Professor Tine Van Bortel
Professor of Global Health and Wellbeing
Principle Investigator in Public Health and Wellbeing
Personal Statement
Professor Tine Van Bortel (PhD) has a background in Health Humanities, Social Sciences & Health, Global Mental Health, Child & Adolescent Wellbeing, and Sustainable Development & Health. She also holds a Professional qualification and related practical experience as a Mental Health & Wellbeing Therapist and Coach (FRTC/BACP CPD).
The overall focus and aim of Tine’s work is to “investigate the determinants of our health and wellbeing within/across contexts in order to properly understand and appropriately address these to promote and improve quality of life for people and planet”.
Tine is Professor/Director of Global Health & Wellbeing (Leicester) and matched-funded NIHR ARC EoE Principal Investigator in Public Health & Wellbeing (Cambridge). She currently co-leads the large UK-wide ‘Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic’ study which is a longitudinal mixed-method study investigating UK adult mental health during the pandemic. She also co-leads on several evidence reviews, interventions and evaluations into public health approaches to address young people’s mental health, suicide prevention population preparedness, determinants of healthy lifestyles and wellbeing, mental health crisis management in India, nature and mental health, and more.
Previously, Tine was Senior Scientific Programme Coordinator/ Senior Researcher on a 40-site global mental health study investigating stigma and discrimination of people with depression (ASPEN & INDIGO studies), and co-led on several global mental health studies including, for instance, ‘Mentally healthy workplaces’ (as part of her mandate with the World Economic Forum), ‘Quality of Care and Human Rights in Mental Health’ (as part of her collaboration with the World Health Organisation), ‘Mental health policy development and implementation in Malaysia’, ‘Evaluating mental health in primary care in Indonesia’, ‘Ethical practices for research into health in humanitarian crises’ (multi-country).
Additionally, and as part of the previous NIHR CLAHRC EoE, Tine led the Prison Mental Health programme (Care for older people with dementia in prisons and upon resettlement), was a Co-Investigator on CLAHRC PROMISE (PROactive Management of Integrated Services and Environments for mental health), and Advisor to the ‘Young care leavers transitioning’ project.
Tine also teaches (and has taught and led), several BSc/ MSc/ CPD courses into Global Health, Global Mental Health, Society and Health, Medical Humanities, Research Capacity Building in Global Health, and more, and supervises numerous MSc and PhD researchers.
Along with her roles at the University of Cambridge and De Montfort University Leicester, Tine is Director of Health & Wellbeing for the Leicester Civic Engagement Initiative ‘Towards a better city for all’, Mandated Mental Health Expert with the World Economic Forum, World Health Organisation Collaborator on Mental Health, Research Capacity Building Trainer with the Institute for Research & Development in Sri Lanka, and collaborator with the Institute for Mind and Brain (InMind) and OpenMind charity in India.
Useful links
Researchgate Profile>>
Full list of publications>>
Twitter: @TineVanBortel
NIHR ARC EoE Profile>>
Key publications
Loneliness, coping, suicidal thoughts and self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic: a repeat cross-sectional UK population surveyBMJ Open
2021-12 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048123
Patient and public involvement (PPI) in prisons: the involvement of people living in prison in the research process – a systematic scoping reviewHealth & Justice
2021-12 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1186/s40352-021-00154-6
Mental health in the pandemic: a repeated cross-sectional mixed-method study protocol to investigate the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the UKBMJ Open
2021-08 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046422
Public health programmes to promote mental health in young people: a systematic integrative review protocolBMJ Open
2020-09 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037241
PROTECT: Relational safety based suicide prevention training frameworksInternational Journal of Mental Health Nursing
2020-06-26 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1111/inm.12685
Dementia-friendly prisons: a mixed-methods evaluation of the application of dementia-friendly community principles to two prisons in EnglandBMJ Open
2019-08 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030087
Health assets in a global context: a systematic review of the literatureBMJ Open
2019-02 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023810
WHO guidance on mental health training: a systematic review of the progress for non-specialist health workersBMJ Open
2019-01 | journal-article
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024059