Moses Wasswa Mulimira

I migrated to the UK in 1999 from Uganda and since then I developed a great interest in understanding Migration as both a benefit to both my home and host country, but also a negative to both the person and home and host countries. In 2003, I decided to undertake a degree in health Psychology and health sciences at University of Essex. Studying this course allowed me to understand how people act and interact, both as individuals and in groups, and explores the thoughts and feelings that underlie our behaviour. From here, I was able to volunteer in first job at the British Refugee council (Brixton Branch) where I was able to learn the social challenges of migration and also appreciation of the role of human rights and safety for those marginalised in society. I was able to gain full time employment in a male psychiatric intensive care unit at Mile End Hospital (East London NHS Trust) . My role as a life skills and recovery worker is to spend at least 75% of my time in 1:1 interactions with the service users. My role focuses on providing a holistic environment for the patients to recover in, providing education, relaxation and life skills, and work closely with our RMNs, Occupational Therapist and Psychologist. I facilitate therapeutic group activities. My current setting has 14 PICU beds, giving me experience at working with acute service users and handling diplomatically and empathetically episodes of severe mental illness.

After this work experience, I realised that the was a strong connection with engaging with mental health services and individual cultural experiences. This allowed me to explore this link through a MSc in Transcultural Mental Healthcare, which was undertaken at Queen Mary university of London. This course allowed me to develop a more advanced understanding of the basis of assessment, diagnosis, formulation and care management of psychological disorders in general and then in diverse racial, ethnic and cultural groups drawing on cultural psychiatry, social sciences and allied disciplines.

I also learnt of the strong connection between mental ill health and Addictions and so, I further undertook an MSc in Clinical & Public Health Aspects of Addiction at King's College London - Institute of Psychiatry. This course was great as it focused upon recent biological, psychological and socio-environmental advances in the conceptualisation of drug use and addiction, and its effective prevention and treatment.

It was while in my work place where I observed that most of the routine practices we did within NHS were based on limited evidence base, I developed a desire to develop skills in evidence based medicine. In 2014 I completed a Post Graduate Diploma In Health Research at University of Oxford. This course enabled me to develop skills of research, design and data analysis in both qualitative and quantitative research. I learnt key skills such as critically evaluating health research, critically appraising and incorporating the results of medical and social science research into the day-to-day decision-making of clinical, scientific and administrative practice and also applying the principles of evidence-based practice in health care settings.

With a great understanding of the key research demands, I have embarked on a PhD in health Sciences at York University. This global health focused research will analyse the care pathways of individuals with HIV and severe mental illness in low resource setting of Uganda.

My goal is to strengthen global mental health policy, planning and financing in low income countries especially in Sub Saharan Africa more so in Uganda. I have also an extensive interest in the area of health Diasporas and I aim to become a consultant in issues of Diasporas in the future. I have recently co-founded a health diaspora group (Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation) with the aim to reduce Brain Drain in Uganda and also bring back learning to UK based Uganda Diaspora community.