Dr Sumeet Jain
Job Title
Senior Lecturer

Room number
G.02Street (Address)
22A Buccleuch PlaceCity (Address)
EdinburghCountry (Address)
UKPost code (Address)
EH8 9LNResearch interests
Research interests
Community mental health, culture and health, ethnography, well being, South Asia, 'global mental health'
1. Community mental health in low-income countries specifically community engagement, the development of locally relevant psycho-social interventions and the relationship between poverty, marginality and mental health.
2. Unpacking of psychiatric and local categories of distress to contribute to the development of culturally appropriate mental health services.
3. The nature of training & professional development of Social Workers and their role in mental health service delivery in non-western settings.
4. Application of qualitative and ethnographic methodologies to evaluation of health and psycho-social programmes.
I have most recently been involved in the following research projects:
- The dynamics of a recovery oriented mental health approach in northern India (PI: Dr S Jain, Funded by ESRC-Impact Accellerator Award).
- Alternatives in community mental health: defining the contours of non-formal care in western India (PI: Dr S. Jain, Funded by Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland)
- Research collaborator on a mixed-methods study investigating caste identity and psychological distress in western India funded by the British Academy (PI: Dr. S. Jadhav, UCL; co-PI: Dr. B. Davar, Bapu Trust, Pune, India).
- Co-Principal Investigator on a qualitative evaluation of Alcohol Referral Team (ART) and Drug Referral Team (DRT) Services for the City of Edinburgh. (PI: Prof. Viv Cree, University of Edinburgh)
- Researcher on a Wellcome Trust funded mixed methods evaluation of a public health initiative addressing health inequalities in London. (co-PIs: Dr. A. Draper & Prof. A. Clow, Westminster University)
- Research consultant on a mixed methods study, funded by DFID and World Bank, examining the relationship between poverty, stigma and serious mental illness in two field sites in India. (PI: Dr. J.F. Trani, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis)
Research outputs
Journal Publications
Hockley, J., Hafford-Letchfield, T., Noone, S., Mason, B., Jamieson, L., Iversholt, R., Musselbrook, K., Palattiyil, G., Sidhva, D., Quinn, N., Jain, S., McKie, L., & Tolson, D. (2021). COVID, communication and care homes: A staffs’ perspective of supporting the emotional needs of families. Journal of Long-Term Care, 2021, 167-176. https://doi.org/10.31389/jltc.74
Mathias, K., Rawat, M., Thompson, A., Gaitonde, R., & Jain, S. (2020). Exploring community mental health systems – A participatory health needs and assets assessment in the Yamuna Valley, North India. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2020.222
Mathias, K., Pillai, P., Gaitonde, R., Shelly, K., & Jain, S. (2020). Co-production of a pictorial recovery tool for people with psycho-social disability informed by a participatory action research approach—a qualitative study set in India. Health Promotion International, 35(3), 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daz043
Burgess, R., Jain, S., Petersen, I., & Lund , C. (2020). Social interventions: A new era for Global Mental Health? The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(2), 118-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30397-9
Cree, V., Jain, S., & Hillen, D. P. (2019). Evaluating effectiveness in social work: Sharing dilemmas in practice. European Journal of Social Work, 22(4), 599-610. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2018.1441136
Jain, S., & Orr, D. M. R. (2016). Ethnographic perspectives on global mental health. Transcultural Psychiatry, 53(6), 685-695. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461516679322
Bayetti, C., Jadhav, S. and Jain, S. (2016). The Re-covering Self: A Critique of the Recovery based Approach in India's Mental Health Care. Disability and the Global South. 3(1). Available at: https://dgsjournal.org/vol-3-no-1/‚Äã
Jadhav, S., Jain, S., Kannuri, N., Bayetti, C., Barua, M. (2015). Ecologies of Suffering: Mental Health in India (commentary). Economic and Political Weekly. Vol - L No. 20, May 16, 2015. http://www.epw.in/commentary/ecologies-suffering.html
Orr, D., & Jain, S. (2015). Making Space for Embedded Knowledge in Global Mental Health: A role for social work?. European Journal of Social Work, 18(4), 569-582. 10.1080/13691457.2014.948810
White, R., Jain, S., & Giurgi-Oncu, C. (2014). Counterflows for mental well-being: What high-income countries can learn from Low and middle-income countries.International Review of Psychiatry, 26(5), 602-6. 10.3109/09540261.2014.939578
