I wondered if you can help spread the word on a research paper I'm writing on mental health and transport.
Inspired by the ground-breaking Mental Health & Transport Summit in 2016 which united and shone a spotlight on the two areas and on the impacts of mental health issues on both passengers and staff very powerfully, I am trying to make a difference in this area. The Summit was attended by operators across the bus, rail and aviation industries.
One in four people suffer from mental health issues in the UK, and one in six employees. In the public transport sector, mental health illnesses such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder can have crippling though ‘hidden’ impacts on staff in the industry and on passengers travelling on services. In some cases, passengers are prevented from travelling and even leaving the house at all.
My research paper, ‘Getting our heads around mental health in passenger transport’, aims to continue the debate from the Summit, spread awareness, gauge current levels of awareness, and identify what further steps can be taken to highlight and tackle the issues; what steps and support passengers and also staff need to make life ‘easier’; who is already doing good work in this field; what more needs to be and can be done to break down barriers for staff and passengers alike.
A core part of the research is gathering operator, provider and industry views in the bus, rail and aviation domains, and while my passenger survey has attracted a very positive response, responses to my operator survey below are a quarter of that amount.
It would be wonderful if you are able to encourage operators to take it as their views will go towards helping those one in four and one in six.
I will be presenting the findings of this paper at the Transport Practitioners' Meeting conference at the end of June in Nottingham, but beyond that I’ll be sharing them with passenger, industry and mental health stakeholders beyond the conference and will continue to build up as many survey responses beyond the end of May – when I need to submit my paper, so I can approach stakeholders and decision makers such as DfT with a compelling evidence base.
Crucially, more than words, this is about encouraging actual change where change is needed and also realistic.
The survey can be found at goo.gl/3CXPBI
Meera Rambissoon
Senior Consultant
