Our current projects

At Careif we are working on a range of projects in the UK and around the world. These include running a variety of training workshops.

  • Working jointly with the Ethnic Inclusion Foundation, we have produced a report on Improving the Mental Health of South Asian populations in the United Kingdom.

    The report highlights the disparities, inequities and barriers in mental health and related provisions faced by South Asian communities and recommends a range of actions for improvements.

    Working with the Ethnic Inclusion Foundation we will influence change at national, local, and individual levels to improve the mental health of South Asian communities across the UK and showcase sustainable change.

    Download a copy of our report.

  • We are delighted to announce a project partnership between The Beth Johnson Foundation and Careif around supporting people with dementia in the UK and in India.

    This partnership project is based around developing a model of a “Dementia Friendly Village” in India. We aim to achieve this by empowering the immediate family and supporting carers through education, training, support and developing a bespoke model of care through community participation, inclusion and engagement. Mr Murali Nair, an accomplished film maker who is part of this collaborative project partnership will extend support in making a film with a group of people living with dementia at the Beth Johnson Foundation in Stoke on Trent, England and in Anandapuram Village in Kerala, India at a later date.

    Careif believes that such collaborative approaches demonstrate a willingness to share good practice in recognising the global impact of dementia on individuals and their family and friends, identifying important similarities and differences of cultural diversity.

    The Beth Johnson Foundation (BJF) is a registered charity which aims to amplify the voices of older people. They work to inform and influence the continuing dialogues around good practice as people age. They inform and support ageing communities through critically consolidating local, national and international evidence and good practice. They work alongside others to promote equality, welcome diversity, and ensure a creative approach to the constant innovation of service delivery. They aim to research, influence and promote a ‘whole life course’ approach, acting as a catalyst for new initiatives that build resilience and promote positive ageing, specifically through life’s challenges. They encourage people of all ages to connect, challenge stereotypes and engage with each other in new ways - for the benefit of all. Careif has been working towards this project partnership since November 2021.

  • A very successful training event for all the Therapeutic service staff at the Refugee Council was held on 30th March 2022. This was run by Professor Dinesh Bhugra with Professor Rachel Tribe chairing and assisting at the event. The training followed a request from the manager of the Therapeutic Services team, Ms Angelina Jalonen for such training. The topic was Cultural competency and therapeutic work. The training was attended by delegates from all over the country and was very well received and a request for further training and a longer term partnership with the Careif team has been requested.

  • We are now working on a scoping review of the mental health of Indo-Caribbeans in the UK.

    There is considerable research evidence that minority groups in the UK suffer from higher rates of various psychiatric disorders in the UK and elsewhere. Work in this area often ignores the within-group variations by homogenising the groups and obscuring the results for the smaller sub-groups. Indo-Caribbean populations living in the UK are one such group and presently little work has focused on Indo-Caribbean mental health.

    This Scoping Review will offer insights on the mental health of Indo-Caribbeans and what action might be needed to improve the mental health of this group of people. Part of the review will examine research findings from USA and Canada where there is a large Indo-Caribbean diaspora.

  • We are currently supporting the ATTUNE project led by Professor Kamaldeep Bhui (University of Oxford) and Professor Eunice Ma (Falmouth University). This project aims to provide an understanding the mechanisms and mental health impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences ACEs).

    An exciting aspect of the ATTUNE project is the bringing together of diverse creative-arts, digital and health experts to investigate how ACEs can affect adolescents' mental health and to develop new approaches to prevention and care. It aims to place young people's lived experience at the centre of learning, co-design and planning via creative arts and writing, performance, film, music and state-of-the-art games technology

  • A central mission of Careif is to share knowledge to change lives. One way in which we do this is by holding regular workshops and other events that bring together experts to share their expertise with people. These workshop events are typically held in association with one or more professional organisations.

    Training events in 2024 have included:

    2023

    One particular focus of 2023 was to run several free workshops on working with interpreters in mental health. These workshops have been run in partnership with the British Psychological Society (BPS), the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) and the Association of Community Interpreters (ACIS).

    Training events in 2023 have included: