Please introduce yourself and tell us about your organization and your role.

I am Matthew Smith, Professor of Health History at the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare. I am also one of the University’s co-leads for its Strategic Theme: Health and Wellbeing. In this role I try to encourage interdisciplinary research collaborations and, in particular, facilitate the involvement of humanities and social science scholars in health research. Strathclyde is known as the ‘place of useful learning’ and that certainly applies to us in History. In order to tackle the health problems that face us today, we need to understand how we got where we are, and learn about how societies have dealt with such crises in the past.

 Which SDG3 target(s) is your work and the work of your organization most closely aligned with?

The target that relates most to my work is SDG 3.4, which is to ‘by 2030 reduce by one third mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being’. Specifically, I am interested in preventing mental illness and improving well-being through reducing health inequalities and addressing the social determinants of mental health. My research also addresses the role of nutrition in both physical health and mental health.

 Why are these goals particularly important for you, your organization, and their mission?

Many of the most devastating and costly diseases, including heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders, obesity, and mental illness, are either directly caused or exacerbated by health inequalities, such as poverty, racism, social isolation, and community disintegration. In other words, they are preventable if we have the political will to address their underlying causes. At the same time, health systems throughout the world are struggling to cope with the burden of such diseases, especially in the aftermath of Covid. The history of health and medicine strongly indicates the benefits of preventive approaches, so that is where we should be exerting our efforts.

 What projects or initiatives is your organization working on that relate to SDG 3 and how might they help to achieve the SDG 3 targets?

My research has addressed the history of social psychiatry, an interdisciplinary approach to mental health that flourished in the United States during the post-World War II period. Social psychiatry combined the insights of social scientists and psychiatrists, determining that social problems were undoubtedly linked to mental illness. Although the enthusiasm behind social psychiatry helped to end the asylum era in mental health (see Deinstitutionalisation and After), the structural changes required to reduce poverty, inequality, and other social problems did not occur. While researching this project, it occurred to me that Universal Basic Income (UBI) might be an effective way to tackle these problems and, in turn, reduce a great deal of mental illness. UBI provides everyone with an income to lift them out of poverty, allowing them to access higher education, engage with their communities, and start new businesses. When talking to mental health professionals, mental health charities, and mental health patients, I began suggesting that UBI could be a preventive mental health strategy, and I found that many agreed.

 What challenges are you facing in advancing your projects/ensuring success?

One of the big challenges in advocating for preventive health strategies is that they often require up-front investment. Unless we are faced with something really catastrophic, like COVID, we are often unwilling to put in the time, money, and effort to prevent health problems further down the road. Although we have known that social problems contribute to mental illness for almost a century, people are still hesitant to connect reducing inequalities to improved mental health. This is partly because there are plenty of other things that cause or trigger mental illness, and partly because longstanding ideas about ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor people still exist. Some believe that poor people should simply lift themselves up with their bootstraps. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. Others either do not understand UBI, or are unwilling to accept that it’s not simply ‘money for nothing.’ But there is growing momentum behind this innovative policy, especially as current welfare approaches are found to be wanting. I am confident that one of the main arguments for UBI is its potential benefits to both mental and physical health.

 Who (or what groups) would you like to work with, or would like to be in contact with, to push forward your ideas/projects?

I love working with mental health professionals, mental health charities, and, especially, patients. The more I talk to people about the context in which their mental health exists, the more they convince me that tackling health inequalities – possibly through UBI, but also via other means – is necessary if we want to really get to grips with rising rates of mental illness. I am also interested in the link between the food we eat and our mental health, something that doctors of centuries past would have simply taken for granted. I am very keen to collaborate with people trying to tackle food poverty as a preventive mental health strategy.