Hillen, P., Cree, V. E., & Jain, S. (2014). Facilitating Recovery from Drug and Alcohol Problems: Reflections on Interviews with Service Users in Scotland. Practice,26(5), 281-297. 10.1080/09503153.2014.958453
Cree, V. E., Jain, S., & Hillen, P. (2014). The Challenge of Measuring Effectiveness in Social Work: A Case Study of an Evaluation of a Drug and Alcohol Referral Service in Scotland. British Journal of Social Work . 10.1093/bjsw/bcu118
Derges, J., Clow, A., Lynch, R., Jain, S., Phillips, G., Petticrew, M., Renton, A. & Draper, A. (2014). 'Well London' and the benefits of participation: results of a qualitative study nested in a cluster randomised trial. BMJ Open, 4(4). 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003596
Derges, J., Jain, S., Littlewood, R., Gopikumar, V., Dijkxhoorn, M., Jadhav, S. (2013), Challenges of Teaching Clinically Applied Anthropology and Cultural Psychiatry in India: An Evolving Partnership between a UK University and an Indian NGO. Teaching Anthropology 2. Available at: http://www.teachinganthropology.org/index.php?journal=teach_anth&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=345.
Jain S., Jadhav S. (2009). Pills that Swallow Policy: Clinical Ethnography of a Community Mental Health Program in Northern India. Transcultural Psychiatry; 46(1):60-85.
Chatterjee S., Pillai A., Jain S., Cohen A., Patel V. (2009). Outcomes of people with psychotic disorders in a community-based rehabilitation programme in rural India. Br J Psychiatry; 195(5):433-439.
Jain S., Jadhav S. (2008). A cultural critique of community psychiatry in India. International Journal of Health Services; 38(3):561-584.
Jadhav S., Littlewood R., Ryder A.G., Chakraborty A., Jain S., Barua M. (2007). Stigmatization of severe mental illness in India: Against the simple industrialization hypothesis. Indian J Psychiatry;49:189-94. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2902092/
Books and Special Issues
White, R., Jain, S., Orr, D. M. R., & Read, U. (Eds.) (2017). The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health. (1 ed.) Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8
Jain, S., Orr, D. (Editors). Special Issue: Ethnographic Perspectives on Global Mental Health. Transcultural Psychiatry, 53(5). December 2016.
Book Chapters
Bayetti, C., & Jain, S. (2017). Problematising Global Mental Health. In B. M. Z. Cohen (Ed.), Routledge International Handbook of Critical Mental Health (1 ed., pp. 224-231). (Routledge International Handbooks). Routledge.
Jadhav, S & Jain, S (2012). Clinical appeal of Cultural Formulations in Community Rural Mental Health, Chapter in ˜Comprehensive Textbook on Community Psychiatry in India', (Ed.) Chavan, BS; Gupta, N; Arun, P; Sidana, AK; & Jadhav, S. (in press), Jaypee Brothers.
Chatterjee, S., Chatterjee, A. and Jain, S. (2003). Developing Community-Based Services for Serious Mental Illness: A Rural Setting. In: "Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Developing Countries: NGO Innovations in India", eds V. Patel & R. Thara, Sage (India): New Delhi.
Conference Panels
Co-organizer (with S. Bindi, Université Paris Descartes). Constructing diagnosis in 'mental health': the negotiation of categories, the encounter of subjectivities in South Asia. 23rd European Conference on South Asian Studies, (July 2014), Zurich. http://www.nomadit.co.uk/easas/ecsas2014/panels.php5?PanelID=2484
Co-organizer (with S. Ecks & H. Mantila, University of Edinburgh). Economic wealth and mental health: questioning the paradoxes. Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth Decennial Conference (June 2014), Edinburgh. http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2014/panels.php5?PanelID=2747
Co-organizer (with D.Orr, University of Sussex). Ethnographic perspectives on 'global mental health'. 17th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (August 2013), Manchester, UK. http://www.nomadit.co.uk/iuaes/iuaes2013/panels.php5?PanelID=1705
Co-organizer (with S. Varma, Cornell University). Tracing ˜the community" in community mental health care. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (Nov 2011), Montreal, Canada. http://aaa.confex.com/aaa/2011/webprogrampreliminary/Session2628.html
Conference Papers
Jain, S. Poverty and mental health: contextualizing 'access' and 'care' in northern India. Panel: Economic wealth and mental health: questioning the paradoxes. Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth Decennial Conference (June 2014), Edinburgh. http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2014/panels.php5?PanelID=2747
Orr, D. & Jain, S. Making Space for Embedded Knowledge in Global Mental Health: A role for social work? Social Work without borders: building an international community of practice, University of Lincoln (January 2014).
