‘The SixP sustainability framework for outdoor mental health services and interventions’: a qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives of sustainability

Abstract

The rapid growth of outdoor mental interventions presents a number of challenges for sustainable impact and benefits. A key need is building research that recognises different contexts to developing practices, but also enables the voices of those that take part in interventions to inform best practice frameworks. Given this, research was undertaken to develop a set of ‘Indicators of Sustainability’ applicable to outdoor mental health interventions. This was supported with a research grant from a national UK mental health research network, 'The MARCH Network' funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the 2018 Cross-Council Mental Health Plus Call. A qualitative research approach was adopted examining the processes and factors affecting ethical, effective, and equitable delivery in different types of outdoor mental health practices, across a continuum of mental health. This included in-depth interviews (n=23) with delivery stakeholders and intervention participants across different outdoor mental health practices. Through an iterative process of data analysis and refinement, a framework incorporating key stakeholder-defined domains of sustainability emerged, and is titled ‘The SixP Sustainability Framework for Outdoor Mental Health Services and Interventions’ (Richards & Fullam, 2021). This presentation will consider the research findings that underpin this framework, identifying core factors that are deemed important from different stakeholder perspectives. This will raise critical questions in terms of both future research directions and practice considerations for sustainable outdoor approaches for mental health benefit