DIMHN WORKSTREAMS


programme being transferred, although a further call for presentations had been issued in October.


The DiMHN held a successful Digital Week of webinars in conjunction with Step Exhibitions in June, which attracted over 40 speakers and 600 attendees. Building on this, it had been agreed to hold a programme of webinars monthly until the 2021 conference.


A review suggested


Reporting next was Jonathan Campbell, the DiMHN’s ‘Partnerships’ Workstream lead, who explained that the Workstream’s activities had been severely disrupted by the pandemic. He added: “Following the good work undertaken over the last few years within the Marketing Workstream, it is suggested that the Partnership Workstream is reviewed with our marketing partners and Board of Directors, with a view to developing key objectives and performance indicators for the forthcoming year.”


International activity The next report, from International Workstream lead, Alex Caruso, began with him thanking Philip Ross and Tony Crumpton for their support and contributions. Highlights over the preceding year had included the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with SALUS Global Knowledge, via which the DiMHN will be SALUS’s European event partner for its European Healthcare Design Conference in 2021, while Alex Caruso had represented the Board on the ‘virtual’ European Healthcare Design Congress in September 2020, chairing the session, ‘Designing for mental health’, with contributions from Australia and the UK. Meanwhile, the Network’s collaboration with the International Academy of Design and Health continued to develop; during 2020 DiMHN had reciprocated an invitation to the Academy representatives from Italy to describe the ‘Italian experience’ at a DiMHN webinar held last April. An MOU similar to that in place with SALUS was under development. The International Workstream had hosted two webinars focusing on best working practice in the US, Australia, Italy and, New Zealand, exploring themes associated with pandemic healthcare design and sustainable design. Alex Caruso was also ‘delighted to confirm’ that, for the third year running, the Workstream had seen an upward trend in annual membership – from 15 in 2017, to 36 in 2019.


membership. The Workstream was also keen to ‘re-ignite’ the ‘People in Mind’ publication series for the 2021 DiMHN conference, while Professor Reavey and Trudi Beswick had also started thinking about developing some research projects in tandem with Caudwell Children.


Marketing activity


Jonathan Campbell, ‘Partnerships’ Workstream lead, said the Workstream’s activities had been severely disrupted by the pandemic.


Face-to-face research suspended Professor Paula Reavey, who leads the Research & Education Workstream, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic had severely disrupted its work, with any face- to-face research work suspended. She said: “The Workstream began working on a joint NAPICU project with Sheffield Health Authority, focusing on the impact of the environment on practices of seclusion and restraint. The associated data collection unfortunately had to be suspended, but we have had a Master’s student analysing the existing interviews, and she has successfully written up the project for her dissertation.” Data collection will resume when it is deemed safe by the university and the NHS. Other Workstream activities during 2020 had included connections made with architectural students at Imperial College London, for whom the Professor had agreed to record a short film on her perspective on psychologically informed environments and mental health. She and fellow Board director, Cath Lake, were also asked to judge some of the students’ design projects, while Professor Reavey and Professor Steve Brown from Nottingham University had initiated a collaborative project with a researcher from Copenhagen Business School, looking at how psychiatric environments are worked in and lived in, from the perspective of clinical staff and patients, the aim being to develop a number of publications which can be adapted to inform the DiMHN’s


The main aims were that the DiMHN be ‘recognised as a leading authority in all things mental health built environment’, and as ‘the go-to starting point’ for anyone designing a mental health environment, as well as to grow awareness and membership of the Design in Mental Health ‘brand’ among active stakeholders in mental health in the UK, Europe, and worldwide


THE NETWORK | JANUARY 2021


The final Workstream report – on Editorial & Marketing activity – was from Philip Ross, who explained that the DiMHN had worked with a marketing company, Plane Perspective, for many years, ‘making big improvements’ to its marketing, website, social media, and mailshots. In late 2019, however, the Board had issued a tender to ‘multiple marketing agencies’ to invite new ideas and approaches to growing the organisation’s reach and its key designer and stakeholder messages. The main aims were that the DiMHN be ‘recognised as a leading authority in all things mental health built environment’, and as ‘the go-to starting point’ for anyone designing a mental health environment, as well as to grow awareness and membership of the Design in Mental Health ‘brand’ among active stakeholders in mental health in the UK, Europe, and worldwide. ‘After much deliberation’, the DiMHN Board had selected Glasgow Marketing Agency as its new partner, based on its track record of working with other third- sector organisations on ‘outcome-led strategy’. The DiMHN had also identified another ‘partner’ to help on creative and design campaigns ad hoc – Something Big would be approached as the Network looked at ‘bigger redesign aspects’ of its website, with ‘big ambitions for the year ahead’ in making the website easier to navigate, and helping more people to access the DiMHN’s best practice content. All the Workstream reports presented were accepted.


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Alex Caruso, who leads the International Workstream, reported his part in a number of online events, and was ‘delighted’ that, for the third year running, the Workstream had seen an upward trend in annual membership.


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