Jain, S. A tangled web: the intersection of psychiatric diagnostic systems and local illness categories in rural India. Panel: Ethnographic perspectives on 'global mental health'. 17th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (August 2013), Manchester, UK. http://www.nomadit.co.uk/iuaes/iuaes2013/panels.php5?PanelID=1705
Cree, V., Jain, S., Hillen, P. Measuring the effectiveness of case management in social work: a case-study of an evaluation of a drug and alcohol service in Scotland. UK Joint Social Work Research and Education Conference (July 2013), Royal Holloway Unviersity, London. http://jswec.net/2013/sessions/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-case-management-in-social-work-a-case-study-of-an-evaluation-of-a-drug-and-alcohol-service-in-scotland/
If you are interested in being supervised by Sumeet Jain, please see the links below (opening in new windows) for more information:
Background
My research contributes to improvement of mental health outcomes by drawing on inter-disciplinary knowledge and mixed methods. My work unpacks the notion of a 'global' mental health and attempts to inform development of services that account for local experiences and understandings of psychological distress.
I studied International Development at the University of Toronto and Social Work at McGill University, Montreal. My doctoral research at University College London (2010) deployed ethnographic methods to examine how individuals, communities, mental health professionals, and policy makers conceptualize and deliver community mental health services in an identified rural north Indian site.
Teaching interests
I have specific teaching interests in the areas of culture and mental health, mental health in low-income contexts, and mental health and well-being.
I am Programme Director for the MSc, Global Mental Health and Society - more details here. I am Course Organizer for 'Critical approaches to social change and global mental health', a 20-credit post-graduate course.
I contribute to teaching mental health content across the undergraduate (BSc) and post-graduate (MSW) Social Work programmes.
I undertake dissertation supervision for the following post-graduate programmes: Master of Social Work, MSc Global Mental Health and Society and MSc International Development.
Works within
Staff Hours and Guidance
By prior appointment.
Publications by user content
Publication | Research Explorer link |
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Stenhouse R, Chiumento A, MacBeth A, Jain S, Segal LB, Harper I. A vision for reinvigorating global mental health. PLOS Global Public Health . 2024 Apr 2;4(4):1-4. e0003034. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003034 |
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Jain S, Pillai P, Mathias K. Opening up the ‘black-box’: What strategies do community mental health workers use to address the social dimensions of mental health? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2024 Jan 23. doi: 10.1007/s00127-023-02582-1 |
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Srinivasan V, Jain S, Kwon W, Bayetti C, Cherian AV, Mathias K. What innovative practices and processes are used to deliver psychosocial care in India? A qualitative case study of three non-profit community mental health organisations. SSM - Mental Health. 2023 Dec 15;4:100220. Epub 2023 May 18. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100220 |
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Lawrie S, Hanlon C, Manda-Taylor L, Knapp M, Pickersgill M, Stewart RC et al. Psychosis Recovery Orientation in Malawi by Improving Services and Engagement (PROMISE) protocol. PLoS ONE. 2023 Nov 30;18(11):1-18. e0293370. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293370 |
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Pillai P, Rawat M, Jain S, Martin RA, Shelly K, Mathias K. Developing relevant community mental health programmes in North India: Five questions we ask when co-producing knowledge with experts by experience. BMJ Global Health. 2023 Aug 31;8(8):1-7. e011671. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-011671 |
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Mathias K, Jain S, Fraser R, Davis M, Kimijima–dennemeyer R, Pillai P et al. Improving mental ill-health with psycho-social group interventions in South Asia–A scoping review using a realist lens. PLOS Global Public Health . 2023 Aug 23;3(8):1-31. e0001736. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001736 |
