About EQUIP
EQUIP was an NIHR-funded project that investigated how we can improve user and carer involvement in care planning in mental health services.
Led by Professor Karina Lovell at The University of Manchester, EQUIP was a collaborative project between Manchester, the University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust.
The EQUIP team worked to:
- develop a user/carer-led training package for mental health professionals;
- evaluate how efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the training package;
- identify the organisational changes required for mental health teams and the wider NHS to improve user-involved care planning;
- offer the training package to up to ten NHS mental health trusts.
The project ran from December 2012 to 2017 and resulted in numerous outputs for service users, carers and mental health professionals, which are collected together on this website.
Further project information

Resources
Patient-reported outcome measure
This tool has been designed by the EQUIP team to measure to what extent service users feel involved in the planning of their care. It is intended for use by mental health service users and mental health professionals.
Research handbook
A Research Handbook for Patient and Public Involvement Researchers is written for patients and members of the public who want to understand more about the approaches, methods and language used by health services researchers.
Videos
External resources
- MIND
(mental health advice and support)
- RETHINK
(helping people affected by mental illness)
- COCAPP
(a care planning study)
- Involve
(more information on becoming involved in research)
Contact us
If you have any questions about the EQUIP study or the resources on this website, please get in touch.
Professor Karina Lovell
The University of Manchester
Email: karina.lovell@manchester.ac.uk