First national #ARCseminar series concludes with hundreds of attendees

14 September 2023

The NIHR ARCs launched their first national webinar series (#ARCseminar) this year. ‘Mental health in our modern world’, a cross-ARC series of three lunchtime webinars ran in May, June and July 2023 and looked at mental health in the context of some of the most topical themes of our times.

NIHR ARCs are the network of 15 NIHR Applied Research Collaborations funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). ARCs are a research service close to the beating heart of health and social care and support applied health and care research across the country.

Since starting nearly four years ago, ARCs have engaged in over 400 mental health projects.

These events brought together researchers from different ARCs to showcase a small selection of the varied topical mental health-related work the ARCs are engaged in.

The webinar series was very well-received and was attended live by almost 600 people overall.

The number of attendees increased with each webinar, going from just over 100 people at the first event to just over 200 people at the second event, with the final webinar bringing together almost 300 people.

The audience was widely spread across the country, mostly England, with a few from other UK countries and a couple of attendees from outside the UK, as far as Brazil and Australia.

Most attendees were researchers or health and social care professionals.
Other audience members included public contributors, voluntary sector organisations, communicators, local authorities and Integrated Care System (ICS) commissioners.

Only 28.1% of the 57 attendees surveyed across the three events were affiliated with NIHR ARCs. Moreover, 52.6% were neither affiliated with ARCs nor the NIHR more generally. This demonstrates that ARC research is of interest to a wider audience, including and beyond our infrastructure.

The first series of national ARC webinars was a success, both in terms of attendance but also in terms of feedback received. Most attendees who were surveyed said they would be ‘Very likely’ to recommend the event attended to colleagues.

We received plenty of positive feedback praising the content, topics, variety and speakers. Many found the seminars very interesting and informative as well as useful and applicable to their work. Many found the seminars engaging and enjoyed the short talk format and the Q&A element.

“I liked the fact it was short and concise, but so informative” – said one attendee.

Catch up

Did you miss the event this year and would like to catch up?
A summary and a recording are now available for each of the three events.

Climate change protesters hold up umbrellas inscribed with the words: "Climate, Crisis, Act Now" and "Grief, Hope, Feel, Live".

17 May 2023 #ARCseminar: Mental health and world crises

The first webinar of the series explored: Mental health and world crises. Three short talks covered research looking at mental health in the context of pollution, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. It was chaired by Prof Colin Drummond of ARC South London who leads the cross-ARC Mental Health Implementation Network (MHIN).

“Excellent presentations – just the right length for each, all on a common theme.” – Event attendee

“The presentations were topical and provided new knowledge” – Event attendee

“Understanding that mental and physical health are affected by adverse events ie pollution, climate change and stress” – Event attendee

People placing their hands together forming a star shape.

21 June 2023 #ARCseminar: Mental health and social inclusion

The second webinar of the series was on: Mental health and social inclusion. Three short talks covered research looking at mental health in the context of ethnicity, migration and homelessness. This webinar was chaired by Prof Emily Oliver who co-leads the Mental Health special interest group at ARC North East and North Cumbria.

“The varied topics covered within the social inclusion bracket and how the presenters expressed the views of the service users/the public to help generate a good share of information and an inspiration to meet the requests of those who need mental health services!” – Event attendee

“Chair and presenters were excellent. Ample time for questions and discussions.” – Event attendee

“Different strategies to support mental health in different groups” – Event attendee

Child writing and reading at a desk.

12 July 2023 #ARCseminar: Young people’s mental health

In the third and final webinar of the series, we explored: Young people’s mental health. Three short talks covered research looking at children and young people’s mental health in the context of social media, parent-led CBT and gathering new research ideas from those with lived experience. This webinar was chaired by ARC East of England‘s Prof Tamsin Ford, CBE.

“Dealing with important and relevant, and much needed research in a clear way that could help patients, parents in difficult situations” – Event attendee

“Three very interesting and pertinent talks” – Event attendee

“Interesting, varied, topical and pertinent to clinical practice.” – Event attendee

Future #ARCseminar series

The first series of national ARC webinars was a success, both in terms of qualitative and quantitative feedback received and also in terms of attendance.
Thus, to continue raising awareness of the varied topical research ARCs deliver and to continue bringing ARCs from across the country together, we are keen to consider producing a future #ARCseminar series for 2024.
This next series will aim to explore health and care inequalities.

Stay in touch

Be the first to hear about the next #ARCseminar series by following @NIHRARCs on Twitter and Eventbrite.

For more information and to find your local ARC, see the NIHR ARCs website, and join the monthly national NIHR ARCs newsletter.