System-science Informed Public Health and Economic Research for Non-communicable Disease Prevention (the SIPHER Consortium)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Health and Related Research
Abstract
THE PROBLEM
There is strong evidence that the social and economic conditions in which we grow, live, work and age determine our health to a much larger degree than lifestyle choices. These social determinants of health, such as income, good quality homes, education or work, are not distributed equally in society, which leads to health inequalities. However, we know very little about how specific policies influence the social conditions to prevent ill health and reduce health inequalities. Also, most social determinants of health are the responsibility of policy sectors other than "health", which means policymakers need to promote health in ALL their policies if they are to have a big impact on health. SIPHER will provide new scientific evidence and methods to support such a shift from "health policy" to "healthy public policy".
OUR POLICY FOCUS
We will work with three policy partners at local, regional and national level to tackle their above-average chronic disease burden and persistent health inequalities: Sheffield City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Scottish Government. We will focus on four jointly agreed policy priorities for good health:
- Creating a fairer economy
- Promoting mental wellbeing
- Providing affordable, good quality housing
- Preventing long-term effects of difficult childhoods.
OUR COMPLEX SYSTEMS SCIENCE APPROACH
Each of the above policy areas is a complex political system with many competing priorities, where policy choices in one sector (e.g. housing) can have large unintended effects in others (e.g. poverty). There is often no "correct" solution because compromises between different outcomes require value judgements. This means that to assess the true benefits and costs of a policy in relation to health, policy effects and their interdependencies need to be assessed across a wide range of possible outcomes. However, no policymaker has knowledge of the whole system and future economic and political developments are uncertain. Ongoing monitoring of expected and unexpected effects of policies and other system changes is crucial so failing policies can be revised or dropped.
We propose to use complex systems modelling, which has been developed to understand and make projections of what might happen in complex systems given different plausible assumptions about future developments. Our models will be underpinned by the best available data and prior research in each policy area. Our new evidence about likely policy effects across a wide range of outcomes will help policy partners decide between alternative policies, depending on how important different outcomes are to them (e.g. improving health or economic growth). We will develop support tools that can visualise the forecasts, identify policies that achieve the desired balance between competing outcomes and update recommendations when new information emerges. Whilst new to public health policy, these methods are well-established in engineering and climate science.
We will
1. Work with policy partners to understand the policy systems and evidence needs
2. Bring together existing data and evidence on each policy system (e.g. links between policies and outcomes, interdependencies between outcomes)
3. Explore citizens' preferences for prioritising when not all outcomes can be achieved
4. Link policies and their health and non-health effects in computer models to analyse benefits and costs over time
5. Build an interactive tool to help policy decision-making, inform advocacy action and support political debate.
SIPHER's MAIN OUTCOME
We will provide policymakers with a new methodology that allows them to estimate the health-related costs and benefits of policies that are implemented outside the health sector. This will be useful to our partners, and others, who want to assess how scarce public sector resources can be spent to maximise the health and wellbeing benefits from all their activities.
There is strong evidence that the social and economic conditions in which we grow, live, work and age determine our health to a much larger degree than lifestyle choices. These social determinants of health, such as income, good quality homes, education or work, are not distributed equally in society, which leads to health inequalities. However, we know very little about how specific policies influence the social conditions to prevent ill health and reduce health inequalities. Also, most social determinants of health are the responsibility of policy sectors other than "health", which means policymakers need to promote health in ALL their policies if they are to have a big impact on health. SIPHER will provide new scientific evidence and methods to support such a shift from "health policy" to "healthy public policy".
OUR POLICY FOCUS
We will work with three policy partners at local, regional and national level to tackle their above-average chronic disease burden and persistent health inequalities: Sheffield City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Scottish Government. We will focus on four jointly agreed policy priorities for good health:
- Creating a fairer economy
- Promoting mental wellbeing
- Providing affordable, good quality housing
- Preventing long-term effects of difficult childhoods.
