Breakthrough environments for inclusive research into race and mental health: Co-creating social justice impact via the #justcare event and social media

Abstract

In this article, we describe an inclusive public engagement event held in the ITV television studios with an associated social media programme under the #justcare hashtag. The event explored the intersection of race, mental health and marginalization as a critical issue of social justice, drawing on research evidence and lived experience. This event (led by people of colour for mixed attendance) was designed as a 'breakthrough environment'. The breakthrough environment approach is developed from the integration of community practices and experiences in the African context and Western organization development (OD), and disrupts the traditional structures of event design and knowledge generation to create a psychologically safe space for truly generative conversations around contentious topics. This paper gives an overview of the emerging literature on racial trauma, covers the principles behind the event design and provides a predominantly narrative and visual account of the experience in order to capture the richness in evidence and insight (in contrast with carrying out an analysis). In providing this style of account, the traditional structure of a typical research paper has been disrupted as part of an explicit intent to decolonize knowledge practices to give full and entitled voice to those most impacted by these social justice issues.