Our research is concerned with applied, empirical research that addresses the social determinants of health inequalities. Health inequalities research activity shares a common concern to illuminate the social determinants of inequalities in health and to produce and exchange evidence to reduce these inequalities. At a Faculty level Social and Economic Inequality in Health is identified as a key theme which fosters interdisciplinary research across sociology, economics, geography, feminism, sexualities and gender studies, history, psychology, medicine, psychiatry and statistics within the Faculty as well as across other Faculties at Lancaster. DHR has a wide range of people engaged in health inequalities research across a number of groupings, all affiliated to the Centre for Health Inequalities Research (CHIR) which helps to connect health inequalities research activities across the Division.
As part of LiLaC (Liverpool and Lancaster Universities Collaboration for Public Health Research), Lancaster is one of eight core academic centres within the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR). SPHR is a partnership between eight leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research and evaluative practice in England. The School brings together its members’ expertise in a collaborative working relationship – to ensure emphasis on what works practically, can be applied across the whole country and better meets the needs of policy makers, practitioners and the public. LiLaC’s membership of SPHR has recently been renewed beyond April 2022.
See: https://lilac-healthequity.org.uk/nihr-sphr-membership-funding/
Also as part of LiLaC, Lancaster is a core part of the North West Coast NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health, Research and Care (CLAHRC), which has a major focus on tackling health inequalities. CLAHRC NWC's public health thematic programme is led by Jennie Popay at Lancaster University and Ben Barr, senior lecturer in public health at Liverpool University. It is managed by a group comprising representatives from the nine partner local authorities involved in the programme, and aims to support local authorities to implement and evaluate evidence-based policies/practices to reduce health inequalities by promoting and supporting systems resilience in relatively disadvantaged areas.
Visit the LiLaC site: https://lilac-healthequity.org.uk/