Experts from the University of Nottingham, in conjunction with the Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (NIHR MH-TRC), will host the SAPC Mental Health Primary Care Conference 2026 on the 13 May on University Park in Nottingham.
The theme is providing better care for underserved communities in primary care mental health and is supported by the NIHR MH-TRC Mission, which is currently investing in improved research opportunities and mental health care for people in these communities.
Experts will be presenting cutting-edge research on mental health. People from communities who are often underrepresented and people with lived experience of mental illness will also attend the conference.
The conference comes at a pivotal time, as the UK Government's independent review into mental health conditions grapples with competing narratives to explain the rise in demand for mental health services and the need for a more effective response. Successive governments have promised to treat mental health on a par with physical health.
An estimated 90% of primary care patients have a mental health symptom, yet there is a lack of progress with scientifically proven treatments and pathways for mental illness in primary care, and several underserved communities do not receive mental healthcare and are excluded from scientific research. This means new scientific evidence is not always appropriate or effective for people from underserved communities.
Underserved communities may include - minoritised ethnicities, economically deprived areas, ex-industry communities, or areas of lower than average educational attainment. People who experience more than one barrier to healthcare can have especially poor experiences and outcomes, which is called intersectionality.
The keynote speaker, Professor Lucy Selman, will highlight how people in coastal communities are particularly affected by mental health inequalities, followed by a panel discussion of key themes, drawing on diverse disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. theology, humanities and psychiatry).
Dr Vibhore Prasad, NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award-funded Clinical Associate Professor in Primary Care at the University of Nottingham, is leading on the conference at Nottingham. He said: "Historically, funding for medical research has been spent unequally. Much research funding is spent in London and the south east. As a result, research is conducted with affluent white British communities and people from underserved communities have been missed.
"This mental health awareness week we hope to highlight how the University of Nottingham, Society for Academic Primary Care and the NIHR TRC-Misson can include communities. We also look forward to hosting an art exhibition at the heart of the conference to ensure we communicate with visual media as well as speaking, listening, reading and writing."
At the heart of the conference, the art exhibition 'Keys to Better Mental Health Care' will invite attendees to engage with creative expressions of lived experience of poor mental health and the healthcare system from underserved communities.
The exhibits, curated by Professor Heike Bartel from the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham, include: textile art on the topic of resilience and hope by young people in mental health crises (1); a tapestry with 'messages to my GP' created by an Arab women's community group (2); word-portraits of men who are living with an eating disorder - a serious condition that is often only associated with women and girls (3); and objects and texts that express untold stories of how food insecurity impacts communities experiencing homelessness and what food security means to them from a place of mental health, dignity, stability and resilience.
