Advisory board general update paper 2025

Advisory board meeting October 2025 General update paper

Purpose of this document The purpose of this document is to provide the NIHR SPHR Advisory Board with some background and a written overview of SPHR research and capacity building activity since the last meeting of the Advisory Board in October 2024. Members of the SPHR Directorate will speak to this paper at our meeting on Wednesday 15th October.

Contents General developments and updates

1

SPHR in numbers

3

You said, we did

5

Research programmes

9

Areas for research innovation

11

Emergent public health priorities

12

Introduction to impact and impact highlights

13

Impact—Young men and mental health

17

Impact—First dental steps

19

Impact—Zine and Living with housing insecurity

21

Voluntary Sector Evaluation Scheme (VoySES)

23

NIHR Three Research Schools

25

Capacity building

27

PI&E and EDI

30

Other updates—ASM, finance and comms

31

General developments and updates About the School The NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) aims to increase the evidence base for inclusive, equitable and cost-effective public health practice.

Why do we need public health research?

of good health that are needed for all of us to live healthier lives.

How does it do this?

Established in 2012, the School is a partnership between nine leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research in England.

To achieve our goal of supporting the creation We all want to live in a healthy society. A of a healthy society, we: healthy society is one in which people can experience physical and mental wellbeing, make • Work together to produce evidence which meaning of their lives and have the sense of can be used to address the problems people control needed to pursue life goals. face.

• Create an environment which brings together Our health is shaped by a wide range of factors researchers, people who work in public including where we’re born and the places health, people who are experts by experience where we grow up, live and work. These are the and the general public to create the right enbuilding blocks of a healthy society and are also vironment to produce first class evidence. known as the wider determinants of health.

• Help people understand the benefits of using evidence, and support people to use it.

In England, lives are being cut short because of • Train the public health researchers of the fuunfair and avoidable differences in people’s ture. health. We don’t all have the same opportunities to live healthy lives.

Public health research investigates these differences and tries to understand how everyone in society can have the same opportunity to live healthier lives.

Within local and national government, decisions that are made about the building blocks of health – including transport, housing, education, and planning – all affect the health of people and communities. SPHR research and evidence can be used to inform these decisions so that money can be spent where it’s needed most to make a positive difference to people’s lives and benefit everyone in society.

How does the School help build a healthy society?

The NIHR SPHR is rising to the challenge by generating the evidence needed to inform and shape research-driven decisions. This will help put in place and strengthen the building blocks

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Our members

NIHR SPHR Membership 2022–2027 SPHR is a partnership between nine 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.

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SPHR in numbers (since 2022)

Research

4 research programmes 31 projects 18 funded ResNet projects 14 Impact Accelerator Awards 4 Areas for Research Innovation 5 Emergent public health priority projects

Social media and newsletter 820 External newsletter subscribers (747 last year)

451 Prevention newsletter subscribers (355 last year) 1,188 LinkedIn followers (666 last year) 855 Bluesky followers 3

Capacity building

25 Summer interns 8 Transdisciplinary placements 8 Predoc fellowships 25 PhDs 10 Postdoc fellowships 3 Transdisciplinary fellowships 2 PhD by Publication 9 Pre-application support fund awardees 187 ResNet members 25 Blogs

Other 5 SPHR Parliamentary responses submitted to government inquiries

£10M awarded for the Three Research Schools Prevention Programme

6 Pre-doc fellowships 6 Post-doc fellowships 6 Practice evaluation projects 12 project grants 4

You said, we did NIHR SPHR Advisory Board (AB) met on 23rd and 24th October 2024. There were a number of helpful points of feedback and action that we have been working on since the meeting summarised here.

Feedback (you said)

Action (we did)

The Advisory Board welcomed the growth and maturity of We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. We agree that the Flip Book was a more engaging way to provide an the research programmes and the development of the update on SPHR activity to the Board. No action required.

School in general. There is obvious creativity in the approaches used, especially for capacity building and a strong approach to engagement and involvement. The Board welcomed the diverse lightning talks which brought to life the work and development of the early career researchers as well as demonstrating their energy and enthusiasm. The Advisory Board also welcomed the papers for the meeting and the new approach used in the Flip Book.

The second half of the quinquennium provides an opportunity to synthesise outputs so that policy advice is provided in a timely way half way through the current parliamentary term when ideas are being formulated for future terms.

We agree, the School is well placed to ensure outcomes and evidence can be used to inform future policy. We are already doing this, in particular via our Emergent Public Health Priority (EPHP) projects. Our new Knowledge Exchange Broker is doing some work around collating evidence to inform policy, for example, during Summer 2025, Michelle has been redesigning our Research Collection web pages and has supported colleagues in responding to evidence calls on health and weight management, housing conditions, men’s mental health and the physical education curriculum review.

The Government’s work on missions and the consultation on the 10-year health plan are current opportunities to focus the School’s outputs and to influence policy. The School has a good balance of being both strategic and responsive. This will be important over the coming year as government policy evolves. Advisory Board members would be happy to link into their networks to support and assist the School in informing policy development.

We thank Advisory Board members for the offer of support.

Our Research Strategy was developed during the previous Government term and aligned with their policies but was also informed by practitioner’s priorities many of which align with missions of the new Government.

We can respond quickly to new priorities and natural experiments via EPHP and other funding.

The 10-year health plan has now been published. We welcome the focus on prevention throughout.

In this phase of the School, the Advisory Board would like to see a stronger focus on solutions and a growing emphasis on outcomes not only outputs.

We are mid-way through the current QQ. Much of our research activity has a focus on finding solutions to public health issues and is ongoing. We agree that it is important to describe outcomes as well as outputs and are working to deliver these. Therefore, we are reviewing our impact strategy in a bid to maximise outcomes as well as outputs. In addition, we plan to add a ‘how is our research making a difference?’ section to our revised Research Collections web pages.

There is a possibility of overlaps of topics and issues across Thank you. We will discuss this with NIHR/DHSC colthe wider NIHR infrastructure. The School could play a key leagues. role in supporting NIHR to identify gaps and overlaps.

The Advisory Board welcomed the efforts to increase impact, for example, through the new website, impact accelerators etc.

