Beyond the stigma: a community-based mixed methods hybrid photovoice-appreciative inquiry protocol to explore and enhance engagement of young men in mental health research.

introductionYoung men's mental health is a continuing concern but remains underrepresented in both mental health services and research. Engaging young men in mental health research has proven difficult, but creative, strength-based and participatory methods may help overcome barriers and enhance understanding of how best to involve them. This study aims to explore young men's perceptions of how healthcare and academic settings can better engage them in mental health research, and to examine whether participatory, strength-based approaches themselves foster greater engagement. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This convergent mixed-methods participatory-informed study integrates photovoice with appreciative inquiry (AI) within a four-phase AI cycle: Discovery (photovoice-led exploration of 'what works' in engaging with research), Dream (co-imagining desirable engagement experiences), Design (co-creating practical engagement resources and practices) and Deploy (planning how to test and refine these practices). Participants will be young men aged approximately 18-25 years, recruited through community organisations and primary-care-adjacent networks.Data will include photographs with captions and written captions (Discovery), workshop transcriptions (Dream/Design/Deploy). Qualitative data will undergo reflexive thematic analysis, incorporating participatory sense-making through member reflections. Quantitative data will analyse pre-post changes on engagement and empowerment measures, which will be summarised with means, medians and bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% CIs, with exploratory non-parametric tests where appropriate. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed through recruitment, retention, data completeness and satisfaction metrics. Adverse events and distress responses will be monitored and reported. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been granted by the University of Exeter Ethics Committee (Ref 10981599). Safeguards include staged written consent, image ownership and usage agreements, anonymisation and a distress and safeguarding protocol with supported signposting. All participants will provide informed consent, and data will be managed in accordance with GDPR and university information governance policies. Findings will be shared with participants and community partners, published in peer-reviewed outlets and developed into a replicable engagement toolkit for wider use.