Coastal and Rural Mental Health Realist Study (CARMHRS): what works, for whom, in what circumstances, how and why?

Solving the problems that people in rural and coastal areas face when trying to get mental health support and looking at how services are provided. Problems include not enough services, transportation issues, poor internet connections. People in these areas also have challenges like floods and economic problems that can affect their mental health. We aim to find ways to make mental health services better by looking at different plans being used to improve mental healthcare in three rural and/or coastal areas (Lincolnshire, Cornwall and North East and North Cumbria). We will work with local communities to produce a guide to help other rural and coastal places improve their services. The goal is to make mental healthcare better for everyone, no matter where they live. We will seek to find out what is happening, undertaking qualitative research, which involves talking to local NHS staff and people in communities and understanding their experience of mental health care. We will also look at differences between places and how this affects mental healthcare. Data will be collected around what is currently happening and this will help us to build ideas around improving access. Once we understand what seems to work, we will refine these ideas by collecting more data. Our goal is to see if the plans work in real-life situations. We will bring together everything we’ve learned to create a guide for anyone looking to improve mental healthcare access and quality in rural and coastal areas. This will work towards improving mental healthcare in rural and coastal areas. Once the guide is ready, we plan to share it through networks across England and on social media. We've talked about what we want to do with important organisations, and they are looking forward to sharing the research findings and guide.