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We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

A range of methods to influence change should be considered including social movement approaches and a stronger approach to advocacy. The School could usefully set out its approach to advocacy to support researchers in understanding the balance between objective impartiality and promoting solutions.

This is linked to the item above regarding outcomes. We discussed this at the Executive Group Meeting in October 2024 and agreed that we would add to the agenda for future meetings to explore further. There was a discussion around whether academics should be advocating for a particular policy position or whether our focus should be on the science and generating evidence. We agree there are opportunities to link with groups who have expertise and focus on advocacy.

At this point in the quinquennium, the School has an opportunity to further develop its narrative and legacy. In particular, to draw together the substantial added value of working in this way and the areas in which this model of funding demonstrates particular strengths.

We are working on this. We allocate as much of the funding we receive as possible to research activity, this means we have a lean professional services Directorate Team and staff turnover can be challenging. Our Knowledge Exchange Broker (KEB) left in July 2024, and we experienced a delay in replacing her (partly due to recruitment freeze at Newcastle University). We were able to mitigate the impact of this somewhat by recruiting an experienced researcher to manage the VoySES (0.2fte). In March 2025, Michelle Wilson Chalmers was appointed to this critical role. Michelle brings significant experience to the role. She is in the process of developing new impact case studies in collaboration with researchers and using Overton data.

The School has a powerful geographical spread and can evidence networks of research development that would not have happened ‘naturally’ without structural system support.

The School model ensures members come together nationally to identify and strengthen research in priority areas and work together to produce evidence and impact for and with public, practice and policy partners. This enables us to have reach that is ‘greater than the sum of our parts’ and foster a national community which would not happen without the School. Examples of the value and impact of collaboration across the School are evidenced on our website and exemplified by the extent of the further funding members have leveraged as a result of SPHR funded work or due to a collaboration established through membership of the School. Collaboration between School members has resulted in £176M for the lifetime of SPHR (since 2012); this is collated and reported to NIHR and is available to share with Advisory Board. Questions related to this were covered in at least some of the interviews conducted by Oxentia for the NIHR review of the NIHR Schools model. We will share outcomes at the meeting on 16th October.

The programmes are making good progress. The Advisory Board particularly welcomed the innovation shown in the Health Inequalities work. It was suggested that the emerging ideas about HI framing could be used to look at the research over the quinquennium to inform future research investment. The Public mental health programme could focus more on outcomes to aid with communicating potential impact of the research

We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. We have shared with the PMH programme feedback around outcomes for their consideration. Highlights of outcomes from the programme are included in this document—see impact section.

Cross programme linkages were well demonstrated and will need a continued focus to ensure information and ideas flow across the research areas.

We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

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You said, we did (cont’d)

Feedback (you said)

Action (we did)

The work on CYP was brought to life through the ‘blanket’ in an effective way though the next stage is crucial to ensure there is policy impact beyond awareness raising.

We agree and thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

Framing of additional research questions (AfRI) that can be We agree and thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. addressed in the remaining years of the School should emphasise the opportunity to look at emerging issues, innovations or test solutions.

The Advisory Board discussed the proposal on LA finance

by Vale et al. There was concern that its application and utility at local level was unclear. It was agreed that it should not progress in its current form. Recognising that work had started, a possible way forward would be to engage with the local authority providing the data to ensure the question is reorientated so that it has practical use at a local level. Alternatively, to consider innovative methods to grasp the opportunities offered in the growing field of optimisation algorithms at the intersection of AI/Machine Learning and Operational Research. Alternatively, if that is not possible, funding could go to a new project.

We thank members of the Advisory Board for their support in reviewing this proposal and also for their extensive comments. Following feedback from Advisory Board, the research team made further revisions to the proposal. The team presented to the SPHR Executive Group in April 2025.

Exec were reassured that the team had taken account of the feedback and modified the planned work. Funding for the third work package (WP), has been paused contingent on satisfactory outcomes of WP1 and 2 (expected January 2026).

Training public involvement members in formal health economics to certificate level was not thought to be appropriWe agree and thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. ate – training should be less onerous for PPIE contributors.

Advisory Board members highlighted the work of the MRC Biostatistics unit which is looking at PPIE in the context of understanding complex data and models where there may be some relevant learning.

The Advisory Board appreciated the extensive efforts to increase capacity and the breadth of ideas and methods at different stages of career development. The approach to transdisciplinary capacity is particularly noteworthy and NIHR could consider how to embed this way of working systematically beyond the lifetime of the current funding.

We agree and thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

An area for consideration is support for post training career We are considering this point within the constraints of the opportunities and development. funding available and in synergy with other funding opportunities offered by NIHR Academy and other funders.

Public involvement and engagement – The approach is developing well and should continue to evolve.

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We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

The work on EDI is progressing within the School. It was noted that the School is leading work on EDI across the NIHR infrastructure. This is welcomed and the Advisory Board would encourage NIHR to do this across all aspects of learning from the different funding streams.

We agree and thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. One of the EDI Small Awards has recently reported on the implementation of EDI across the NIHR infrastructure. The team have shared their findings (11 recommendations) with NIHR and some recommendations have already been fed into guidance for the recent BRC call.

The Advisory Board thought that mixed methods integra- We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. tion could be explored more as an innovation output from the programmes. Meta mixed methods approach could be considered across projects in order to maximise the impact of the research output.

A growing development in prevention is the role of digital solutions covering personalised or targeted prevention and the use of AI. The digital industry is developing rapidly and the School will need to consider its role and contribution to this agenda. The School is a key resource to inform the interface between prevention science and public health.

This will be an important consideration for QQ4 of SPHR or in whatever replaces the School in NIHR. We will need to consider brining in expertise in AI and digital technology to SPHR to ensure the School is prepared for future work in this area. We know that this expertise exist within School member institutions. This is also an important area highlighted in the Government’s 10-year health plan that we must be prepared to respond to. The extension to SPHR may offer an opportunity for initial work in this area.

The Advisory Board enjoyed the papers via the Flip book and the presentations. They were very appreciative of the effort that goes in to making the arrangements. ‘You said we did’ was much appreciated as a means of feeding back to Advisory Board.

We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback.

Thinking about the next meeting and the stage of the QQ, We thank the Advisory Board for their feedback. We have the recommendations are: tried to ensure that plans for the next meeting incorporate these requests.

