Participatory research in mental health, drug and alcohol and social determinants of health
PROJECT LEAD
Associate Professor Jo River
About
Conjoint Associate Professor Jo River in Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Nursing at Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD) is nationally and internationally recognised for their leadership in participatory research in the fields of mental health, drug and alcohol and social determinants of health.
A/Prof River leads a program of research that has been developed in partnership with key stakeholders and people with lived (and living) experience – including people with lived experience of mental distress, alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, psychosocial disability, chronic illness, and social marginalisation.
They use community development principles and substantive participatory research methods, drawing on approaches such as co-production and co-design, to centre shared and equitable decision-making and continuous participation throughout all stages of the research process.
Impact
Associate Professor River was awarded the 2022 Deans Academic Excellence Social Justice and Equity UTS for participatory research with demonstrable social impact, and the 2021 Distilling Research Impact Award UTS, for an evidence-based model of research partnership, Raising the Bar, that builds the capacity of researchers to successfully partner with people with lived experience in research.
Jo has also been invited by lead agencies in the field of mental health and AOD to develop participatory research frameworks and fidelity criteria to build capacity in co-design and co-production research across the sector.
Their collaboratively developed Co-design Kickstarter (2023) and Co-production Kickstarter (2022) frameworks lay out approaches to participatory research that are evidence-based and consistent with calls from consumer and disability movements and have been used to evaluate the quality of co-design research, including grant applications, by lead agencies.
