Hugh Grosvenor, The Duke of Westminster, has donated £1 million towards the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 mental health research programmes. The gift will be made available through the Westminster Foundation to support work taking place in the Department of Psychiatry, which is at the forefront of mental health research in the UK.
Oxford is addressing a broad range of mental health issues arising from the pandemic, including isolation, confinement, uncertainty, anxiety, stress and the disconnection from our social, family and work lives. The effect of the pandemic on the mental well-being of children is of particular concern and interest to the Duke and the Westminster Foundation, which provides long-term support to vulnerable young people and families.
The University’s mental health researchers are developing diagnostic tools and crafting expert guidance for governments, schools, parents, medical professionals, therapists, carers and individuals. Oxford’s newly developed ‘Co-SPACE’ survey tool, for example, enables researchers to track children and young people’s mental health throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The results will help them identify what protects children and young people from deteriorating mental health over time, and at particular stress points, and how this may vary according to child and family characteristics. A team of psychiatrists and researchers are also developing a set of resources to help communicate parental illness and death to children.
Hugh Grosvenor says: ‘Mental health can affect anyone, anywhere, especially as this crisis presents new and difficult challenges to so many – whether that’s clinicians and key workers on the front line, grieving families, children struggling to understand social isolation, or anyone already suffering from anxiety or other mental health issues.
‘While the impact of this crisis is being felt immediately, the longer-term mental health impact of COVID-19 could potentially be devastating if not addressed. I am pleased to support Oxford University’s innovative and vital research programmes because they will benefit us all as the long-term effects of the virus become more apparent.’
John Geddes, Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, says: ‘We are enormously grateful for this generous gift, which will enable us to scale up our research projects into how COVID-19 is affecting young people’s mental health. I’m delighted how quickly and expertly our researchers have responded to this global threat. The pace of development means that funding them has been a challenge, and this donation is critically important.’