Chief Investigator: Professor Nisreen A Alwan, Professor of Public Health, Centre for Population Health Sciences, School of Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Team:

Dr Donna Clutterbuck, Research Fellow, University of Southampton

Megan Barlow-Pay, PPIE Lead, NIHR Research Support Service

Professor Julie Parkes, Professor of Public Health, University of Southampton, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and Health Education England Wessex

Dr Kath Woods-Townsend, Associate Professor (Research) and Lifelab Project Manager, University of Southampton

Mirembe Woodrow, Senior Public Health Practitioner, Southampton City Council and PhD student, University of Southampton

Partners: Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth University, University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton, Southampton City Council, NIHR Research Support Service Specialist Centre for Public Health, LifeLab, University of Southampton / NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, Health Determinants Research Collaboration, Southampton, Southampton Centre for Research Engagement & Impact (SCREI), Centre for Seldom Heard Voices, Bournemouth University,

Start: 1 October 2024

End: 31 March 2026

Summary

Public health research priorities must stem from the needs of the communities served by such research, particularly those most socially and economically disadvantaged, as well as community groups that are seldom heard. Therefore, community members with lived experience of health conditions and the various factors shaping health and wellbeing have a central role in shaping such research. Co-creating research with the public can lead to research findings that are more relevant to population health and wellbeing, leading to a reduction in heath inequalities.

The purpose of this project is to develop a core ‘cohort’ of community public health researchers using an approach that considers the multiple social forces that shape people’s identities to inform research design that is meaningful to Wessex local communities. This cohort will form a Community of Practice (CoP) for research co-design that can help us reach those seldom heard groups in our local communities and understand underrepresented perspectives to inform relevant and meaningful health research priorities, questions and methods. People from such communities are more likely to feel comfortable to inform research that is led or co-led with community researchers.

This project will be a Partnership between the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) National Specialist Centre for Public Health (NSCPH) which aims to support the generation of high-quality research evidence aimed to inform decisions about which interventions have the greatest likelihood to improve population health and reduce health inequalities, and the Healthy Communities Theme of the NIHR ARC Wessex.

In the first stage of the project, we will engage with stakeholders, including members of the public, voluntary organisations, Local Councils and health services to shape the project protocol and to co-develop its strategy, key milestones and outcomes.

In the second phase of the project, we envisage a group of community researchers being recruited and trained in participatory research (or other research methods of their choice) and be provided with opportunities to link in with health researchers.

In the third phase of the project, the community researchers will then choose a pathway (or more) that suits their needs from conducting community-based research, linking with other community members to inform further research projects, co-creating research ideas, or informing research proposals developed by researchers within the ARC or through the RSS.

In the fourth phase of the project, we will evaluate the above activities and synthesise and disseminate lessons learnt from the project towards sustainability of our CoP framework.

The project’s Research Fellows will also work with public contributors to disseminate findings in ways that are meaningful, alongside preparing publication materials for journals and conferences, and producing infographics.

The CoP will help us to co-design health research based on local and regional need; provide stakeholder input into public health research proposals in Wessex; contribute to governance and delivery of NSCPH; and support meaningful and equitable research partnerships with community stakeholders and the public.