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Bayetti C, Bakhshi P, Davar B, Khemka GC, Kothari P, Kumar M et al. Critical reflections on the concept and impact of “scaling up” in Global Mental Health. Transcultural Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 25;60(3):602-609. doi: 10.1177/13634615231183928 |
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Bemme D, Roberts T, Ae-Ngibise KA, Gumbonzvanda N, Joag K, Kagee A et al. Mutuality as a method: Advancing a social paradigm for global mental health through mutual learning. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2023 Jul 1. Epub 2023 Jul 1. doi: 10.1007/s00127-023-02493-1 |
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Heap CJ, Jennings HM, Mathias K, Gaire H, Gumbonzvanda F, Gumbonzvanda N et al. Participatory mental health interventions in low-income and middle-income countries: A realist review protocol. BMJ Open. 2022 Apr 7;12(4):e057530. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057530 |
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Hockley J, Hafford-Letchfield T, Noone S, Mason B, Jamieson L, Iversholt R et al. COVID, communication and care homes: A staffs’ perspective of supporting the emotional needs of families. Journal of Long-Term Care. 2021 Jun 1;2021:167-176. doi: 10.31389/jltc.74 |
View |
Palattiyil G, Jamieson L, McKie L, Jain S, Hockley J, Sidhva D et al. Understanding and Reducing the Psychosocial Impact of Coronavirus Social Distancing and Behavioural Changes on Families of Care Home Residents in Scotland. Chief Scientist Office, 2021. 12 p. |
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Palattiyil G, Jamieson L, McKie L, Jain S, Hockley J, Sidhva D et al. The Cost of Separation: The Impact of Visiting Restrictions on Families of Care Home Residents during COVID-19. Chief Scientist Office, 2020. 16 p. |
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Palattiyil G, Jamieson L, McKie L, Jain S, Hockley J, Sidhva D et al. The Cost of Separation: The Impact of Visiting Restrictions on Families of Care Home Residents during COVID-19. Chief Scientist Office, 2020. 8 p. |
View |
Mathias K, Rawat M, Thompson A, Gaitonde R, Jain S. Exploring community mental health systems – A participatory health needs and assets assessment in the Yamuna Valley, North India. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 2020 Nov 23. Epub 2020 Nov 23. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.222 |
View |
Mathias K, Pillai P, Gaitonde R, Shelly K, Jain S. Co-production of a pictorial recovery tool for people with psycho-social disability informed by a participatory action research approach—a qualitative study set in India. Health Promotion International. 2020 Jun;35(3):486-499. Epub 2019 May 16. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daz043 |
View |
Burgess R, Jain S, Petersen I, Lund C. Social interventions: A new era for Global Mental Health? The Lancet Psychiatry. 2020 Feb;7(2):118-119. Epub 2019 Oct 22. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30397-9 |
View |
Wolters M, Jain S, Fraser R, Macbeth A, Mathias K. Mini-Reviews For Iterative Scoping Review Protocol Development. 2019. |
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Cree V, Jain S, Hillen DP. Evaluating effectiveness in social work: Sharing dilemmas in practice. European Journal of Social Work. 2019;22(4):599-610. Epub 2018 Feb 23. doi: 10.1080/13691457.2018.1441136 |
View |
Bayetti C, Jain S. Problematising Global Mental Health. In Cohen BMZ, editor, Routledge International Handbook of Critical Mental Health. 1 ed. Routledge. 2017. p. 224-231. (Routledge International Handbooks). |
View |
White R, (ed.), Jain S, (ed.), Orr DMR, (ed.), Read U, (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health. 1 ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 807 p. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8 |
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White RG, Orr DMR, Read UM, Jain S. Situating global mental health: Sociocultural perspectives. In White RG, Jain S, Orr DMR, Read UM, editors, The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan. 2017. p. 1-27 doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8_1 |
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Jain S, Orr DMR. Ethnographic perspectives on global mental health. Transcultural Psychiatry. 2016 Dec 1;53(6):685-695. doi: 10.1177/1363461516679322 |
View |
