Placing Survivor Wellbeing on the Policy and Evidence Map

This project will update the evidence base on survivors' access to psychological recovery assistance. Under law, survivors of modern slavery are entitled to assistance with 'psychological recovery.' In 2013, the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group reported that survivors were not receiving their entitlement. Eight years later, we will examine if that gap still remains and the impact of any remaining gap on the psychological recovery of survivors. In so doing, we will test, implement and evaluate a new process for engaging and collaborating with survivors as peer-researchers-towards increasing the capacity and capability of the anti-slavery research effort, and positively impacting the wellbeing of the collaborating survivors.

UK law does not define psychological recovery and provides little guidance as to the appropriate minimum level of psychological assistance. Developed from mental health service users and activists, Anthony (1993) define recovery as "as a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills, and/or roles... a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by illness." This project focus on mental wellbeing as an element of recovery-a term is often used interchangeably with the term mental health. There is no consensus regarding the definition of either but for the purpose of this study, we use the World Health Organisation's definition of mental health: "a state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community" (WHO, 2001). In this definition, wellbeing is an indicator for mental health and shares similar components to recovery. The current literature on survivors of slavery does not provide data on wellbeing; rather it provides data on mental illness and defines mental health as the absence of illness. We instead operate from a definition that includes the presence of wellbeing.

We will adapt for our project's process and method a Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment (MWIA) to understand if and how the UK government is supporting survivors' mental wellbeing. A key principle of the impact assessment is that it is participatory, multidisciplinary, and open to new voices. It therefore lends itself our project's unique implementation of this evidence discovery in collaboration with survivors of modern slavery as peer-researchers. The project's starting point for its methodological approach is that work to support and promote survivors' wellbeing needs to be survivor-led and survivor-informed, if it is to be effective. For too long, policy and practice in the area of survivors' after-care has relied on an evidence base produced by people without lived experience. Where survivors are involved in research and policy-making on modern slavery and survivor support, the involvement tends to be piecemeal and tokenistic, rather than fully collaborative and participatory.

We therefore bring together survivor experience and academic scholarship throughout the project's knowledge production process. Survivor peer-researchers will engage in research design, data collection, and analysis. Through training and support, we will develop peer researchers who will be a legacy of the project. Not only delivering this project's new evidence-base about survivors' access to recovery support, they also will be equipped to consult, engage with, and become employed in future research looking at survivor needs. We engage and build upon the concept of coproduction developed in the AHRC-led, cross research council Connected Communities programme, and the notion of Patient-Public Involvement (PPI). These concepts are used widely in medical and health research but have not yet been systemically applied to research with survivors of modern slavery.