An exploration of the experience of women with mental and physical health issues

Aim: To explore the experience of physical health issues in women with mental distress, in order to support best practice and improved care.

Rationale: Attempts to improve the physical health care of people with mental health difficulties are ongoing, with women’s experiences within this field frequently overlooked and underserved. The study’s focus is gender-specific in order to better understand women’s experiences and to contribute to improved practice in this area.

Objectives:
- To understand if and when women with mental health issues seek help for their physical health concerns
- To explore what their experience of accessing and receiving support for those physical health needs are.

Methodology: This is phenomenological research shaped by a service user advisory panel and working from a feminist, activist standpoint using coproduced focus groups and an online survey disseminated via social media to facilitate open participation.

Conclusions: The knowledge jointly created from this coproduced project demonstrates that women from marginalised communities are able to come together to voice their concerns and demonstrate their strength in challenging orthodox thinking around complex practice issues

Recommendations: More self-referral pathways are needed to a broader range of primary care health staff. Radical innovation is required around the processes for raising concerns and supporting women’s health. Lastly service users need to commission projects that meet their needs and requirements and research bodies should reward innovation in coproduction and activist work.