Jain S. Cross-cultural psychiatry and the user/survivor movement in the context of global mental health. Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology. 2016 Sept 30;23(3-4):305-308. 648244. doi: 10.1353/ppp.2016.0035 |
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Bayetti C, Jadhav S, Jain S. The re-covering self: a critique of the recovery-based approach in India’s mental health care. Disability & the Global South. 2016 Aug 31;3(1):889-909. |
View |
Jadhav S, Jain S, Kannuri N, Bayetti C, Barua M. Ecologies of Suffering: Mental Health in India. Economic and Political Weekly. 2015 May 20;L(20). |
View |
Orr D, Jain S. Making space for embedded knowledge in Global Mental Health: A role for social work? European Journal of Social Work. 2015;18(4):569-582. Epub 2014 Aug 18. doi: 10.1080/13691457.2014.948810 |
View |
Hillen P, Cree VE, Jain S. Facilitating Recovery from Drug and Alcohol Problems: Reflections on Interviews with Service Users in Scotland. Practice: Social Work in Action (Practice). 2014 Oct 20;26(5):281-297. Epub 2014 Sept 25. doi: 10.1080/09503153.2014.958453 |
View |
White R, Jain S, Giurgi-Oncu C. Counterflows for mental well-being: What high-income countries can learn from Low and middle-income countries. International Review of Psychiatry. 2014 Oct;26(5):602-606. Epub 2014 Oct 24. doi: 10.3109/09540261.2014.939578 |
View |
Derges J, Clow A, Lynch R, Jain S, Phillips G, Petticrew M et al. 'Well London' and the benefits of participation: results of a qualitative study nested in a cluster randomised trial. BMJ Open. 2014 Apr 2;4(4). doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003596 |
View |
Cree VE, Jain S, Hillen P. The Challenge of Measuring Effectiveness in Social Work: A Case Study of an Evaluation of a Drug and Alcohol Referral Service in Scotland. The British Journal of Social Work. 2014;46(1):277-293. Epub 2014 Oct 29. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcu118 |
View |
Degres J, Jain S, Littlewood R, Gopikumar V, Dijkxhoorn M, Jadhav S. Challenges of Teaching Clinically Applied Anthropology and Cultural Psychiatry in India: An Evolving Partnership between a UK University and an Indian NGO. Teaching Anthropology. 2013;2(2). |
View |
Jain S. Clinical appeal of Cultural Formulations in Rural Mental Health: A Manual. In CHAVAN BS, Gupta N, Arun P, Sidana A, Jadhav S, editors, Comprehensive Textbook on Community Psychiatry in India. 1st ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. 2012. p. 560-565 |
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Cree V, Jain S, Hillen P. Evaluation of Alcohol Referral Team and Drug Referral Team Services Final Report, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 2012. |
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Chatterjee S, Pillai A, Jain S, Cohen A, Patel V. Outcomes of people with psychotic disorders in a community-based rehabilitation programme in rural India. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2009 Nov;195(5):433-439. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.057596 |
View |
Jain S, Jadhav S. Pills that Swallow Policy: Clinical Ethnography of a Community Mental Health Program in Northern India. Transcultural Psychiatry. 2009;46(1):60-85. doi: 10.1177/1363461509102287 |
View |
Jain S, Jadhav S. A Cultural Critique of Community Psychiatry in India. International Journal of Health Services. 2008;38(3):561-584. doi: 10.2190/HS.38.3.j |
View |
Jadhav S, Littlewood R, Ryder AG, Chakraborty A, Jain S, Barua M. Stigmatization of severe mental illness in India: Against the simple industrialization hypothesis. Indian journal of psychiatry. 2007 Jul;49(3):189-94. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.37320 |
View |
Chatterjee S, Chatterjee A, Jain S. Developing Community-Based Services for Serious Mental Illness: A Rural Setting. In Patel V, Thara R, editors, "Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Developing Countries: : NGO Innovations in India. New Delhi: SAGE Publications. 2003 |
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Jain S. From negotiation to accommodation: a study of cultural relevance in the Asha Gram mental health program, Barwani district, India. 2003. 138 p. |
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Jain S. From negotiation to accommodation: Cultural relevance in the Asha Gram Mental Health Program, Barwani district, India. National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2002. 138 p. |
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