PIECEs - Small Scale Research Grant Showcase: Two-session Online Event, Celebrating Innovation in Community-Based Mental Health Research

​Join Us to Learn, Share & Celebrate 10 Mental Health Research Projects from Across the Region.

​​📅 Dates:
Session 1: 6th August 2025 (Wed) at 12pm-1:30pm UK/ 4pm PK 4:30pm IN
Session 2: 7th August 2025 (Thu) at 12pm-1:30pm UK/ 4pm PK /4:30pm IN
🌐 Online via Zoom Platform: https://qmul-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/86574690407

​​What’s Happening?

​​We’re delighted to host a dynamic two-session online knowledge exchange, bringing together 10 pioneering early career research projects funded under the PIECEs Small Scale Research Grant (SSRG) from Pakistan and India. The event is a celebration of learning, collaboration, and vision for inclusive, community-rooted approaches to psychosis care and mental health system transformation.

​​ What to Expect:

• ​​Presentations from 10 selected SSRG projects across India and Pakistan across the two sessions

• ​​Reflections on lived experience, ethics, and community-led engagement

• ​​Learnings and plans for the future

​​🇮🇳 Featured Projects from India

1. ​​Using Photovoice to Empower Persons with Psychosis
   Project Lead: Kasthuri Divya G.
   Piloting the photovoice method in a service user population at SCARF to evaluate its impact as a participatory tool for lived experience documentation and empowerment.

2. ​​Acceptability and Feasibility of UPSIDES Peer Support Model
   Project Lead: Ms. Sonia Sims
   Exploring the peer support volunteer model in a new setting to understand implementation barriers, cultural adaptability, and integration potential.

3. ​​ADEPT Project – Of the People, For the People, By the People
   Leads: Priyadharshni B, Krishna Priya K, Jagadeesan Settu, Amritha P, Greeshma Mohan, Vijaya Raghavan
   Developing an advisory board manual for early psychosis services using participatory action research with people with lived experience and caregivers.

4. ​​Theatre of the Oppressed for People with Psychosis
   Project Lead: Manikandan Pari
   Employing community-based theatre to help persons with psychosis express, reflect, and advocate using the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology.

5. ​​Operational Research to Evaluate 'Namma Area'
   Project Lead: Dr (Major) Karthikeyan P R
   Assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of a unique community hangout space for people with mental illness using RE-AIM and PRISM frameworks.

​​🇵🇰 Selected Projects from Pakistan

​​From over 100 applications across 26 cities, six standout projects have been selected to receive funding, mentorship, and capacity support under the SSRG programme. [Full descriptions & images to be shared during the event!]

​​1.     Identification and Early Referral of First Episode Psychosis in Pakistan
Lead Organization: Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning (PILL), Karachi
A community-based capacity-building initiative to train primary care physicians, teachers, and traditional healers in the identification and referral of individuals with first episode psychosis.

​​2.     Community Preparedness for Mitigation of Suicide and Depression
Lead Organization: Khyber Medical College, Peshawar
Focused on building community resilience in Chitral (KPK), this project addresses suicidal behavior, ideation, and depression through community education and support strategies in a high-risk region.

​​3.     Psychoeducation for Patient and Carer Empowerment
Lead Organization: Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore
A structured psychoeducation program aimed at improving mental health outcomes and engagement for both patients and caregivers.

​​4.     Improving the Mental Well-being of Women Prisoners through Group Art Therapy
Lead Organization: Legal Aid Office – Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners, Karachi
This project brings group art therapy into the Central Prison Karachi to enhance emotional well-being and self-expression among incarcerated women.

​​5.     Takhleeq: Exploring Arts-Based Pathways to Psychosis Care
Lead Organization: IRD Pakistan, Karachi
A pilot initiative to assess the efficacy of arts-based therapeutic techniques in improving care pathways for individuals living with psychosis.

​​6.     Mental Health Support for Flood Affectees in Sindh
Lead Organization: IRD Pakistan, Karachi
This project delivers targeted mental health support to communities affected by climate-related displacement and trauma in flood-hit areas of Sindh.

​​About the SSRG Programme

​​The PIECEs Small Scale Research Grant is an initiative under the PIECEs Program – Improving community-based care for people with psychosis in Pakistan and India through community-based care. Funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through the RIGHT Programme, SSRG supports early-career researchers, practitioners, and advocates working in mental health, arts, and community engagement.

​​*This research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) via its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation (RIGHT) programme. Grant number NIHR200824, using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.