OUR COMPLEX SYSTEMS SCIENCE APPROACH
Each of the above policy areas is a complex political system with many competing priorities, where policy choices in one sector (e.g. housing) can have large unintended effects in others (e.g. poverty). There is often no "correct" solution because compromises between different outcomes require value judgements. This means that to assess the true benefits and costs of a policy in relation to health, policy effects and their interdependencies need to be assessed across a wide range of possible outcomes. However, no policymaker has knowledge of the whole system and future economic and political developments are uncertain. Ongoing monitoring of expected and unexpected effects of policies and other system changes is crucial so failing policies can be revised or dropped.
We propose to use complex systems modelling, which has been developed to understand and make projections of what might happen in complex systems given different plausible assumptions about future developments. Our models will be underpinned by the best available data and prior research in each policy area. Our new evidence about likely policy effects across a wide range of outcomes will help policy partners decide between alternative policies, depending on how important different outcomes are to them (e.g. improving health or economic growth). We will develop support tools that can visualise the forecasts, identify policies that achieve the desired balance between competing outcomes and update recommendations when new information emerges. Whilst new to public health policy, these methods are well-established in engineering and climate science.
We will
1. Work with policy partners to understand the policy systems and evidence needs
2. Bring together existing data and evidence on each policy system (e.g. links between policies and outcomes, interdependencies between outcomes)
3. Explore citizens' preferences for prioritising when not all outcomes can be achieved
4. Link policies and their health and non-health effects in computer models to analyse benefits and costs over time
5. Build an interactive tool to help policy decision-making, inform advocacy action and support political debate.
SIPHER's MAIN OUTCOME
We will provide policymakers with a new methodology that allows them to estimate the health-related costs and benefits of policies that are implemented outside the health sector. This will be useful to our partners, and others, who want to assess how scarce public sector resources can be spent to maximise the health and wellbeing benefits from all their activities.
Technical Summary
BACKGROUND: Systems science reframes public policies as active components of a complex, dynamic, policy system that includes mechanisms such as feedback between interrelated effects, effect delay and system adaptation. In public health, systems science has challenged and helped to change infectious disease policy, including vaccination strategies for poliomyelitis and measles. However, it has not yet realised its potential impact on non-communicable disease (NCD) policy, in part due to a lack of compatible methods to appraise policy effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
VISION: SIPHER will be a world-leading centre of excellence for innovative, public health and health economics focused systems science. During UKPRP, it will catalyse a shift from health policies to whole-systems, healthy public policy.
THEORY OF CHANGE: SIPHER's policy partners seek to reduce NCDs and health inequalities (HI) by incorporating health considerations into non-health sectors. Academic and policy partners will co-produce complex systems decision modelling and evaluate its effectiveness in supporting policy design in four focus areas: inclusive economic growth; housing; adverse childhood experiences; and mental health.
RESEARCH: Eight interwoven workstrands will investigate: how policymakers think about and use evidence; iterative evidence synthesis; working securely with sensitive data and building simulated populations; individual- and population-level dynamic models; values and preferences for equitable outcomes; identification of win-wins, best-buys, and adaptable policies across sectors; process evaluation.
USER ENGAGEMENT: Co-production across local, regional and national government and knowledge transfer support by influential partners.
BENEFITS: SIPHER will deliver scalable and transferable methods and tools to design, target, advocate for, implement and monitor policy strategies that maximise NCD prevention and health inequality reductions.
This grant is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) which is administered by the Medical Research Council on behalf of the UKPRP's 12 funding partners: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Welsh Government; Health and Social Care Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; National Institute for Health Research; The Health Foundation; The Wellcome Trust.
VISION: SIPHER will be a world-leading centre of excellence for innovative, public health and health economics focused systems science. During UKPRP, it will catalyse a shift from health policies to whole-systems, healthy public policy.
THEORY OF CHANGE: SIPHER's policy partners seek to reduce NCDs and health inequalities (HI) by incorporating health considerations into non-health sectors. Academic and policy partners will co-produce complex systems decision modelling and evaluate its effectiveness in supporting policy design in four focus areas: inclusive economic growth; housing; adverse childhood experiences; and mental health.
