Levelling up health research in Newcastle City Council: a collaborative approach to tackling health inequalities by addressing the wider determinants of health

Public health improvement is a fundamental aspect of what Newcastle City Council does, not least because ours is a city with significant areas of deprivation. As a result, life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are low in Newcastle – many people spend a higher proportion of their shorter lives coping with chronic disease and disability, which affects rates of economic inactivity, physical inactivity, mental health, formal and informal care needs, and preventable mortality.

We want research to underpin all our work in support of tackling the wider determinants of health, but we still face challenges in doing so in a coherent, systematic and sustained way. That is why we see the establishment of a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) as a crucial opportunity to transform our approach to research and the impact it will have on our city and residents.

Research capacity exists in part, but several barriers have been identified which prevent the council being more effective as a research organisation.

We aim to establish a comprehensive cross-council research and data infrastructure, with senior leader commitment, that embeds evidence-informed decision making across all service areas, and offers a leading city-wide resource for partners. This will facilitate a deeper understanding of health determinants across the communities we and partners serve, and inform service design, evaluation and improvement.

It will be integral to shaping our Council Plan and Local Plan, as well as our Health and Wellbeing Strategy. It will also improve co-creation of research with academic institutions, breaking down systemic organisational barriers so that research is coproduced (including through public involvement) and provides timely results to inform decision making and practice.

This will be done through the creation of a number of new, specialist roles to support the council make best use of its data, and to engage in research and analysis to support improved outcomes. Leadership roles in the HDRC will promote a research culture by sharing best practice and helping teams to consider how they plan, carry out, and use research.

The HDRC will have a particular focus on reducing socio-economic and place-based health inequalities, whilst recognising the intersectional and compound effects of inequality on already marginalised populations, including those with protected characteristics and vulnerable groups. Factors associated with poverty impact on individuals’ resilience, and resources to access the conditions necessary for a healthy life and/or adopt healthier behaviours, resulting in health inequity.

The involvement of service users, decision makers, statutory partners and the public will be principally based on our strong networks and established practice within the local authority. We will also establish roles for public and stakeholder engagement, and dissemination and will host a peer network for sharing and learning from other HDRCs and councils that want to be more research active.

Success will be monitored through internal measures to identify the change the HDRC is making to how the council operates, alongside population measures of changed outcomes for the city population. We will disseminate learning through our existing partnerships, mechanisms and public engagement forums.