The Tuke Foundation was founded in 2020 by Dr. Anamaria Churchman and Danny Whittaker, inspired by a mutual interest in the interplay of mental health and social hardship, and the shared desire to create a credible organization dedicated to exploring alternative ideas and perspectives in mental health and social care.
Two Simple Questions…
Our goal at the Tuke Foundation is not to lionize a historical figure, nor to revive or romanticize the moral treatment movement of the 1800’s, but rather, in the spirit of Tuke himself, to cast a critical eye over the status-quo in mental health and social care – the string-pullers and shareholders, its standards and conventions – and ask two simple questions:
1. What are we doing wrong? 2. How can we do better?
Armed with answers to each of these questions, we get to work!
Whoever Needs It The Most
Ultimately our research is intended to work for the benefit of everybody! However, we are particularly interested in conducting research in communities where the risks of mental illness are the highest, and for whom access to mental health services are the most difficult.
At present our focus is on students, low income families, BAME communities, and people living in the most deprived areas of the UK.
We are also interested in addressing issues such as stress and dissatisfaction in both the workplace and education system.
Grassroots All The Way
A lot of mental health research is based on abstract theories and takes place in the sterile vacuum of university departments, the results of which are often not directly transferable to real world scenarios.
The fact is, local communities know better than anybody what projects and ideas will best serve their needs!
By consulting directly with residents and community leaders, our research is specifically designed to address the needs of the people who will benefit from its implementation.
Research projects that prove successful are then scaled-up and rolled-out as independent community initiatives under our guidance and supervision.
No Funny Business
Though it’s not often talked about, mental health research is littered with poor methodology and questionable research practices.
In 2011, a study by Leslie K. John at Harvard Business School found that 94% of researchers admitted to having engaged in at least one questionable research practice, including 62% excluding data after seeing how it affected the results, 42% failing to report all the study conditions, and 9%(!) of researchers outright fabricating research results.
At the WTRF we believe in failing forwards and promise to record and publish any and all negative outcomes with as much integrity and transparency as our successes.
To this end, all our research materials, results, and data sets are freely available to anyone who requests them.
The objects of the Company are to carry on activities which benefit the community and in particular (without limitation) to engage in innovative mental health research, education and community outreach projects with the aim of improving the standards of mental health care in communities where the risks of mental illness are the highest, and for whom access to mental health services are the most difficult or unaffordable.