• Same length of time for the meeting and timings • More selective on topics for discussion so that AB can contribute more thinking on key things that are The meeting will be the same length and have similar timchallenges or need development ings. Given the extension to SPHR to 2029, much of the • Time to consider Advisory Board input on developing focus of the meeting on 16th October will be priorities impact and use of their networks and plans for the extension period.

• Further thinking about the separation of the agenda items across the 2 days so that Advisory Board mem- We will ensure opportunity for Advisory Board input and bers know when to make their contributions on spe- time for discussion and wrap up at the end. cific issues.

• More time for Advisory Board discussion and wrap up at the end

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Research programmes tional equity lens which places emphasis on (i) the interactions between factors such as gender, ethnicity, social class, age, disability, sexualiWe have four main research programmes which ty and place (ii) the structural determinants of build on our research programmes from 2017– health inequalities particularly material condi2022. These take account of the public health tions and social power structures operating via research priorities, expertise and interests of discrimination in policies and institutions and (iii) our nine SPHR members. a commitment to inclusive, co-produced research with communities of interest bearing the SPHR aims for research excellence and for brunt of the social and health inequalities. methodological innovation in public health improvement research including developing and Healthy places, healthy planet applying methods for economic evaluation of public health action.

Human activities can cause harm to our planet You can find out more about our research pro- as well as our own health, the consequences of grammes in Paper 3 (Mid-term review). which are intensifying. Making the places we live in healthier and more environmentally sustainable are amongst the most urgent challenges Health inequalities we face. The government plans to reach net zero by 2050. The 10 year health plan for England Health inequalities are unfair and avoidable soaims to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy cial differences in people’s health. These inebetween the richest and poorest regions, shift qualities are caused by interacting systems of from sickness to prevention and create a healthdiscrimination, powerlessness, and disadvantage ier country. Taken together, these agendas prethat intersect across social class, gender, ethnicsent the potential for double-win strategies and ity, sexuality, age, and disability. The last decade policies that address both our health and the has seen these health inequalities become larger environment, both of which are likely to be high and they were further exacerbated by the Covid on the agenda for the government.

-19 pandemic. Action at a local and national level can close the gap between the most and least The Healthy places, healthy planet programme disadvantaged, but this is complex and there is aims to investigate how to make the places we little research about the experiences of people live in healthier and better for the environment. with multiple forms of social disadvantage.

The programme aims to generate robust eviThe Health inequalities programme aims to pro- dence to support policy, practice and communiduce high-quality evidence to support a step ty activities aimed at improving population change in action on the social inequalities driv- health, health and environmental equity, and ening health inequalities. The programme is evalu- vironmental sustainability. The programme apating the equity impacts of national and local plies this aim to the following intersecting topic policy and action and using innovative apareas: (i) Healthy Places: Place-based levers to proaches to move knowledge into action in a modify commercial determinants of health. (ii) timely and effective way. It adopts an intersec- Healthy Planet: Place-based levers to modify environmental sustainability and quality.

Overview

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Public mental health More than ever, research, policy and practice must address the mental health of populations.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns have threatened many people’s mental health with bereavement, ill-health, social isolation, difficult or violent domestic relationships, and mounting anxiety relating to uncertain educational and economic futures. The cost-ofChildren, young people & families living crisis now exacerbates these challenges further – many individuals and families are facing food insecurity, rising debt and fuel poverty. The health of children and young people in EngCrucially, the gaps between social groups have land is behind that of other wealthy countries, widened in the last few years with regard to with poor performance in breastfeeding, vacmental health outcomes. Vulnerable populations cination uptake and obesity at age 5. There are – for example those living in poverty and mem- also concerns about mental health problems and bers of minoritised groups – are more likely to poor outcomes associated with other long-term experience poor mental health and less likely to conditions. These alarming trends are not evenly access timely support. distributed across society and are more pronounced for poorer children and those from miThe Public mental health programme aims to noritised ethnic backgrounds. Without sustained identify ways to reduce mental health inequali- improvement there is a risk that detrimental ties across the life course by exploring how the health trends may lead to generational ‘scarring’ settings in which people live, learn and work can for current and future children. support good mental health and wellbeing. The programme has three inter-linked workstreams: The Children, young people and families programme is adopting a multi-sectoral, multiWS1: harnessing community assets to improve level approach to produce research that drives mental health and reduce inequalities; WS2: strengthening systems to support groups at risk equitable, cost effective policies , practices and interventions for child and adolescent health. of poor mental health and WS3: supporting The programme comprises three interlinked mental health through schools and families. workstreams (WS) and two cross-cutting themes. These are: WS1: Inclusive and sustainable environments for children’s, young people’s and families’ health and wellbeing; WS2: Healthy start for life for young children and families; WS3: Health-promoting and inclusive educational settings: Sustainable and inclusive research and interventions to build lifelong health. The programme also host a crosscutting data project and three small-scale public involvement & engagement projects.

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Areas for research innovation Areas for Research Innovation funding As part of the overall SPHR Award from DHSC/ NIHR the School was awarded additional funding (£5.4m) to encourage ground-breaking innovative research (£4.4m) and to innovate in academic research capacity building (£1m). £3.4m has been allocated to fund Areas for Research Innovation (AfRI).

Analysis of local authority public health finance to improve economic methods for public health

This AfRI aims to innovate in the area of decision-making approaches in times of constraint across and within organisations providing health and care services to improve population and public health in the context of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). ICSs are “local partnerships that bring health and care organisations together to The SPHR AfRIs are summarised below. develop shared plans and joined-up services” (NHS England): Local Authorities, NHS organisations (including Integrated Care Boards) Data linkage with public health and the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCSFE) sector. The work concenperspectives trates specifically on the impact of severely conThe significant health challenges being faced by strained and ‘real-terms’ cuts in resources on the UK need data-informed strategies. There is public health decision-making and means by which that might be addressed, by developing now a considerable amount of data on our formulae based on routine data for use in rehealth and the things which influence it. ‘Data linkage with public health perspectives’ aims to source allocation, rather than time- and resource develop methods and tools so that researchers -intensive priority setting frameworks with high can better use data to understand and improve data requirements. our health. One issue with lots of current data Innovation in involvement systems is that they often exist alone and are difficult to link together. This is a major issue as we know that there are a huge range of factors The overall aim of this AfRI is to further the sciinfluencing our health, from early life experienc- ence and practice of public involvement and enes and circumstances, to local government deci- gagement, and to support and inform greater sions, to a range of features of the physical and and more meaningful involvement in public social environment. Being able to look at these health research by under-represented and under in combination and use different approaches in -served populations. combination will allow us to do more informaWe want to know more about the best and tive and impactful research. most creative ways to engage public partners in We will explore how we can work Innovations in Qualitative Research research. with people with many different experiences Methods: Transforming Public and backgrounds to take part and contribute to public health research.

