How do mental health service users and staff think the cost-of-living crisis has impacted mental health in England? A qualitative analysis
How do mental health service users and staff think the cost-of-living crisis has impacted mental health in England? A qualitative analysis
Background: economic variables such as debt can impact mental health.
Aims: to explore the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on mental health services users and staff, and to identify potential support.
Methods: Mental health service users and mental health service staff took part in interviews exploring the relationship between the cost of living and mental health, which were analysed thematically.
Results: findings suggest that finances and mental health can be interlinked during the cost-of-living crisis, with sub-themes of ‘Economic hardship has an impact on everyone’ and ‘Hopelessness, frustration and desperate situations.’ A second theme identified was ‘Barriers to obtaining financial and mental health support’ with subthemes of ‘Service and support accessibility,’ ‘Receiving inadequate support’ and ‘Increasing demand on services and staff pressures.’ A final theme was identified of ‘Learning from and developing on what works’.
Conclusion: the cost-of-living crisis has had a wide-ranging impact on those using mental health services.
poverty, mental health, NHS, cost of living
Clutterbuck, Donna
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Sood, Monica
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Alwan, Nisreen A.
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Smith, Dianna
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Richardson, Thomas
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Clutterbuck, Donna
b5afd11c-fbc3-422c-8c88-296146d9db02
Sood, Monica
e1dc2e4b-3cf1-4995-9f07-0b04b06d430d
Alwan, Nisreen A.
0d37b320-f325-4ed3-ba51-0fe2866d5382
Smith, Dianna
4d383c69-8f5a-464e-8427-730fbc6c73e0
Richardson, Thomas
f8d84122-b061-4322-a594-5ef2eb5cad0d
Clutterbuck, Donna, Sood, Monica, Alwan, Nisreen A., Smith, Dianna and Richardson, Thomas
(2026)
How do mental health service users and staff think the cost-of-living crisis has impacted mental health in England? A qualitative analysis.
Community Mental Health Journal.
(doi:10.1007/s10597-026-01625-6).
Abstract
Background: economic variables such as debt can impact mental health.
Aims: to explore the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on mental health services users and staff, and to identify potential support.
Methods: Mental health service users and mental health service staff took part in interviews exploring the relationship between the cost of living and mental health, which were analysed thematically.
Results: findings suggest that finances and mental health can be interlinked during the cost-of-living crisis, with sub-themes of ‘Economic hardship has an impact on everyone’ and ‘Hopelessness, frustration and desperate situations.’ A second theme identified was ‘Barriers to obtaining financial and mental health support’ with subthemes of ‘Service and support accessibility,’ ‘Receiving inadequate support’ and ‘Increasing demand on services and staff pressures.’ A final theme was identified of ‘Learning from and developing on what works’.
Conclusion: the cost-of-living crisis has had a wide-ranging impact on those using mental health services.
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s10597-026-01625-6
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Accepted/In Press date: 19 March 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 April 2026
Keywords:
poverty, mental health, NHS, cost of living
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511682
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511682
ISSN: 0010-3853
PURE UUID: d0b8c723-742d-450d-afd9-2d922088c684
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Date deposited: 27 May 2026 16:42
Last modified: 28 May 2026 02:02
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Contributors
Author:
Donna Clutterbuck
Author:
Monica Sood
Author:
Dianna Smith
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