The award, from NIHR’s Research for Patient Benefit programme, will fund a feasibility study to assess how well the programme works for children and young people in a number of hospitals, exploring which aspects are positively received and any areas for improvement.
Professor Vicky Karkou, director of Edge Hill’s Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, will lead the study in collaboration with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and the Universities of Salford, Liverpool and Greenwich.
Professor Karkou said: “Many children and young people need mental health support but they do not receive the right support at the right time.
“We know that creative therapies can support relationships and improve young people’s wellbeing but they are not fully used yet.
“We also know that children and young people have a real interest in using creative approaches to support their mental health.
“Given how important this area is, we want to develop and test the impact of creative therapies on mental health carefully through high quality research.”
The results of the study will be shared publicly and, if positive, there is scope to carry out a larger study to explore providing wider access to the programme.
Dr Roshelle Ramkisson, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and joint principal investigator, said: “Exploring the feasibility of a creative intervention in child and adolescent mental health services will lay the groundwork for future research in services.
“As a clinician, this is game changing, it opens a pathway to reach our most vulnerable children through means beyond talking. Creativity in the arts is a rigorous, compassionate medium for connection, healing and measurable change.”
Dr Ashish Kumar, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Clinical Director for children and young people’s mental health services (CYPMHS) at Mersey Care and co-lead for child and adolescent digital mental health research at the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC), said: “There’s been a lack of therapy options for children and young people with mental health issues, behavioural difficulties and neurodiversity.
“NICE guidelines indicate that additional therapy options should be considered for children and young people with mental health issues. Arts for the Blues is a great research initiative for children and young people, and clinicians working with young people, and offers them important alternative ways to get help and get better with their mental health difficulties.
“I congratulate the research team for making this happen and wish them the best with the hard work they will be doing in coming months to implement this research in our children and young people’s mental health services.”
The award is the latest in a series of major external investment in Edge Hill, reinforcing the University’s reputation as an emerging hub for health research and innovation. Previous achievements include:
- the Arts4Us project, a £2.5 million investment from UKRI, which constitutes the largest study in the UK in the use of the arts and arts therapies to support children’s mental health;
- the NIHR-funded £2.5 million Mental Health Leadership Award which attracted significant new clinical academic talent to the region and strengthened the University’s research expertise in the mental health of children and young people;
- the NIHR-funded project to develop e-Arts-for-the-Blues, a first of its kind digital creative therapy platform for children referred to mental health services;
- an NIHR award of £500,000 for the social work department to support deprived coastal communities.
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November 28, 2025
