Mental health is a neglected but crucial aspect of overall well-being, and its importance in healthcare has been increasingly recognised in recent years. Votruba and Thornicroft (2016) [1] highlight the growing importance of mental health in healthcare. In September 2015, mental health was included in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN, therefore acknowledged for the next 15 years, the burden of disease of mental illness as a growing priority for global development. Nevertheless, mental health orders remain at an all-time high and access to effective mental health services continues to be a significant challenge globally for the population [2]. The need for professionals to work together collaboratively to address this challenge has long since been established [3], with interprofessional collaboration specifically identified as a key action for improving the quality and efficiency of mental health services [4]. For the health workforce to collaboratively address health challenges, interprofessional education (IPE) is needed to lay down a foundation. IPE aims to prepare pre-registration healthcare students from different professions to work collaboratively and develop a shared understanding of their roles and responsibilities in providing patient-centred care [2].

We believe, therefore, that developing an interprofessional mental health identity among pre- registration healthcare students is critical for promoting effective interprofessional collaboration in mental health care. An interprofessional identity refers to the shared beliefs, values and attitudes that will enable healthcare students/professionals to work together effectively [5]. However, the processes and strategies for fostering an interprofessional mental health identity among pre- registration healthcare students are not clearly defined or understood.

The concept of an interprofessional identity first emerged in the 1990s and, although no definitive definition exists, is helpfully described by Khalili et al. as a ‘sense of belonging to own profession and interprofessional community’[5] and is considered to be made up of three elements: a sense of belonging, of commitment and of shared beliefs [6] . It is essential to contemporary practice to enhance interprofessional working practices, although particular challenges are recognised in achieving this at pre-registration level. In particular, power differentials can reduce confidence in speaking up and ultimately affect patient safety [7]. Discussions are continuing regarding how best to facilitate the development of an interprofessional identity, with challenges such as power dynamics recognised as a factor that can impede it [7]. Sociological literature, such as Witz [8] and Freidson [9], has been used to consider how identity is formed within professional groups, with identity theory, as well as social identity theory, used to explore and explain interprofessional identity [7, 10].

However, pre-registration students face particular challenges in finding a mental health field identity due to the generic nature of most professional programmes. Globally, for example, nursing students will complete a generic programme of study and then specialise in a field of practice after registration. However, in the UK, nursing students choose their field of practice at the point of application, meaning the professional identity for mental health field students could be formed early in their professional careers.

However, a significant challenge they face is the genericism of the nursing programmes within the UK. The Professional Standards for Nursing [11] require students from all fields of nursing to be competent in the same proficiencies which can lead to a sense of hierarchy between fields of nursing, with mental health nursing seen as being of lower status than that of the adult field nurse [12]. Pre-registration students have a strong desire to ‘belong’ to their own profession before and in the early stages of their professional journey [13, 14], which can lead to resentment of others [15].

Having a strong, professional identity is considered an essential prerequisite to developing a strong, interprofessional, also known as a dual, identity [5]. However, it can equally have an opposite effect if the uni-professional identity feels threatened [15] and thus makes this review important.