A new innovative research partnership in Plymouth will help tackle health inequalities, thanks to national funding.
Plymouth City Council and its academic partner, the University of Plymouth, have been awarded more than £4.7 million from The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research partner of the NHS, public health and social care for a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC).
Plymouth is one of 10 locations across the country to be given funding to set up an HDRC, which supports research into the social determinants of health. For example, how things like housing, education, safe streets and a sense of community have an impact on health and how this creates inequalities across different areas of the city. A further three councils will be receiving development award funding during 2022/23, with the prospect of them becoming full HDRCs the following financial year.
The collaboration will help the Council to make evidence-based decisions, with the ultimate aim of reducing health inequalities, stimulating economic growth and addressing the challenges faced by the health and care system.
Dr Ruth Harrell, Plymouth’s Director of Public Health said: “Across the city, people are passionate about reducing health inequalities. We can often show the ways in which interventions have helped individuals and see how their lives have improved, but it is really difficult to get the academic evidence to support this, which is needed to drive investment into the right things at population level.
“As an example, we can be really precise about what changes we expect to see if 100 people are given a blood pressure tablet, but it is much harder to understand how changes in their living environment will affect them. This collaboration will help us to develop new interventions and understand if they work, informing our future decisions. It will also enable us to develop the methodologies required to be able to understand what works, how it works and if it will work in different locations or with a different group of people.”
Councillor Dr John Mahony, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: “We’re delighted that Plymouth will be home to one of the first pioneering Health Determinants Research Collaborations. This funding will enable us to take a new approach to exploring the causes and effects of long-standing health inequalities in our city, which will help us to make the best decisions for the local population, with the aim of improving mental and physical wellbeing for everyone living in Plymouth.”
Professor Sheena Asthana, Director of the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research (PIHR) at the University of Plymouth said: “In order to improve public health and tackle inequalities it is critical that we address the wider determinants of poor health in our city. This can only be done through partnership working, and by bringing in academic expertise from a wide range of disciplines, not all of which will be directly associated with health. The funding provided through the HDRC gives us a unique opportunity to do this in Plymouth and will also provide findings which could be applied to other coastal areas. The University is therefore thrilled to be partnering with the council on this exciting and crucially important venture.”
Plymouth’s HDRC will be supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC), and will also involve collaboration with the city’s community and voluntary sector.
Matt Bell, Chief Executive of Plymouth Octopus, said: “At Plymouth Octopus, we are incredibly excited about the HDRC. We believe the voluntary community and social enterprise sector can play a critical role in connecting research deeply into how we tackle the wicked issue of health inequality. The way the sector and citizen voice are recognised in the HDRC is a testament to the systemic approach the City Council and University have taken.”