Researcher wellbeing: co-developing a toolkit to mitigate against vicarious trauma across the UK research sector

This article introduces our newly developed toolkit to promote the support of researcher wellbeing (RES-WELL). The RES-WELL toolkit sets out practical strategies for UK research institutions, funders and researchers, particularly in the context of emotionally or ethically challenging research, to mitigate against risks of vicarious or secondary trauma when conducting research. This toolkit is the outcome of a one-year project comprising an extensive literature review, an online survey, a series of online workshops for junior researchers as well as research leaders/managers, and mapping the UK higher education landscape to identify key institutional entry points, stakeholders and potential agents of change. To tackle the complex issue of vicarious trauma prevention, which is increasingly prevalent in the field of gender-based violence research, we put forward a multipronged approach including key action points. These can be used as strategies to sustainably put support mechanisms in place for the psychological safety of researchers at different stages in their development and career and to establish a supportive and effective vicarious trauma prevention infrastructure within academia. We advocate for the need for this to happen as part of a broader shift in research culture towards prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of researchers and their teams.