RESEARCH: Eight interwoven workstrands will investigate: how policymakers think about and use evidence; iterative evidence synthesis; working securely with sensitive data and building simulated populations; individual- and population-level dynamic models; values and preferences for equitable outcomes; identification of win-wins, best-buys, and adaptable policies across sectors; process evaluation.
USER ENGAGEMENT: Co-production across local, regional and national government and knowledge transfer support by influential partners.
BENEFITS: SIPHER will deliver scalable and transferable methods and tools to design, target, advocate for, implement and monitor policy strategies that maximise NCD prevention and health inequality reductions.
This grant is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) which is administered by the Medical Research Council on behalf of the UKPRP's 12 funding partners: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Welsh Government; Health and Social Care Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; National Institute for Health Research; The Health Foundation; The Wellcome Trust.
Planned Impact
THE PUBLIC
SIPHER's ultimate beneficiaries will be communities, initially in our partner jurisdictions and then more widely, through reductions in NCDs and health inequalities, and associated increases in wellbeing, resulting from the more evidence-informed, joined-up approaches to decision-making and policy debate that our research enables.
POLICY MAKERS, POLICY ADVISORS AND POLICY ANALYSTS
SIPHER's consortium members include policy organisations who wish to develop cost-effective and implementable policy proposals that maximise gains across various policy priorities, including reducing NCDs and health inequalities. SIPHER supports our policy colleagues by addressing four central problems that have restricted UK policy progress despite a strong and growing evidence-base about the upstream causes of ill health:
1) Policy makers struggle to articulate and defend the case for taking upstream, equity orientated action to prevent downstream health crises. Combining policy studies, public health, economic and modelling expertise, SIPHER will address this by two key means: a) working in close partnership with policy organisations (e.g. embedding SIPHER analysts) to provide policy makers with a trusted and accessible means of demonstrating the the costs and benefits of specific upstream preventative policy options compared to more downstream, responsive activities; and b) providing new evidence of public preferences regarding necessary trade-offs between different policy options and across relevant health and non-health outcomes, enabling advisors to provide policy makers with a more informed sense of likely public responses.
2) Policy makers repeatedly bemoan the lack of evidence on 'best buys' for policy investment, particularly in conditions of uncertainty. SIPHER will transform the policy utility of available evidence: it brings together what scientists, policy makers and communities know about a policy area, and uses models to test causal pathways and provide the kind of quantified projections that policymakers seek. This enables them to assess multiple different scenarios where major uncertainties about future developments (e.g. Brexit) exist, and adapt policies as uncertainties resolve.
3) While the complexity and interdependencies of systems linking upstream determinants to health outcomes are widely recognised, decision-makers often regard this complexity as difficult to navigate and therefore paralysing. Our systems science approach captures the dynamics of systems in our policy areas to facilitate joined-up decision-making and budget allocations through making visible the simultaneous impacts of policy options on multiple cross-sectoral policy outcomes.
4) Policy actors consistently cite the lack of timeliness of research as a key barrier to its use. The flexible, adaptive nature of our modelling will enable SIPHER to provide policy projections that can be rapidly adjusted to incorporate shifts in policy context and priorities.
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC HEALTH NGOs AND INTEREST GROUPS
Politicians, NGOs and others (e.g. media, professional bodies) will be able to access, independently assess and employ SIPHER's outputs, tools, and evidence base via the familiar channels of our KT partners (including PHE, LGA, NHSHS), enabling advocacy efforts for policy options that are demonstrably good for public health. Given the crucial role of politics and interests in decision-making, SIPHER's efforts to ensure that these wider policy networks can understand, access and employ our outputs will be crucial to achieving long-term impacts in hotly contested policy areas.
SCIENTISTS AND ANALYSTS
Having shown the policy utility of systems science, SIPHER will scale up its impact ambitions radiating from our investigator's networks to embed our freely accessible methods and tools into policy analysis across and beyond the UK, helping others carry out research to realise widespread reductions in NCDs and health inequalities.
