Workplace Mental Health 2021

Wellcome are looking to commission up to 20 research teams to review the evidence behind individual promising approaches for preventing or addressing mental health problems in the workplace, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries.

Businesses all over the world are increasingly thinking about how they can most effectively support the mental health of their staff, even more so in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite growing interest and investment in workplace mental health, we still have so much to learn about what works. 

In 2020, Wellcome asked ten global research teams to review the evidence behind a sample of promising approaches for preventing anxiety and depression in the workplace, focusing on younger workers. The research spanned a broad range of approaches ranging from employee autonomy to breaking up excessive sitting to financial wellbeing interventions. You can read a summary of the findings from this commission on our website.   

Now we are looking to commission up to 20 research teams to review the evidence behind other individual promising approaches for preventing or addressing mental health problems in the workplace. This time we are broadening the scope to consider workers of all ages and wider mental health problems and we’re asking research teams to involve people with lived experience of mental health problems in the workplace throughout their projects.  

We are particularly interested in approaches for supporting workers in low- and middle-income countries and it is our intention to commission at least five projects where the Lead is based in a low-income or middle-income country. We are also especially interested in research focused on supporting those who may be underrepresented and/or experiencing inequalities and discrimination in the workforce. 

The commission will take place between October 2021 and March 2022 and the deadline for submitting an expression of interest is 12:00 BST on Monday 28 June. 

For full details, read our Request for Proposals. 

If you’ve got questions about the RFP, you can submit questions via email to workplacementalhealth@wellcome.org by 17:00 BST on Friday 4 June.

If you want to find out more, register for our free webinar on Thursday 17 June, 12:30 – 14:00 BST.  

Anyone who is interested to apply will need to complete an Expression of Interest Form by 12:00 BST on Monday 28 June.