New funding to tackle health inequalities

Liverpool John Moores University’s role in a new innovative local government partnership will boost research capacity and capability to tackle health inequalities and improve outcomes across the city.

Public health partners in Liverpool have secured £5m of national funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to create a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) between Liverpool City Council, LJMU and the University of Liverpool.

It will help to stimulate economic growth and regeneration and contribute to reducing pressure on NHS services by improving public health.

The initiative will engage with local communities and focus on a range of key factors in public health, including employment, housing, education and the physical environment.

It aligns with LJMU’s commitment to both research and knowledge exchange and working closely with partners across our communities.

The Liverpool HDRC will go live in January 2024.

Making a real difference

Professor Mark Bellis, LJMU’s Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Health, said: “I’m delighted that together we have secured this significant funding for crucial public health research and development in Liverpool.

“Working with our partners, we will use our research and innovation expertise to better understand the issues faced by our communities and develop evidence-based solutions to tackle them.

“This reflects our commitment to carrying out impactful and transformative research that makes a real difference to people’s lives.”

Engaging with local communities

Professor Brian Ferguson, Director of the NIHR Public Health Research Programme, said: “People living in communities across the country face major challenges that are impacting on their health. Once again, NIHR is taking a huge stride forward in empowering local government to develop research to improve their communities’ health and wellbeing.

“Continued HDRC innovation will boost partnerships between local government and the academic sector, enabling local authorities to make better evidence-informed decisions - critical given the current pressures on funding. We expect the HDRC areas to engage actively with their local communities to listen to people’s views and involve them appropriately in shaping and undertaking research.

“By focusing on the wider determinants of health such as employment, housing, education and the physical environment, the areas we are supporting have a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting impact on health inequalities and wider deprivation.”