Health Research Approaches and

Perspectives (I-QUEST-PH) The overarching aim of this AfRI is to explore and advance innovations and adaptations in qualitative research methods to better address the unique demands of public health research, policy, and practice, ultimately enhancing the relevance, inclusivity, and impact of qualitative research in these fields.

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Emergent public health priorities ing evidence on UPF and the scope for Government action, co-funded by SPHR. The event highlighted the urgent need for robust policy action against the rising health and societal In the SPHR Business Plan, we agreed to reharms posed by UPFs. Speakers included leadserve £1 million in Emergent Public Health Pri- ing scientists, major health organisations and orities (EPHP) funding to allow us to respond to policy makers including Baroness Walmsley, emergent opportunities such as natural experi- Chair of the recent House of Lords Select Comments, including policy interventions, aligned to mittee on Food, Diet and Obesity. our expertise and interests.

The third EPHP project is undertaking an evaluation of LA City of Sanctuary strategies, Sixteen Funded projects. local authorities developed and implemented City of Sanctuary strategies that encourage coTo date, we have funded five projects. Two foordinated action to help people seeking sanctucus on Ultra Processed Foods (UPF). The first ary. This project will evaluate how effective project; Understanding representations of ultrathese are and identify good practice. This will processed foods in the UK media is in response help inform action on public health oriented loto the increase in media coverage of ultracal policies for people seeking sanctuary. processed foods that could impact the public and policymaker’s perceptions of UPF. The sec- The fourth project is exploring the child health ond project; The cost implications of ultraand social care impacts of the two-child limit processed and less processed food consumption and benefit cap. This project will provide robust, in UK adults and children addresses a major gap population-level evidence on the health and soin knowledge by evaluating the cost differences cial care outcomes of children living in families between diets with various consumption levels affected by welfare policies. The results from of UPFs and less processed foods in UK adults will help influence policy decisions about weland children. This includes analyses according to fare reform. income levels, and an exploration of the cost implications of potential strategies to rebalance The fifth project aims to understand how local authorities can effectively incorporate youth UK dietary patterns towards lower UPFs and higher minimally processed foods. The research voices in the development of policies related to the new national tobacco and vaping legislation. team has worked with the Chief Medical Officer’s team to map planned and ongoing re- This will help ensure that policies are equitable and effective. search on UPFs globally to identify current directions in research and gaps (report submitted) We continue to be alert to policy priorities and and in Nov 2024 convened a globally leading evaluative opportunities emerging from new conference (>150 attendees) to discuss emerg- policy initiatives.

Emergent Public Health Priorities funding

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Introduction to impact and impact highlights Introduction to impact

SPHR researchers submitted evidence to three government inquiries:

We have a Strategy for Impact, this has been adopted in SPHR on the understanding that everyone has their part to play in creating and supporting the impact of the School. We have • One response submitted for the Housing Conditions in England—Inquiry Modelling a an implementation plan for this strategy that revised Decent Home Standard consultation contains both short- and long-term goals to ensure we maximise the beneficial impact of SPHR activity. We are continually developing the im- • Three responses submitted to the Food and Weight Management—UK Parliament inquiry plementation plan to progress the impact we have.

• One responded submitted for the Men’s Following a recommendation from the SPHR Health Strategy for England Advisory Board to ensure that we maximise the impact of work from across the quinSense about Sciquennia (2012–date), we established the ence Evidence SPHR Impact Accelerator Awards. These awards aim to support development and reWeek alisation of impact from SPHR research. We have commissioned 13 projects to date.

Researchers are attending the Sense about SciWe continue to disseminate research findence Evidence Week in ings, for example, via our website, publicaParliament in October. tions, impact case studies, research briefings This is for ‘Restriction of and at our Annual Scientific Meetings. unhealthy food and drink advertisements’.

Read our impact case studies

SPHR researcher Davara Bennett awarded first-ever NIHR Impact Prize for life-changing work

Research collections Our work continues to develop the Research collections area of the website.

Research collections can be used to find out more about the School’s research on a particular topic and see how we’re making a difference. We are working closely with the SPHR website developer to develop a new design for these pages. We are also working with the programme coordinators to create narratives that tell the stories of our research programmes.

Dr Davara Bennett from LiLaC was awarded one of the first ever NIHR Impact Prizes for her work on inequalities in children entering care in England. These awards recognise major improvements in health over the last two decades, driven by research and scientific advances.

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Toolkit for young people downloaded over 20,000 times The Young person's toolkit created following a SPHR research project has been downloaded over 20,000 times.

The toolkit gives ideas about how young people can get involved in creating positive changes in their communities. Themes include safety in community places, access to healthy food and physical activities, and equal access to career opportunities and advice.

Webinars We’ve been pleased to host two new webinar series, with most being recorded and made available online.

Health and risk communication for public health network webinar series Creative approaches to public health research seminar series

Patchwork blanket to reduce preventable exclusions from school Work continues on this project with a new video being made to document the blanket’s journey.

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Impact highlights A guide to good school holiday provision As part of the Holiday and activities food programme, researchers have worked with external designers to produce a suite of resources to support good school holiday provision.

The resources have been launched at a knowledge sharing event but will be launched more widely across our digital platforms later in October.

Night-time economy interactive systems maps launched New systems maps have been launched by SPHR researchers and practice collaborators to help local authorities address inequalities in harms that develop from the night-time economy.

The maps have been developed with Derby and Swindon, however a lot of the information will be relevant for local authorities and can be adapted to different local contexts.

CLARITY+ events in the community The CLARITY+ project is building partnerships with communities and organisations to address the health inequalities facing people from ethnic minority backgrounds. These partnerships are action-oriented and are producing new insights into the causes and experiences of health inequalities.

