
Research Collaboration
What did we hope to gain by inviting researchers?
A Slice of Happiness commissioned independent researchers to conduct a study in Hertfordshire to measure and validate the impact of the Three Principles programmes. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of these programmes in improving mental health and overall well-being in vulnerable communities. This evidence-based approach has helped enhance the design and delivery of the programmes and has shown the significant benefits of community-based mental health support. It also highlights the need for broader inclusion of community-based mental health and well-being services to address the increasing mental health needs within communities.


What has the research found so far?
The Three Principles Programme was originally designed to support individuals who are insecure about their housing situation and want to improve their overall well-being. However, independent research demonstrates the wider impact of the programmes. Our beneficiaries have shifted from feeling like they lacked control over their lives to experiencing a sense of agency, choice, and control. Independent research has identified several benefits of our service;
- Enhanced capacity to recognise creativity, wisdom, and clarity/insight
- Increased overall well-being
- Strengthened social connections
- Recognition of health beyond a diagnosis/physical limitation
- Improved coping skills
- Reduced reactivity
- Greater resilience
- Independent problem-solving instead of relying on external sources
- Supporting beneficiaries in graduating from other services
These findings highlight the transformative potential of the Three Principles and underscore the importance of our work.
Find out more…
You can read more about the Project ‘A vulnerable population’ by clicking here.

Research - the next stage
As we move forward with our research partnership, we are entering an exciting new phase. This will include translating and sharing the findings from our mixed-method research. In collaboration with Innate Health Research, we will also implement a new, short, standardised survey to build on our initial research as our programme grows to serve larger numbers and new populations. The data collected through this survey will enable us to position our impact alongside other interventions.


Anita McGinty, PH.D
CO-FOUNDER & CEO - Innate Health Research
Anita McGinty, PH.D
CO-FOUNDER & CEO - Innate Health Research
Anita is a psychologist and educator fascinated with the ways we learn, change, and grow. She is IHR’s very own grandmaster – a strategic powerhouse with an uncanny ability to see the big picture and understand every angle, identify opportunities and potential, and navigate obstacles. And, as an influential leader, she has an aptitude for working across diverse sets of partners and leading decision-making processes to bring impactful projects to fruition.
With 20 years as an academic leader in education, Anita has brought her voracious appetite for exploration and evidence to mental health programming. Having seen firsthand the transformative power of innate health realization, she wants all people – across all sectors of society – to have the same opportunity for innate health realization that she did. She is driven by the need for a strong, interdisciplinary, and irrefutable evidence-base around innate health as a foundational step in achieving that universal access.
Anita’s early career as a speech-language pathologist was spent drawing out the academic potential of children with severe communication and reading difficulties. After receiving her doctorate in Education Psychology in 2009, she worked as an applied researcher and education expert, supporting the creation and adoption of educational innovations across thousands of schools and hundreds of communities nationally to improve the way children were taught and supported. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her contributions to education

Jeanne Catherine, PH.D
CO-FOUNDER & COO - Innate Health Research
Jeanne Catherine
CO-FOUNDER & COO - Innate Health Research
Jeanne is a researcher, facilitator, and practitioner, but she’s also IHR’s muse and visionary leader. Magnetic and charismatic, Jeanne’s passion is nothing less than infectious. And, with a remarkable aptitude for translating complex knowledge into digestible and compelling information, she has a true gift for captivating and inspiring audiences.
Based on her personal and professional experience, Jeanne is driven by the transformative potential of innate health realization and a passion for empowering women and people who have been disenfranchised to take back their voice and take action. She is steadfast in her commitment to using science to improve the way mental health programs are designed and accessed so that even the most marginalized groups are supported in leveraging their own capacity for wellbeing.
As IHR’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeanne is responsible for project design and implementation, research dissemination, outreach and education, and practitioner collaboration.
Jeanne uses her free time to empower women through self-knowledge using her skills as a mentor, mediator, and teacher. You will often find her on the dance floor guiding all kinds of bodies through movement, music, and magic!

Nici Butchart
MANAGING DIRECTOR - Innate Health Research
Nici Butchart
MANAGING DIRECTOR - Innate Health Research
Nici is a researcher, practitioner, and wellbeing specialist but she is also, quite simply, IHR’s magic maker. Her profound capability and versatility mean she can do just about anything, and with an ability to see potential and problem-solve at every level, she does. Intuitive and strategic, Nici is skilled at identifying needs, perceiving synergies, and building ideas and teams, skillfully and seamlessly advancing programs and operations.
Nici is passionate about social impact and about building research and thought leadership that can transform people, cultures and systems. She is driven by the boundless manifestations of wellbeing inherent in behaviour change and the endless potential of mental agility for transforming lives. Nici’s own experience with innate health has been the cornerstone of both her personal and professional life, and she is committed to building the research that will facilitate its adoption by influential actors and propel its social impact on the world.
Nici is responsible for management and operational support across projects and teams, as well as for leading IHR’s communications.
In her free time Nici does pro bono creativity coaching with young music entrepreneurs and runs a global network of female leaders and mothers passionate about rekindling curiosity, creativity and collaboration. She is also an advocate for active travel – whether that’s walking and cycling around London with her daughters or participating in multi stage endurance walking or cycling events.

Adriaan Denkers
SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST AND ADVISOR - Innate Health Research
Adriaan Denkers, PH.D
SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST AND ADVISOR - Innate Health Research
Adriaan is a senior quantitative research specialist and statistician or in other words, IHR’s very own private eye. With a gift for identifying the research question at the heart of every problem and the skill to design the perfect research project to investigate it, Adriaan has a talent for the data collection and analysis that drives the research at the core of our work.
Adriaan is driven by his passion for data and the stories it tells. And, with four years of experience helping research innate health, he brings the understanding necessary to unpack the nuanced questions that underpin it.
Adriaan is responsible for managing data from research partnerships, leading technical assistance contracts related to evaluations, and communicating and interpreting results to the research team.

Dr. Geraldine Brown
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND RESEARCHER - Coventry University
Dr. Geraldine Brown
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AND RESEARCHER - Coventry University
Geraldine is a Researcher in the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. She has over twenty- years of social research experience, primarily with seldom-heard groups. Geraldine’s disciplinary background is in Sociology and Public Policy, and a key body of her work focuses on exploring individuals' and groups' experiences of public policy and practice. Geraldine is also interested in creative methodologies and approaches that help democratise research and allow for practical and theoretical insights and different ways of knowing. (19) Geraldine Brown (researchgate.net)