Plymouth Health Determinants Research Collaboration

Background and rationale

Plymouth has, like many other coastal cities, high mortality rates. The wider determinants of health contribute to both poor quality of life and inequalities. Plymouth City Council (PCC) recognises that tackling the problems related to employment, housing, food, crime and education requires an innovative approach which is outlined in The Plymouth Plan.

An HDRC will build on these strengths to ensure that we better understand what works, why and under which circumstances (financial, contextual and organisational) and share this learning. Aims: 1. Develop the culture and skills to ensure a learning approach informs decision making 2. Produce knowledge for use locally and of value nationally, especially for similar coastal communities

Objectives:

• Support changes aimed at addressing the wider determinants of health through a cultural change in relation to the use of evidence and evaluation

• Carry out specific prioritised research projects related to The Plymouth Plan’s innovations to address the wider determinants of health • Successfully bid for external research funding

• Build collaborations for sharing knowledge and carrying out research with other HDRCs and similar coastal communities Methods:

We will set up a joint PCC and University of Plymouth (UoP) research team embedded within the council. Researchers in Residence (RiRs) will work with council Research Champions and Public Partners. The team will work alongside those delivering changes designed to address wider determinants of health and collaborate with specialist university researchers. Public Partnership will be developed though links to existing organisations and the engagement of individuals during specific projects.

Initial work will focus on culture change and wider skills development. We will focus on helping people understand the shift from commissioning based on monitoring delivery to decision making based on understanding complex interactions. Specific research projects likely to have the most impact locally and nationally will be developed.

Informed by a Human Learning Systems philosophy, and building on the existing use of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), the team will use a range of methods suited to understanding complex dynamic systems: evidence synthesis, quantitative analysis of routine data, realist informed observation and interviews and health economics. External funding bids will be developed for calls and based on local priorities and expertise.

A Management Board and an Advisory Group will oversee and support the HDRC. Timelines

After initial set up and recruitment we will annually prioritise the areas we will be working in. The scale and complexity of the research will grow as our skills and experience do. Within five years we aim to be securing external funding and delivering locally and nationally relevant research. Dissemination and Impact

Pathways to impact are built into the Plymouth HDRC Model. Local impact will be achieved through general culture change and staged feedback of the results of specific projects, aided by an understanding of context. Building trusting relationships will be prioritised to ensure engagement with setbacks as well as successes.

National impact will be achieved through production of traditional outputs such as reports, research publications, blogs and webinars, as well as using more intensive knowledge mobilisation techniques.