People, Health and Communities Research Group: our vision

We aim to transform the lives of people in communities and in health and care settings through trans/inter-disciplinary research to:  

• understand how the experience of health and care affects everyday life in local, national and global contexts.
• examine how people living with long-term physical and mental health conditions and/or disabilities can be supported to cope with the physical, psychological and social consequences of poor health through improved prevention, interventions, rehabilitation, care delivery and management pathways.
• improve the lives of older people through the co-production of applied knowledge in everyday, service and community contexts.  
• embed our research in teaching.
• translate knowledge into policy and practice to address social marginalisation and reduce social and health inequities. 

We have particular expertise in understanding the psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors that influence health and social participation in society, and in leading developments in technologies that improve people’s care experience and outcomes and enhance interventions provided by health and care professionals.

We do this by:

• conducting world-class health and related research to inform policy and practice
• collaborating with our partners across the globe
• working in transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary ways across disciplines, sectors and ideational boundaries
• using a plurality of research methodologies and methods including: 
  • creative methods (including storytelling, animations and photo, image and video capture) 
  • modern psychometric techniques  
  • written, verbal and visual qualitative methods 
  • systematic review approaches including meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, and realist reviews and syntheses 
• mixing and/or combining multiple research methods to capture complexity and diversity
• using participatory approaches, where appropriate, to place stakeholders (including person, family and community) at the centre of research activities
• applying innovative information and technological approaches
• engaging plural theoretical frameworks and models
• conducting research involving peoples’ everyday lives and how they intersect in health and social care settings 
• studying the effects of changing health and care practitioner behaviours on social and health care outcomes 
• engaging with key stakeholders to increase the two-way flow of knowledge and insight to enable effective knowledge translation and mobilisation including health and social care and policy sectors
• supervising postgraduate students
• maximising the benefits we generate for and with the public to ensure our social responsibility 
• delivering engaged teaching activities that enhance students’ engagement skills and benefit our communities
• developing a sustainable, high quality and vibrant research environment
• undertaking consultancy, training and the provision of world-leading education

Our national and international partners 

Our extensive networks and academic and cross-sectoral partnerships ensure that we maintain a focus on applied problems that matter to policy makers, practitioners, people who use health and social care services, community residents and wider society.