SIPHER's ultimate beneficiaries will be communities, initially in our partner jurisdictions and then more widely, through reductions in NCDs and health inequalities, and associated increases in wellbeing, resulting from the more evidence-informed, joined-up approaches to decision-making and policy debate that our research enables.
POLICY MAKERS, POLICY ADVISORS AND POLICY ANALYSTS
SIPHER's consortium members include policy organisations who wish to develop cost-effective and implementable policy proposals that maximise gains across various policy priorities, including reducing NCDs and health inequalities. SIPHER supports our policy colleagues by addressing four central problems that have restricted UK policy progress despite a strong and growing evidence-base about the upstream causes of ill health:
1) Policy makers struggle to articulate and defend the case for taking upstream, equity orientated action to prevent downstream health crises. Combining policy studies, public health, economic and modelling expertise, SIPHER will address this by two key means: a) working in close partnership with policy organisations (e.g. embedding SIPHER analysts) to provide policy makers with a trusted and accessible means of demonstrating the the costs and benefits of specific upstream preventative policy options compared to more downstream, responsive activities; and b) providing new evidence of public preferences regarding necessary trade-offs between different policy options and across relevant health and non-health outcomes, enabling advisors to provide policy makers with a more informed sense of likely public responses.
2) Policy makers repeatedly bemoan the lack of evidence on 'best buys' for policy investment, particularly in conditions of uncertainty. SIPHER will transform the policy utility of available evidence: it brings together what scientists, policy makers and communities know about a policy area, and uses models to test causal pathways and provide the kind of quantified projections that policymakers seek. This enables them to assess multiple different scenarios where major uncertainties about future developments (e.g. Brexit) exist, and adapt policies as uncertainties resolve.
3) While the complexity and interdependencies of systems linking upstream determinants to health outcomes are widely recognised, decision-makers often regard this complexity as difficult to navigate and therefore paralysing. Our systems science approach captures the dynamics of systems in our policy areas to facilitate joined-up decision-making and budget allocations through making visible the simultaneous impacts of policy options on multiple cross-sectoral policy outcomes.
4) Policy actors consistently cite the lack of timeliness of research as a key barrier to its use. The flexible, adaptive nature of our modelling will enable SIPHER to provide policy projections that can be rapidly adjusted to incorporate shifts in policy context and priorities.
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC HEALTH NGOs AND INTEREST GROUPS
Politicians, NGOs and others (e.g. media, professional bodies) will be able to access, independently assess and employ SIPHER's outputs, tools, and evidence base via the familiar channels of our KT partners (including PHE, LGA, NHSHS), enabling advocacy efforts for policy options that are demonstrably good for public health. Given the crucial role of politics and interests in decision-making, SIPHER's efforts to ensure that these wider policy networks can understand, access and employ our outputs will be crucial to achieving long-term impacts in hotly contested policy areas.
SCIENTISTS AND ANALYSTS
Having shown the policy utility of systems science, SIPHER will scale up its impact ambitions radiating from our investigator's networks to embed our freely accessible methods and tools into policy analysis across and beyond the UK, helping others carry out research to realise widespread reductions in NCDs and health inequalities.
Organisations
- University of Sheffield (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Glasgow (Collaboration)
- Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (Collaboration)
- Manchester University (Collaboration)
- LEEDS TEACHING HOSPITALS NHS TRUST (Collaboration)
- CSART (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (Collaboration)
- Government of the UK (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX (Collaboration)
- University of Stirling (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY (Collaboration)
Publications
Angus C
(2020)
Visualising the spread of COVID-19 across England
in People, Place and Policy Online
Arnold KF
(2019)
DAG-informed regression modelling, agent-based modelling and microsimulation modelling: a critical comparison of methods for causal inference.
in International journal of epidemiology
Arnold KF
(2019)
Adjustment for time-invariant and time-varying confounders in 'unexplained residuals' models for longitudinal data within a causal framework and associated challenges.
in Statistical methods in medical research
Bambra C
(2022)
Levelling up: Global examples of reducing health inequalities.
