.
Our research and impact
The department engages in a wide range of research that has a significant impact in primary, community, mental health and social care at a local and global level.