Health Policy
These pages are currently being updated Winter/Spring 2023/24
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Our vision is to unite policymakers, professionals, communities, and researchers to produce timely and impactful health and care policy research that promotes a healthier and more equitable society. We aim to achieve this by generating and disseminating robust evidence to inform policymaking and implementation, incorporating theoretical and empirical techniques from economics, sociology, and other social sciences. Collaboration and capacity development are at the heart of our ethos, ensuring our work has a broad and lasting impact.
Our work centres around three interconnected research themes:
Priority setting and resource allocation techniques to enhance investment and disinvestment decisions in health and care
Focus: Strategies for effective distribution of limited resources in health and care.
Objectives: Develop and evaluate methods for prioritising and deprioritising health and care interventions, assess the impact of resource allocation decisions (including on marginalised groups), and create frameworks to ensure fair and efficient use of resources
Integrated models for health and social care
Focus: Promoting seamless coordination between various health and care services.
Objectives: Study the implementation and impact of integrated care systems, develop models to facilitate collaboration among healthcare providers, and assess patient outcomes in integrated care settings.
Workforce dynamics in health and social care
Focus: Understand and improve the health and care workforce.
Objectives: Investigate workforce challenges, develop strategies for workforce planning and development, and explore the impact of workforce policies on health outcomes.
Cross cutting principles and techniques
Within each of these themes there is an emphasis on:
Community engagement and health equity
Focus: Ensuring active community involvement in health initiatives and addressing health inequalities.
Objectives: Engage communities in the research and policy development process, identify and address barriers to health equity, and develop strategies to promote inclusive health and care practices.
Timely implementation of evidence to inform policymaking
Focus: Enhancing the use of research evidence in health and care policy and practice.
Objectives: Promote the integration of evidence into policy-making, evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based policies, and develop tools to facilitate evidence use in decision-making.
Methodological and theoretical development
Focus: Fusing theoretical approaches and methodological techniques from economics, sociology, and other social sciences
Objectives: Integrate qualitative and quantitative methods, apply economic theories of resource scarcity, incorporate behavioural science perspectives, and innovate new research methodologies.
Example Projects
A mixed-methods investigation of the delivery, impact, and acceptability of a national de-adoption programme in the English NHS (Olivia).
Healthy Weight training resources for paid carers of adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism.
A qualitative study to understand how people with depression and similar mental health conditions access, engage with, and experience community-based weight management services (Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies).
Strengthening links between mental health primary care services and community supports.
Priority setting across BNSSG ICS – a qualitative study to increase understanding of resource allocation in health and care.
Studies to strengthen the use of research evidence by social care teams working in adult and children’s services.
Policy group members contribute to:
NIHR Applied research collaboration West (ARC West), which conducts applied health and care research with partners in the health and care sector, including patients, service users and members of the public.
Qualitative Research Integrated within Trials (QuinteT), which pioneers qualitative approaches to optimise recruitment and informed consent to randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
Bristol Technology Assessment Group (Bristol TAG) which is commissioned by NIHR to produce reviews of healthcare technologies to support NICE guidance committees
Current PhD projecrs
Sarah Ballisat - The role of integrated care in addressing health inequities.
Josie Morley - Investigating treatment-decision making in the context of de-implementation.