Background
Mental health difficulties affect up to one in four women during pregnancy and after birth. Specialist Perinatal Mental Health (SPMH) services are increasingly offering nature-based activities such as walking groups, outdoor wellbeing programmes and mindfulness in nature to support recovery and wellbeing. However, these services are currently developed and delivered in different ways across the country, with little guidance on how they should be implemented, governed or evaluated. As a result, access and quality can vary depending on where people live.
This project aims to develop practical, evidence-informed guidance to help NHS services provide safe, equitable and consistent nature-based support.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the study is to co-design an equitable, evidence-informed service model for delivering nature-based approaches within Specialist Perinatal Mental Health services.
The objectives are to:
- Explore how nature-based support is currently delivered within Specialist Perinatal Mental Health services.
- Identify barriers and facilitators to participation, implementation and equitable access.
- Work with women, families, clinicians, service leaders and nature-based providers to co-design a model of good practice.
- Develop implementation, governance, accessibility and evaluation guidance for NHS services.
- Create a roadmap for future feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness evaluation.
- Methods
- The study will use a co-production approach, involving women with lived experience, parent representatives, clinicians, commissioners, service leaders and nature-based providers throughout the research process.
Researchers will:
- Map current nature-based provision within Specialist Perinatal Mental Health services.
- Explore experiences of care and identify barriers and facilitators to engagement.
- Use a co-design process based on the Double Diamond methodology to develop and refine a Nature-Based Specialist Care Model.
- Co-produce implementation resources, governance guidance, workforce recommendations and evaluation frameworks.
- Conduct an Equity Impact Assessment to ensure the final model promotes inclusion and does not widen health inequalities.
Further Information
The primary output will be a co-produced, evidence-informed Nature-Based Specialist Care Model for NHS Specialist Perinatal Mental Health services. The model will be supported by an implementation package including governance and safety resources, accessibility and inclusion standards, workforce competency recommendations, referral pathway guidance and an evaluation framework.
The project is led by Dr Hannah Armitt and Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe, working with partners including Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, University of York and regional Specialist Perinatal Mental Health services.
The research sits within the Healthy Families theme, with a focus on Pregnancy and Early Years, and has cross-cutting links to Implementation and Health Economics.
The project aligns with NHS priorities around prevention, community-based care, reducing health inequalities, personalised care and improving perinatal mental health services. It is expected to improve consistency in service delivery, increase equitable access to nature-based support and provide the foundation for future national evaluation and implementation