As part of this, the team have held several knowledge sharing events and documented their experience in a series of blogs on their community facing webpages.

One of the blogs featured as a case study on NIHR social media for their #BePartOfResearch campaign.

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Policy impact Overton data The Overton Index is the world's largest policy and grey literature database. It tracks policy documents and grey literature from nearly 44,000 organisations worldwide. We have been using Overton to analyse and track the policy impacts associated with SPHR activity. You will hear more about our work using these data at the meeting on 15th October.

Examples of policy documents that site SPHR-funded work include...

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Impact — Young men and mental health Knowledge exchange and pathways to impact: young men, mental health and community resources Disadvantaged young men, in the North of England, have disproportionately poor mental health outcomes (Pickett et al., 2021). Yet still little is known about how young men, particularly from minoritised groups, manage their mental health and access support within their communities.

The SPHR Young men, mental health and community services project has been working with community researchers to gather new evidence about: 1. Disadvantaged young men’s understandings and experiences of mental health and 2. How, for whom and in what ways nonmedical community resources impact the mental health of disadvantaged young men.

On Wednesday 25th June, the qualitative component of this work culminated in a knowledge exchange event, hosted in Sheffield, to share findings with the community and regional stakeholders.

and their analysis and experience added gravity and significance to the day. This is the beginning of a longer-term plan for us, but it’s great to be in a position to be raising the profile of community resources and evidencing their value for health creation amongst disadvantaged young men. Getting a story about co-production on the news was an added bonus” Khaliil, one of the projects community researchers, said:

“Reflecting on the research I conducted in my community about young men and mental health, I have to admit I was sceptical at first, not really knowing what to expect. However, thanks to The event included input from project leads, community researchers, and a panel of experts Will, the entire experience turned out to be incredibly enjoyable and enlightening. The opporincluding the directors of Sheffield Youth Services, local mental health charities and Child and tunity to give voice to a demographic often overlooked in mental health discussions was Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). deeply rewarding. Seeing the impact of our findThe ‘New Evidence, New Directions’ event offered ings on challenging preconceived notions and fostering more open conversations was truly a unique opportunity to understand young fulfilling. mens’ experiences and explore the limits and potential of community resources for young The conference itself was a highlight. It was inmen’s mental health. The event received BBC media coverage on regional news, the BBC web spiring to connect with other researchers, mental health professionals, and community leaders pages and BBC Radio Sheffield. who are equally passionate about addressing mental health challenges.

The project lead, Dr Will Mason, said: “This was an important event for us, because it gave us the opportunity to share our headline findings and recommendations with key decision makers in the region. Ozzy and Khaliil (our community researchers) presented brilliantly,

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Ultimately, both the research and the conference reinforced my commitment to advocating for mental health awareness and support within my community. Knowing that our efforts can contribute to reducing stigmas and promoting well-being among young men makes all the hard work worthwhile, especially with the support and guidance from people like Will” In the media: BBC News: Gym-goers quizzed as part of mental health study BBC Sounds, Ellie Colton at Breakfast, South Yorkshire Research briefing: Investing in community services for young men’s mental health

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Impact — First dental steps First dental steps intervention Following on from the initial project, the Tooth decay in children remains a significant research team public health problem. In 2024, over one in five were also children, by the age of five, had visible and obviawarded an ous dental decay on examination. Often that deImpact Accelcay can be quite extensive and may result in a erator Award child experiencing significant discomfort, pain, (IAA) designed loss of sleep and increased self-consciousness. to tailor the The ramifications of childhood dental decay also intervention to reach wider. For example, the whole family may suit the needs need to make multiple dentist or hospital visits, of different the child will likely have poorer adult oral health communities that are at a greater risk of dental too, and this all adds to the financial burden caries, such as traveller communities, asylum placed on the NHS. seekers and refugees, minority ethnic groups such as Asian/Asian British, or families engaging More positively, we already know that most with Family Nurse Partnership. dental decay is preventable. There is strong evidence of simple and cost-effective interventions Together these projects not only aimed to im(e.g., regular teeth brushing, increased use of prove dental health from an early age but also fluorides, decreased exposure to sugary drinks better tailor and target their intervention to and regular dental checks) to both prevent tooth maximise impact. decay and extractions. Despite this knowledge, inequalities across our communities remain.

Real world impact Therefore, the First Dental Steps (FDS) Intervention was created (based on national guidance) to maximise the role of health profession- • The First Dental Steps Intervention was built on national guidance around improving oral als involved in early years care and aid with imhealth for local authorities and is now a reproving oral health. gional programme that has been rolled out across all local authorities in South-West Our work and why it’s useful England.

• Initially the FDS program was targeted at As part of a child’s one-year health check, the high-risk groups, but it is now a universal research team (Dr Jo Williams, Dr Ruth Kipping, offer, so that every child is able to access eviProf Zoe Marshman, Prof Frank De Vocht, Prof dence-based oral health information and adChris Metcalfe, Reena Patel, Prof Robert vice from their health visiting team.

Witton, Dr Patricia Albers) created a new pro• Project feasibility feedback highlighted all gramme designed to provide oral health training stakeholders felt that the FDS Intervention for health visiting teams to aid them with giving fits well into the healthy child program and all families with oral care advice. In addition, a giftfamilies viewed the dental giftpacks very pospack (toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste and a free itively. flow beaker) was given to each child. The re• Research has also increased understanding search team then asked the 59 families and 21 around some of the barriers to improving oral health visitors, health visiting team leads and health in children e.g., visitor teams can have health childcare professionals what they competing priorities and high workloads leadthought about the programme, to understand if ing to capacity issues, and oral health isn’t alsuch an intervention could aid with lessening ways a priority for all parents. childhood dental decay.

Background

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Stakeholders also felt the initial FDS intervention needed to be tai• lored so the advice is more culturally appropriate or sensitive for different communities, so the team successfully applied for IAA funding • to address this need.

• The research has already led to two academic publications Study protocol for First Dental Steps Intervention: feasibility study of a health visitor led infant oral health improvement programme and Health visiting teams and children’s oral health: a scoping review. A third paper is currently in review.

• The findings have been presented to commissioners around the Southwest.

