The Centre for Applied Research and Evaluation International Foundation (Careif) is proud to announce that its co-founder and director Professor Kamaldeep Bhui has received a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Years’ Honours List for services to mental health care and research.
Professor Bhui says of his award: ‘I am extremely proud to receive this honour and view this as powerful recognition of the importance of innovations, compassion and understanding in mental health research and care. Health inequalities undermine successful society, so there is much more to be done.”
Professor Kamaldeep Bhui is Professor of Cultural Psychiatry & Epidemiology, Head of Centre for Psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London, and co-founder and director of Careif. Professor Bhui is also honorary consultant psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust, editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry as well as the International Journal of Culture and Mental Health.
Professor Bhui has masterminded some of Careif’s state-of-the-art initiatives including, the Mental Health 4 Life initiative, a new online intervention and guide for preventive interventions in mental health, reaching across the life course; a study into UK railway suicides, to better understand and prevent railway suicides and a series of humanitarian position statements calling for compassion, human dignity, and understanding.
In a joint response, Marie Gabriel, Chair of East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), and Dr Navina Evans, Chief Executive said: ‘Professor Bhui has had a profound influence on mental health care in the Trust and across the country. Through his research, he has explored previously uncharted areas of identity, culture and risk which ELFT has directly benefited from. His work has brought new insights to help us to gain a greater understanding of our patients and enabled our staff to become culturally competent. This honour is wholly deserved. We are so proud.’
Professor Bhui’s research and practice interests on health include: social exclusion, work characteristics, cultural psychiatry, epidemiology, health services research, and psychological therapies. He has undertaken original research with communities to understand this complex process called radicalisation and provide evidence on how it works and who is vulnerable.
From New Zealand, former Judge and Governor-General of New Zealand, Chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation and Careif Patron, Sir Anand Satyanand, added: ‘Professor Bhui has represented the face of psychiatry and its impact on ethnic and cultural minorities for more than 20 years. The uptake of this in the psychiatric medicine mainstream is a viable testament to his efforts.’
A distinguished pioneer and a lifetime practitioner in the field of culture and mental health, research and teaching which has had a major impact in addressing health inequalities among some of the most vulnerable people in society.
Albert Persaud Co-founder and Director of Careif, said: ‘Kam represents with distinction, the best of British expertise and innovation in mental health, research, cultural psychiatry and learning, here in the UK and in the international arena.’
