The National Institute of Health Research’s (NIHR) Global Health Research Unit has awarded the University’s Warwick Medical School £1.5 million (almost $ 2 million) to work with this highly vulnerable and disadvantaged group. The award will be used to improve their health, well being and functioning.

In India psychosis is a leading cause of disability and affects between seven and eight million people. In the absence of adequate treatment and support many of them languish in long stay hospitals for years in appalling conditions or drift into homelessness and destitution. The research award aims to identify sufferers early and ensure that they regain their health and well being.

The grant has been made to the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Psychosis Outcomes: the Warwick-India-Canada {WIC} Network at the University of Warwick, which is led by Professor Swaran Singh along with partners in All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi; Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) Chennai, and Douglas Hospital, McGill University Montreal.

The three-year project will lead to evidence-informed interventions relevant to India, such as culturally appropriate interventions for families, raising standards of care, and using digital technologies to overcome infrastructure problems.

The University of Warwick is also receiving £5,686,767 from the NIHR Global Health Research Unit to find better ways of delivering healthcare to slum dwellers.

The long-term aims of the project include finding the best ways to deliver healthcare to people living in slums in Asia and Africa and then to persuade and work with politicians and other officials to make these changes.