Research projects
We’ve been focused on mental health in the veterinary sector since 2015, through our Mind Matters Initiative (MMI). Through our research grants, we have helped contribute to this important field.
Learn more about funding opportunities and how to apply for a research grant.
Current projects
2025
The Veterinary Educator Training in Mental Health Integration and Nurse Development (VET-MIND)
The Mind Matters Initiative and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Veterinary Nursing Department jointly granted £40,000 to a project aiming to integrate mental health training into veterinary nursing education. The project is led by Dr Faye Didymus, Reader in Sport and Performance Psychology, and Dr Jackie Hargreaves, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, both of whom are based at the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University.
For further information about the study itself, please contact either Dr Hargreaves at [email protected], or Dr Didymus at [email protected]
Organisational interventions to support wellbeing in veterinary workplaces
The £15,000 Impact Grant has been awarded to Professor Elinor O’Connor from the University of Manchester, and Dr Kevin Teoh from Birkbeck, University of London. They will use the funding to fuel their project researching organisational interventions to support wellbeing in veterinary workplaces.
Reasonable adjustments in addressing mental health and neurodivergence for student veterinary nurses during clinical placement
The £5,000 Discovery Grant has been awarded to Dr Heather Imrie MRCVS, Dr Lauren Cooke MRCVS, Dr Gregory Steele MRCVS and Nicola-Jayne Johnson RVN, at Nottingham Trent University. As part of the research, they will explore the implementation of our new Embracing Reasonable Adjustments for Student Veterinary Nurses guidelines.
2024
Mental health, alcohol use behaviours and barriers to help seeking within UK veterinary practice: The MAB-VET study
We launched our new research grants programme in 2024, and awarded a £15,000 Impact Grant to Dr Jennifer Seddon, Dr Emma Davies and Olivia Cormier MRCVS at Oxford Brookes University. We are supporting their study into alcohol use behaviours and the barriers to seeking help for people working in UK veterinary practice.
For more information about the study, please contact Dr Seddon by emailing [email protected].
Previous projects
We have awarded six £20,000 grants through the Sarah Brown Research Grant from 2019 to 2023, helping advance research into mental health within the veterinary professions. Each evidence-based study builds on our growing understanding of veterinary mental health and helps find practical solutions for veterinary professionals. Previous research has explored diverse topics relevant to our profession. These include coping mechanisms for farm veterinarians, the impact of moral injury, and workplace challenges experienced by autistic veterinary professionals.
2023: Dr Faye Didymus and Dr Jackie Hargreaves, Leeds Beckett University - A deep dive into mental health education for student veterinary nurses
2022: Dr Katherine Wakelin, University of Surrey - An online compassionate imagery intervention to improve psychological wellbeing for veterinarians: A randomised control trial
2021: Dr Kirstie Pickles and Dr Brad Hill, University of Nottingham - Identifying and addressing workplace stressors for autistic veterinary professionals
2020: Dr Victoria Crossley, Royal Veterinary College and Dr Navaratnam Partheeban, British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society - Experiences of racism and its impacts on mental wellbeing in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people working and studying in the UK veterinary profession
2019: Dr Kate Stephen, Scotland's Rural College - How farm vets cope: An exploration of how vets cope with the daily challenges of farm animal practice and how best these coping mechanisms might be developed into tools which can be easily accessed by the livestock veterinary community