• The team have also worked with health visiting teams and commissioners in Yorkshire, extending the reach and impact of their research.

• The research team presented the FDS Intervention as part of the Innovation Zone at the Local Government Authority Conference (online) on the 3rd of April 2025. The FDS Intervention was acknowledged as ‘incredible work’ and there was a clear desire for the findings be shared even more widely.

•

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01195 -w El-Yousfi, S., Marshman, Z., Albers, P.N. et al. Health visiting teams and children’s oral health: a scoping review. BMC Oral Health 22, 594 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903022-02611-6 First-Dental-Steps.pdf

Potentially respond to a consultation open (closes 19th August 2025) on the quality and payment reforms for NHS dentistry in England, see: NHS dentistry contract: quality and payment reforms - GOV.UK

Related posts •

First Dental Steps Intervention: a feasibility study of a Health Visitor led infant oral health improvement programme

•

Albers, P.N., Williams, J.G., El-Yousfi, S. et al. Study protocol for First Dental Steps Intervention: feasibility study of a health visitor led infant oral health improvement programme. Pilot Feasibility Stud 8, 245 (2022).

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Impact — Zine and Living with housing insecurity Zine made by LGBTQ+ young people explores how to create joyful and safe spaces for physical activity How can physical activity spaces be more joyful and safe for LGBTQIA+ young people?

SPHR researchers have collaborated with LGBTQIA+ young people, through an SPHR project, to explore how physical activity spaces could be more joyful and safe.

As a result, they’ve co-produced a zine together – to express the young people’s perspectives and ideas and invite others into the conversation.

Explore the zine You can view the zine: • As an online flip book • PDF (print ready or digital)

Related blogs

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Our experience co-producing a zine as a research output

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The impact of collaboration versus contribution

Living with housing insecurity In the UK today, many children live in insecure housing – they have either experienced or are at risk of multiple house moves that are not through choice and related to poverty. Insecure housing and poverty can affect access to employment, education and services and have a direct impact on children’s health and life chances.

Aim In this project, SPHR researchers worked • with children, parents and professionals in local councils across three regions of England – North West, South Yorkshire and London. Our aim was to find out what information would help local authorities to provide better support to families at risk of housing insecurity, and to work out how we can assess how well current strategies • are working.

Knowledge exchange and impact so far •

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We contributed to a POST note about housing insecurity in the Private Rental Sector, drawing on a literature review which informed this study.

We contributed to a panel discussion with Kieran Yates, author of ‘All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home In A System That Fails Us’ at a World Homelessness Day event at The Exchange, University of Birmingham, 10th October 2024.

•

We submitted written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee’s Inquiry on Tackling Homelessness and published in their final report, Committee of Public Accounts: Tackling Homelessness. Fourth Report of Session 2024-25, HC 352, January 2025.\ We submitted written evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s Inquiry on Children in Temporary Accommodation, (2024) We shared our findings in relation to families’ experiences of temporary accommodation at the People, Place and Policy Conference at Sheffield Hallam University, July 2025.

Far from home resource A new resource has been developed to share families’ experiences of housing insecurity. The ‘Far from home’ resource is being launched in early November. Researchers worked with artist Maisy Summer to produce an illustrated booklet.

We shared emerging qualitative findings at the SSM Annual Scientific Meeting 2024 and Related news the Yorkshire and Humber Directors of Public Health Conference, 2024.

• The fabric of home: a word and textile exhibition exploring families’ experiences of hous• Our Fabric of Home exhibition – word and ing insecurity textile exhibition, showcased in Sheffield as part of the ESRC Festival of the Social Scienc- • New project exploring how local authorities es is also on display as part of the Homeless can support families experiencing housing inFamilies Conference by Shared Health in security Manchester, November 2025.

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Voluntary Sector Evaluation Scheme (VoySES) NIHR School for Public Health Research and People’s Health Trust partner on innovative voluntary sector evaluation scheme – VoySES The NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) and People’s Health Trust are collaborating together on a pilot scheme that aims to evaluate voluntary sector initiatives which are developed and delivered by communities. The results of the evaluation will help to identify voluntary sector initiatives that have the poten- individual but on the institutions and systial to improve public health and could be repli- tems which contribute to the discrimination cated in other areas. and also have the power to make a real People’s Health Trust is a charity addressing health inequalities through the building blocks of health. Their work focuses on funding and support for communities experiencing the great marginalisation and disadvantage and using evidence and learning to influence change locally and nationally.

difference to the health of generations of people.”

The NIHR School for Public Health Research evaluation team said:

“Our evaluation of this vital programme will focus on understanding how community-led action against discrimination can translate Priority areas launched into tangible health benefits for individuals and groups. We are particularly interested Charities to tackle root causes of disin how empowering marginalised communicrimination that harm health ties to challenge systemic injustices can imPeople’s Health Trust has launched a major new prove health and wellbeing, contributing to programme which aims to help local people ex- a more equitable and healthier society.” periencing discrimination – including racism, homophobia and transphobia, ableism, misogyny, and ageism – to take action and secure positive change that will benefit their health. The programme will be evaluated by the NIHR School for Public Health Research as part of its Voluntary Sector Evaluation Scheme.

John Hume, CEO of the People’s Health Trust, said:

“We know that discrimination gets under the skin and that it causes serious stress responses and has a damaging effect on health. Through this work we are trying to understand what can change to reduce or mitigate the harm by focusing not on the

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Pioneering approach to support young people five times more likely to be out of work Health equity charity People’s Health Trust will introduce its Good Work for Young People’s Mental Health programme in three cities as the number of 16–24 year olds not in work in the UK rises to a decade high.

The organisations awarded grants as part of the programme support young people with mental health problems, which can be caused or made worse by a lack of work. Three trusted, expert community organisations will work to remove barriers young people face and support them to secure meaningful employment opportunities.

The programme will be evaluated by the NIHR School for Public Health Research as part of VoySES. People’s Health Trust’s Chief Executive, John Hume, said:

“Young people deserve the very best of starts to their adult lives. What many have told us is that this is far from the reality.

Many feel confined to a life of anxiety and worsening mental issues with no prospects of finding good work and see their future as poverty and worsening health. Our programme will provide the very best of support to young people with mental health problems, whilst hopefully demonstrating both a cost-effective way of helping to reduce mental health problems and supporting young people into meaningful work and a positive future.”

