The University of Salford has received a share of £33,500 funding to research ideas aimed at improving the mental health of male carers and their children.
The award is part of The Ideas Fund grants programme run by the British Science Association and funded by the Wellcome Trust. It enables the UK public to develop and try out ideas that address problems related to mental wellbeing by working with researchers.
The project will see the university work to co-create a research project with local community partners. Researchers will be working with Oldham-based organisation Men Behaving Dadly. Additional project partners are Oldham Play Action Group and Greenacres Community Centre.
The project will work alongside the community to co-create approaches to explore the role that play has in relation to mental wellbeing of dads and male carers. Researchers will seek to understand how to maximise the positive impact of play on children’s lives and boost their sense of mental wellbeing, helping to prevent mental health issues.
Dr Robert Bendall, Lecturer in Psychology and lead researcher for the project, said: “I am delighted to be collaborating with Men Behaving Dadly within an authentic community-researcher partnership. We hope that this co-created project will deliver positive real-world impact for families and more broadly across local communities.”
