5 minutes with Ruth Wadman

What is your role within YH ARC?

Mental and Physical Multimorbidity (MPM) Theme Manager

What’s your background?

I am a research psychologist with a focus on youth mental health. I have expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and I’m passionate about involving people meaningfully in the research process. I joined the Mental Health and Addiction Research Group at the University of York in 2017, as a Research Fellow and Theme Manager for the CLAHRC Mental Health and Co-Morbidities theme. Prior to this, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Durham University and the University of Nottingham.

What current YH ARC projects are you working on?

I am supporting The Closing the Gap: Health and Wellbeing Cohort (CTG:HWB Cohort). This is a unique national cohort study looking at lifestyle and physical health in people with severe mental ill health. I have also been setting up the youth version of this study – the CtG Youth Study, which will benchmark current health-related behaviours in young people with severe mental ill health and hopefully provide a platform for future research with this population.

Ruth Wadman

What are you most excited about in YH ARC?

Two things:

  • Firstly, that our theme is starting to focus on younger people with severe mental ill health. Most serious mental health problems develop before the age of 25, so this is a really important group for early intervention to improve health and wellbeing.

  • Secondly, our theme is expanding into a new area focused on the natural environment and improving mental health. I’m really interested to see where this work leads us.

What 3 things inspire you?

My family, music and the North Yorkshire coast and moors.