Our story

The purpose of DATAMIND

Poor mental health affects almost everyone at some point in their lives, to varying degrees. It is the biggest cause of ill health. The links between physical and mental ill health, which go both ways, are often overlooked. People with mental illness are less likely to take part in or remain in usual types of research studies about physical or mental health, or they are actively excluded. This means that much of what we know about mental illness is not based on the very people who are worst affected. 

However, the UK has some of the best data in the world for looking at how to prevent mental illness and maintain or improve people’s mental health. Real-world data, often collected routinely as people go about their everyday lives, may be very helpful to overcome these problems. We should use it more, but at the moment these data sets are hard to find, applying to use them is tedious, and using them can be hard work. People working on physical health (like heart disease) and mental health also tend to work apart, without looking at the links or sharing their work. 

DATAMIND works to make best use of our rich mental health data and enable coordinated research. 

What DATAMIND does 

We want to improve people’s mental health by changing the way the NHS, charities, industry, and researchers use and share information that’s already out there. We have created a Hub where researchers and others can find and use mental health data, to benefit patients and the public and improve care. We work with patients and people with personal experience of mental illness to understand whom they trust to use their data, and to develop ways people can work together on mental health. We also work with researchers, policy makers, charities, and people in industry to understand what sort of data they think can answer their most important questions. We find, list, and share places where people do not usually look for mental health data, such as in trials about heart disease. 

Our work makes it easier for researchers committed to mental health to use data in safe, secure, and innovative new ways. Our Hub allows future research to happen using data from places outside usual health care settings—such as from schools or charities. 

Our work ensures everyone’s voice is heard—even those who do not usually take part in research. We work closely with others doing similar work across different specialisms, such as diabetes and heart disease, so we can understand the links and share experience. 

DATAMIND’s approach

Covering the four UK nations, our Hub makes the most of the UK’s rich mental health data to enable coordinated research, with the ultimate aim of improving lives. Transforming mental health research in the UK by providing a central, integrated data infrastructure with findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) mental health data sets. This means data from diverse sources, underpinned by expertise and innovation, by principles of responsible use, and by public participation, for use across universities, the NHS, the charitable sector, policy makers, and industry. 

In partnership with charity MQ: Transforming Mental Health, our hub supports the development of the public’s involvement in mental health research to ensure that valuable contributions are included from those with lived experience. Our hub also works alongside MQ to build capacity and strengthen expertise in this increasingly important area of research through the charity’s data science conferences and skills development workshops. 

We index and curate data across participating organisations for research, development, and innovation and continuously catalogue relevant UK data rich in mental health information. This includes gene studies, routine care, volunteer cohorts, and trials (often through the Catalogue of Mental Health Measures), as well as novel data from schools and charities. We allow researchers to datasets and use datasets, through the HDR UK Innovation Gateway. 

Core Hub Activity Areas

To achieve these objectives, we have focused on four core activity areas and have identified four challenge areas that have guided research.