RES-WELL

Developing a toolkit for RESearcher WELLbeing to support principal investigators and their funders on ethically and emotionally challenging research topics

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought mental health and wellbeing to the forefront of working lives. As researchers working on sensitive and often emotionally charged topics, we recognise that the emotional burden of our work has in many ways been compounded by the pandemic. Although vicarious trauma – the negative emotional reaction to being exposed to the traumatic experiences of others – has long been a concern for other professions (social work, law, medicine and psychology), there is currently a dearth of tools available to support the mental health and wellbeing of researchers.

The aim of the project is to develop a toolkit for principal investigators and funders to revision the types of support needed for the mental health and wellbeing of research teams working on emotionally or ethically challenging topics, including violence and abuse, climate change, poor mental health, severe depression, suicide, death, incarceration. We will create a toolkit that will be useful for a wide range of funders and PIs from different disciplines and UK research institutions to i) support the mental health and wellbeing of their teams as part of their current projects, and ii) develop the connections and skills in order to lead a culture change that prioritises the mental health and wellbeing of diverse research teams.

We will develop the toolkit by:

Reviewing existing resources and tools available to support researcher wellbeing in the UK and internationally
Conducting an online survey with a cohort of future research leaders from multiple disciplines funded by the UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowship scheme who are working on sensitive topics and their teams
Widespread consultation on the draft toolkit through expert and existing researcher networks
Piloting the toolkit with researchers through 4 practical workshops on (1) secondary trauma, (2) safeguarding the researcher provided in partnership with Body&Soul
International co-production through a hybrid (online and in-person) workshop event

We are committed to building connections to existing and new networks and funders throughout the project to ensure a comprehensive implementation strategy.