Driving change in mental health: UCL research in action

Working closely with practitioners, industry partners and communities, UCL is advancing new approaches to understanding and improving mental health across different settings and populations. 

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 (11–17 May), themed ‘Action’, UCL is showcasing its Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing through four new impact case studies, highlighting how research is making a tangible difference at global, national and local levels. 

These projects bring together expertise from across disciplines, translating research into real-world impact and demonstrating how collaborative approaches can drive meaningful change in mental health—both today and in the years ahead.  

Here, we explore UCL’s real-world impact and the crucial role of community in providing belonging, safety and support for those in need…  

Music and art convey experiences of young people with Parkinson’s 

An innovative new project brought together young people living with Parkinson’s to co-create art and music, unlocking new forms of expression, creativity, and community, while supporting their mental health and wellbeing. 

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The Graphic Scores project invited people with Parkinson’s to use artistic expression to convey what it’s like to live with the condition. 

Researcher Dr Harry Costello (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) explained: “People have this understanding that Parkinson’s only affect movement, so it only manifests in these motor symptoms, whereas we know this is a complex neuropsychiatric condition where mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can often occur.”  

Study participant Katy O’Malley discussed the challenges of conveying her experiences with young-onset Parkinson’s: “You’re carrying around a heavy weight with you as you gradually become more disabled. That’s very hard to explain to people. 

“This project, using art and music, was able to convey that in a way which is very hard to do using just words.” 

Across four workshops, people living with Parkinson’s worked closely with UCL academics and Alison Cartier, an artist and project co-lead, to translate their experiences into visual images, using a variety of art materials as they were encouraged to explore what they could hear and interpret with art and music, to represent symptoms such as muscle spasms or brain fog, but also emotions such as hope. The team then developed a graphic score, a visual representation of music not using classical music notation. Once the participants were happy with it, the music was performed at a concert in London. 

Participant Katy O’Malley said: “I found that the music in particular sparked conversations that were quite sensitive and emotive and deeply personal, but in a way that was not obtrusive and just happened naturally. I had a real sense of ownership of the piece.” 

“Project co-lead Dr Jennifer Foley (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said: “The participants tell us that is has improved their sense of connection with other people, not only in the group but also outside of the group. They felt they were able to be seen perhaps for the first time, and that there’s an ongoing legacy to the project that continues to tell people what it’s like to live with young onset Parkinson’s.” 

To further the impact of the project, the UCL team plan to expand the project and partner with routine clinical practice.  

How caregiving can support the mental health of care-experienced young people 

People who have spent time in the care of the state during their childhood are disproportionately affected by mental health challenges throughout their life course, with studies showing that care-experienced young people are around five times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition.  

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Care-experienced young people are people who have spent time in the care of the state (sometimes called 'local authority') before they turned 18 - normally because they have not been able to live safely or consistently with their birth family. 

Dr Eva Sprecher (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) and Dr Veena Meetoo (UCL Social Research Institute) believe that poor mental health outcomes fore care-experienced people are not inevitable. They sought to learn about how care-experienced people’s relationships with their caregivers influence their mental health. 

In research workshops, diverse care-experienced people generously shared their own experiences and reflected on what qualities make a supportive and nurturing caregiver.  The researchers identified that caregiving is experienced differently by different groups, including those from minoritised ethnicities and sexual identities, an neurodiverse backgrounds , who can face additional challenges. 

“Dr Veena Meetoo said: “The young Black people we spoke to talked about how being a young Black person in care can come with challenges around hair care, food, carers understanding the discrimination they may face and responding to racism.”  

The project team highlighted how strong relationships with caregivers and long-term networks of care can support the life-long wellbeing and mental health of care-experienced people. They also stress how important it is for caregivers to be curious and open to caring for all parts of a care-experienced person’s identity. 

“One participant said: “Because at the end of the day as a carer you’re meant to be trying to help the young person solve themselves, [...] be the handbook, the guide. And when you are that you have such a vital part and role to play and that does go far in just building their identity.”

Dr Eva Sprecher said: “Ultimately, what we want is to develop guidelines of what care needs to look like for care-experienced people, what supports need to be in place, and training for the people who are offering that support.” 