SPHR researcher Dr Daniele Carrieri is part of the team evaluating the funding programme.

Daniele, speaking on behalf of a consortium of lead researchers from the University of Sheffield and Imperial College London, said:

“We are delighted to be working with People’s Health Trust and the organisations involved in the Good Work for Young People’s Mental Health programme to capture the learning and impact that having embedded individual placement support can have in supporting young people into good quality work and improving their health.”

You will here more from the two VoySES teams at the meeting on 16th October: •

Good work for young people’s mental health

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Discrimination and health

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NIHR Three Research Schools

ed projects are now complete. These projects have established a strong foundation for future The NIHR SPHR is one of three national reresearch and outputs are being widely dissemisearch Schools alongside the NIHR School for nated. Some award holders successfully secured Primary Care Research and the NIHR School for further funding through the programme’s reSocial Care Research funded by the National In- search project call. stitute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The first research project funding round generEach national School is a unique collaboration ated significant interest, resulting in 11 funded between leading academic centres in England, projects. Most of these projects started in April carrying out high-quality research in their re2025. Project details have been shared with spective fields. This research can be applied NIHR colleagues to support strategic alignment across the country to meet the needs of policy- and prevent duplication with other funded promakers, practitioners and the public. grammes. The Prevention Practice Evaluation Scheme has further strengthened partnerships between researchers and local practitioners, We are working with the other two NIHR resupporting six evaluations of innovative initiasearch Schools on three areas of work: tives aimed at improving the health and wellbe• Prevention Research Programme ing of underserved populations. These projects began in May 2025.

• Mental Health Research Programme

Introduction

The research capacity building programme is progressing well. Two recruitment rounds have resulted in the appointment of six pre-doctoral By working together, we can take a more holisand six post-doctoral fellows, who are now detic view, avoiding traditional ‘siloed’ research veloping tailored training plans and supported and generate the evidence needed by individuthrough a dedicated online collaboration space. als, families, practitioners and policy makers. We Three Career Development Awards have been draw on our expertise and established netmade to date. The additional Pre-Application works to ensure patient, carer, service usSupport Fund has enabled eight early-career reer, public and community engagement and work searchers to develop applications for fellowacross traditional disciplinary and secships, creating a clear pipeline to future research tor boundaries. leadership roles. The launch of a new Early Career Researcher Network will further support professional development, leadership skills, and Prevention Research Programme collaboration.

The NIHR Three Research Schools have Looking ahead we are just about to shortlist and been awarded £10m of funding, hosted by commission further Research Projects (40 appliSPHR to deliver a programme of prevention recations received), Follow-on Research Projects search from 2023–2027. The programme aims (8 applications received) and additional Career to develop, evaluate and understand how to imDevelopment Awards (22 applications received). plement interventions which promote health Transdisciplinary Placements, and Impact Acceland wellbeing, treat conditions early, and manerator Awards are to follow later this year. age health problems to prevent severe disease.

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Dementia Research Programme

The programme has made considerable progress in delivering its core objectives during the last 12 months. Research Development Grant fund-

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New Prevention website!

Three Schools Early Career Re-

A dedicated website has been launched for the programme, which the SPCR and SSCR websites searcher Event and the cross-school programmes will link to.

The Three NIHR Research Schools are set to host a second meeting for early career researchers from across the Schools, scheduled 12th Mental Health Research ProMarch 2026 in Birmingham.

gramme

The programme will focus on key themes such the NHS 10-year health plan, building connecImproving mental health and wellbeing in undertions, creating partnerships, and engaging with served populations through collaborative recommunities. search, the NIHR Three Research Schools have A highlight of the meeting will be a keynote adbeen awarded £11.8m of funding to deliver a dress from Alice Mortlock, Head of Capacity programme of mental health research from and Growth in the Science, Research and Evi2021–2026. dence Directorate, DHSC and Professor Kathryn Information on all awards is available on the Oliver, Director for the Policy Research Prowebsite. gramme, NIHR.

Dementia Research Programme Aiming to develop the evidence base for dementia-related practice in England by commissioning and conducting high-quality research.

Awarded £12.2m of funding from 2021–2028.

Information on all awards is available on the website.

Sign-up to receive the NIHR Three Research Schools Prevention newsletter

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Academic research capacity building

Introduction

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Presented 11 digital stories from PhD students, pre-doctoral and launching fellows

• 1 ECR Keynote talk We continue to make substantial progress in meeting the aims and objectives of our research • Read more about trainee reflections of ASM capacity development programme. This year, we 2025 were awarded additional funding to support individuals to prepare strong applications for an NIHR Career Development Funding award. This fund enabled us to fund 9 pre-application sup- Digital stories port awardees.

Training was organised for all PhD students and fellows to present a digital story at the ASM. Two-day workshop – academic

writing & creative communications Our current cohort of SPHR Predoctoral fellows, PhD students and Postdoctoral Launching fellows gathered for a twoday event aimed at enhancing academic writing and creative communication skills. The event provided an enriching environment for attendees to develop strategies, build networks, and refine their writing and communication skills.

SPHR Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) trainee highlights

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Showcased 13 posters from ResNet holders and summer internships

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Showcased 22 lightning talks from PhD students, pre-doctoral and launching fellows

Digital storytelling is the creation of personal, first-person narratives using a mix of voice, images, and simple video editing. Watch some of the winning videos on the next page.

ResNet The SPHR Researcher’s Network ‘ResNet’ has over 180 members, and they came together on 20th May at the Annual ResNet Meeting. The theme was ‘Bridging inclusion and impact’ and the day brought ECRs, practitioners and partners into the conversation about how public health research can better connect with the people and communities it aims to serve.

ResNet project funding is a dedicated development fund for ECRs within the School. 18 projects have been funded so far.

Podcast Launched this year, ‘Researchers in the making’ is a podcast by SPHR trainees Karen and Charan .

This was created after our writing and creative communications training last December which included an introduction to podcasting.

In this podcast, Karen and Charan discuss the ins and outs of doing a PhD in public health research.

