Safeguarding people with mental heath issues or learning disabilities during contact with the police (360G-Wellcome-210293_Z_18_Z)

People with mental health issues account for approximately 20-40% of police time and a substantial proportion of deaths in police custody. However, police forces are still struggling to identify interventions to better safeguard the welfare and lives of the mentally vulnerable. Using four Wellcome Library archives as a starting point, this project will develop a much needed evidence-base for understanding (i) how these health issues have come to dominate police time, (ii) what barriers exist for better police-health partnerships and, (iii) how to overcome them. The literature is patchy and highly dispersed, with even less research on safeguarding people with the closely related issue of learning disabilities. This project will take place at a time when national government, police forces and local health trusts are keen to develop more integrated services but face considerable barriers to making them successful. Therefore, this project is timely and will enhance our understanding about why progress is frustrating slow, improve decision-making, and identify conceptual black-holes for future inquiry. Recommendations will be developed and some will be tested for a subsequent, major grant application to the Wellcome Trust in collaboration with at least two police forces and their health trusts.