Research carried out at Leeds Beckett University (LBU) is directly applicable to challenges on healthy ageing, health inequalities, devolution, and inclusive growth.
We are working on a six-month project to scope the feasibility of a research-practice hub at the university focused around public health and communities.
The outcome will be identification of the best model and necessary resources for a hub that can be responsive to the local context in the Leeds City Region, broker support/funding and manage networks, and support LBU’s existing research centres and the development of research excellence around Health and Wellbeing.
We will be gathering the views and perspectives of LBU staff and the hub’s potential stakeholders:
- We need to map what the university can offer to stakeholders across the Leeds City Region. The aim is to better coordinate our efforts across the university to maximise opportunities to produce impactful research
- It is important for us to understand current information needs of external stakeholders and how they might evolve, so we will be speaking to colleagues from across the public health and communities field.
- It is also important for any potential LBU hub to complement existing national, regional, and local research infrastructure and so we will be speaking to relevant stakeholders about the best way to do this.
The scoping is being undertaken by Kris Southby and Andrew Passey, with Jane South (Prof. of Healthy Communities) and Gary Jones (Director of Research for Clinical and Applied Sciences)
Kris Southby is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Promotion Research (CHPR) at LBU. Kris works across the breadth of CHPR’s portfolio of work and has led empirical research and evidence reviews concerning befriending, social inclusion, and local health systems. Kris has particular interests in the third sectors role in health and wellbeing and in strategies to promote inclusion for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Andrew Passey is a Research Assistant in the School of Health and Community Studies. His PhD involved a case study of the implementation of policy designed to improve young people’s access to mental health services, reduce stigma, and develop the mental health workforce. His particular interests are in the co-production of policy and public service delivery in mental health and other service areas, professionalism in the context of contemporary public service systems, and the role of the voluntary sector in policy development and implementation.
If you’re interested in speaking to us about the development of a LBU public health & communities hub or if you’d like to be kept updated on the progress of the work, please contact either Kris or Andrew.