Alumni From the intricacies of research, to the ups and downs of academic life, they share their experiWe have recently launched an alumni lunchtime ences in an honest, down-to-earth way. They also webinar series. Here, SPHR alumni return to share welcome fellow researchers to discuss their latest their journeys and insights with our current SPHR discoveries, giving listeners a front-row seat to emerging public health research. researcher community.

We’re proud to have supported over 100 alumni who have progressed through the programme and gone on to make significant contributions across the public health landscape.

Sessions to date include: •

Reflections and lessons learned from the experience of undertaking a Wellcome Trust Fellowship, Dr Naoimh McMahon

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Trying to make food and health policy change happen in the UK through research and advocacy, Dr Dolly R.Z. van Tulleken

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Beyond Academia: Navigating a Public Health Career Across Sectors, Dr Tishya Venkatraman

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UPF and Local Action: Tales from a Local Authority Internship, Dr Rosie Jenkins and Karen Ullian

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Academic research capacity building News and highlights SPHR PhD student Leah Attwell was on the winning Team at the 2025 NIHR Doctoral Training Camp SPHR PhD trainee Rukun Khalaf won 1st place at the ECR Creative Showcase during the GroundsWell Consortium 2024 retreat. For her presentation, Rukun wrote and delivered a poem titled “My research and me” The NIHR Three Research Schools came together to host an Early Career Researcher event with networking, sessions and discussions.

Dafni Lima writes about her experience completing a transdisciplinary placement. My transdisciplinary journey: building bridges between law and public health PhD student Rosalyn Arnold won a poster prize at the INRICH conference SPHR Post-doctoral launching fellow Oluwaseun Esan writes about her fellowship experience in this insightful and thought provoking blog: Finding my footing – building a career, one small win at a time Dr Helen Hoyle, SPHR Transdisciplinary Research Fellow is playing a central role in a major new national initiative to reconnect communities with nature and improve public health.

Watch more digital stories

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PI&E and EDI Public and community involvement Equality, diversity and inclusion and engagement (PI&E) (EDI) Our vision is to prioritise and support the devel- The School aims to create an inclusive, welcome opment of inclusive, equitable, and impactful and equitable research and training structure public involvement and engagement in our reand an environment that celebrates diversity search by working collaboratively with members and values and recognises contributions from of the public to share capacity in ways that all. The School has an EDI committee that meet regularly to oversee implementation of strengthen research outcomes. the 2022–2027 EDI strategy and action plan.

We continue to implement our PI&E Strategy, with work ongoing under each of the four strat- We have incorporated EDI-related questions into all application and reporting forms. Reegy pillars: Involving everyone, reflecting SPHR’s commit- sponses are being reviewed to identify examples of good practice, monitor how inclusion and diment to equity and inclusion and the need to versity are being incorporated within activities, ensure that involvement and engagement are as well as to identify any barriers and consistent accessible to everyone; challenges that may need to be addressed.

Involving everywhere, reflecting a renewed We have commissioned a pilot for EDI Small commitment to involvement and engagement that reaches everywhere in SPHR’s geography, Awards aimed at supporting elements within the strategy. The first round led to four successful including historically underserved communities; awards, including projects to support accessible Evidencing impact, reflecting a need both to and inclusive meetings, consolidation of NIHR demonstrate the impact of involvement and en- EDI strategies, and promoting equity in undergagement and to ensure that these impacts are represented groups. These topics span many of communicated to public partners; and the strategy pillars.

Impacting evidence, reflecting the ongoing drive Recognition of EDI work is ongoing through to optimise involvement and engagement pronominations for individuals or teams demoncesses in support of the highest levels of impact. strating good practice, with awards at the Annual Scientific Meeting.

Involving the public in our work improves the quality of our research and helps us to ensure it is relevant. Working with the public means our research is more likely to be transformed into health benefits for people.

Recognition of PI&E work is ongoing through nominations for individuals or teams demonstrating good practice, with awards at the Annual Scientific Meeting.

Recent news Launch of School for Public Health Research Young People’s Advisory Network Creating the Public involvement and engagement Charter – A young person’s perspective How to involve the public in your research when it’s complex and technical

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Other updates Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) The School held its tenth Annual Scientific Meeting in May 2025. The event was held inperson in Bristol hosted by the University of Bristol.

The event had: •

More than 200 delegates in attendance (including researchers, public partners and public health professionals)

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72 speakers

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22 lightning talks

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13 posters

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11 digital stories

Recordings from the day are on the SPHR YouTube channel (timestamps in the video descriptions form chapters you can use to navigate within the sessions).

The event brought members together to collaborate and connect face to face. It provided an opportunity to welcome new School members and strengthen the School’s network of researchers and public and practice partners.

Planning is underway for ASM 2026. The meeting is being held in London 13–14th May at the British Library. Save the date

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Related blogs: •

Live scribing at the SPHR ASM 2025

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ASM 2025: Stitching together research, people, and yarn

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Advancing inclusive and innovative public health research – ASM 2025

Finance The School was awarded £29.9M from 2022–2027, allocated to activity as shown below. We have since been awarded an inflationary uplift of 2.39% (£652k) and funding for pre-application support awards (£180k) bringing total award for SPHR to £30.7M (with an additional £10M for Prevention Research Programme bringing total to £40.7M).

Communications

Research highlights benefits of school-based mental health interventions

The School’s social media accounts (Bluesky and LinkedIn) are used to communicate what’s hap- Highlights pening including new publications and opportuYouTube viewing figures nities. We currently have 852 followers on Bluesky and 1,162 on LinkedIn. West Midlands Knowledge and Action Partnership for Race Equity—viewed 25,330 times We circulate monthly newsletters within the School (275 subscribers) and externally to stake- Children's story – 'Twinkle Twinkle Arti' by Danholders (821 subscribers). ielle Slade—viewed 25,320 times We have a training newsletter for early career Creating knowledge partnerships for Equity researchers (228 subscribers) and have recently (CLARITY) project—viewed 9,251 times launched a Prevention mailing list (452 subscribers).

News highlights from the last year: Addressing food insecurity in England Spotlight on HDRC Newcastle: Claire Batey, Knowledge Mobilisation Lead, Newcastle City Council

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Click on the images below to find out more about other activity across the School

Bluesky @nihrsphr.bsky.social NIHR SPHR LinkedIn