Exploring student lifestyle and mental wellbeing with wearable tech 

University students can often experience a decline in physical activity as they balance academic responsibilities, employment and living alone for the first time, all of which can have an impact on their mental health. 

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Dr Flaminia Ronca, Dr Evie Watson (both Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health), and Katie Sykes (Students’ Union) recognised these challenges and launched a research project exploring how small lifestyle changs can improve stress and mental wellbeing in UCL students. 

The research team ran an eight-week physical activity intervention using wearable technology to monitor activity and better understand the relationship between exercise, sleep, stress, cognition and mental wellbeing. Participants were given Garmin watches that track activity, heart rate variability, sleep quality and circadian patterns. Researchers used these metrics to analyse how exercising first thing in the morning, four times a week affects wellbeing and sleeping patterns. 

“Dr Flaminia Ronca said: “The university years are a fantastic time of development. Even though we are here to transmit knowledge to our students, we’re also here to help them develop holistically, and wellbeing comes into this.” 

The project draws on expertise from cognitive neuroscience, sport science and student wellbeing support, reflecting the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to complex challenges in society. The study’s initial findings suggest that students who fully engaged in the intervention saw a positive shift in their circadian rhythms towards better morning outcomes; and those who were more prone to feeling anxious saw a significant reduction in stress at the end of the study. Personality traits and motivational profiles shaped how students engaged in the activities offered, providing useful insights for the development of future tailored approaches. While the team still works through the data recently collected, they are encouraged by the positive outcomes and are considering how to apply learnings from this study for future interventions that engage those who can benefit the most.  

Katie Sykes said: “What’s great about the Active Minds programme is being able to connect the research feeding directly into our programme delivery to hopefully get more UCL students active and have them benefit from the research while they’re studying here.” 

The researchers hope their findings will help shape future university policy and guidance around physical activity and student wellbeing, to ensure students are supported both physically and mentally throughout their time at university. 

NeuroArchitecture: Understanding how the built environment affects our brains 

How people’s mental health, productivity and creativity are influenced by the spaces they inhabit is being investigated by researchers at UCL. 

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Led by Professor Hugo Spiers (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) and Dr Fiona Zisch (UCL Bartlett School of Architecture), and in collaboration with industry advisors from Autodesk, Buro Happold, Foster + Partners, Oliver Heath Design, and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), the team is setting up an experiment in UCL workspaces to better understand how built environments affect the way people live and work.

In these controlled workspace environments, the researchers can adjust conditions within them, including the sound of the space, changes in lighting and presence of plants around the office. Over a four-week test period, they’ll track how UCL staff participants work and respond to the differing conditions, and how it compares to participants working in similar control setting. 

“Professor Spiers said: “Although we can build amazing buildings now, we lack a lot of information about the people within the spaces. How do they feel and how does the space help them do their job, be creative, solve problems, but also, crucially, their mental health.” 

How participants feel about their working environment will be revealed by questionnaires and surveys, while motion detectors and wearable sensors will track behaviour, movement and the conditions they experience. An Electroencephalogram (EEG) will also be used in some cases to directly measure participants’ brain activity. This is complemented by a suite of environmental sensors and spatial measures.

Dr Zisch said: “Architecture has a longstanding tradition in being interested in human experience in space, and you can make an argument that this goes back through the millennia. Over the last few decades we’ve really seen an acceleration, not just in interest, but also in the type of work that can be undertaken, and crucially the intersection with science.” 

Ultimately, the team hopes to develop a general approach to living lab studies and protocols examining how people engage with their workspaces, so future offices can be better designed and allow employees to be healthy and successful.

Links

• Dr Harry Costello's academic profile
• Dr Jennifer Foley's academic profile
• Dr Eva Sprecher's academic profile
• Dr Veena Meetoo's academic profile
• Dr Flaminia Ronca's academic profile
• Professor Hugo Spiers's academic profile
• Dr Fiona Zisch's academic profile
• UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
• UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences
• UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
• UCL Psychology and Language Sciences
• UCL Social Research Institute
• UCL Institute of Education
• UCL Surgery & Interventional Science
• UCL Medical Sciences
• UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
• UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
• UCL Grand Challenges

Images

• Credit: Sam Robinson / UCL

Media Contact

Michael Lucibella

E: m.lucibella [at] ucl.ac.uk