This thesis explores opportunities to improve the mental health support available to women who are single parents on low incomes who experience disproportionately high rates of mental health problems and multiple practical and perceptual barriers to mental healthcare. It responds to calls for research looking at how to maximise peer roles within health contexts in Scotland. Focusing on the concept of ‘task-sharing’, I consider the ways in which people with ‘lived experience’ (community health workers) have been recruited into health and social care systems to make mental health support more accessible, feasible and meaningful for marginalised groups. Given the emphasis on ‘community’, and the acknowledgment of broader contextual issues causing health inequalities, such approaches have been situated under a social model of health. This presents challenges within health settings which are underpinned by hierarchical staffing structures and continue to privilege biomedical knowledge. I argue that this has led to practices better described as ‘task-shifting’ due to the emphasis on ‘unburdening’ health professionals and limited opportunities for knowledge sharing.
Drawing on examples from the global literature, this thesis explores opportunities for people with lived experience to apply their knowledge and skills in new ways, namely, shaping the design and delivery of talk therapies. Working alongside a small group of women and wider stakeholders, this study addresses a gap in participatory research on the subject area which both centers lived experience and involves health professionals. Through a series of workshops, research participants drew on their experiential knowledge in critical discussions about the feasibility of concepts and tools within interpersonal counselling (IPC) and the place of peer support in its delivery. Findings point to the existence of knowledge hierarchies within the field of mental health that threaten to limit the transformative potential of ‘tasksharing’ and warrant further investigation.
| Date of Award | 21 Aug 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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| Sponsors | University of Strathclyde |
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| Supervisor | Neil Quinn (Supervisor), Alec Morton (Supervisor) & Gillian MacIntyre (Supervisor) |
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