in Scandinavian journal of public health
Bambra C
(2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic and health inequalities.
in Journal of epidemiology and community health
Barton CM
(2020)
Call for transparency of COVID-19 models.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Brand-Correa L
(2022)
Economics for people and planet-moving beyond the neoclassical paradigm.
in The Lancet. Planetary health
Collyer TA
(2020)
An atlas of health inequalities and health disparities research: "How is this all getting done in silos, and why?".
in Social science & medicine (1982)
Heppenstall A
(2019)
Guest editorial for spatial agent-based models: current practices and future trends
in GeoInformatica
Description | ACSE PhD Studentship |
Amount | £69,018 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | ACSE PhD Studentship |
Amount | £69,018 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Inclusive Growth Expert Research Capacity |
Amount | £6,920 (GBP) |
Organisation | Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2019 |
End | 12/2019 |
Description | Leeds PhD Studentship |
Amount | £63,861 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Leeds |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 09/2023 |
Description | QR Strategic Priorities Fund (KE Delivery) |
Amount | £145,835 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Department | Research England |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2020 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | Quantifying Utility and Privacy Preservation in Synthetic Populations (QUiPP) |
Amount | £408,611 (GBP) |
Funding ID | TPS2019\100019 |
Organisation | Alan Turing Institute |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 03/2021 |
Description | ScHARR PhD Studentship |
Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Strathclyde PhD Studentship |
Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 09/2023 |
Title | SIPHER Wellbeing and Equivalent Income Discrete Choice Experiment |
Description | Since SIPHER-7 is multi-dimensional, we cannot judge if somebody's situation is getting better, if at least one dimension improves while another declines. In order to collapse the seven dimensions into one number, based on the preferences of the members of the public, we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) via an online survey. The DCE data will allow us to calculate the relative importance of each SIPHER-7 dimension, and to convert the level of wellbeing associated with any outcome state described in terms of SIPHER-7 into a money metric known as "equivalent income". Equivalent income is an interpersonally comparable preference-based measure of wellbeing. Equivalent income of a given outcome state can be expressed as: the amount of income that, if combined with the best levels of non-income dimensions, is as good as the outcome state in question. None of the categories above are appropriate for this tool that we have developed, however the choice we have made (physiological assessment or outcome measure) seems the closest fit. |
Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | None at the moment. A manuscript outlining the process of development for submission to a peer reviewed scientific journal is currently in preparation. |
Title | SIPHER-7 |
Description | In SIPHER, we assume wellbeing is multi-dimensional. Through consultation within the SIPHER team (including the policy partners), we have agreed to focus on seven domains (the effect of physical health, the effect of mental health, feeling lonely and excluded, household disposable income after housing costs, main daily activity, quality of the house, and the safety of the neighbourhood). This set of outcome measures has been named SIPHER-7. SIPHER-7 is a research tool to measure and understand wellbeing outcomes. None of the categories above are appropriate for this tool that we have developed, however the choice we have made (physiological assessment or outcome measure) seems the closest fit. |
Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | None at the moment. A report outlining the process of development of the SIPHER-7 is currently in preparation. |
Description | Barnsley Shaping Health Places |
Organisation | Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | SIPHER is working with Dr Adam Whitworth in the Department of Geography at the University of Sheffield to co-develop a Shaping Health Places bid with Barnsley Council. Collaborative conversations to date have focused on how we can better connect health and wider social determinants in an area of Barnsley with significant and entrenched problems to drive system change. SIPHER is contributing expertise around participatory systems mapping and theory of change. |
Collaborator Contribution | Barnsley are leading the development of an integrated system of work-health interventions to improve sustained employment to improve mental and physical health. |
Impact | We are currently developing a Stage 2 proposal to submit to the Health Foundation and Local Government Association. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration on an evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit |
Organisation | Manchester University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier provides intellectual input to the collaboration and ensures alignment to SIPHER's work on the health impacts of the economic shock associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. She will sit on the Science Advisory Board for the research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of expertise and intellectual input. |
Impact | Successful NIHR funding application for 'Evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit: a mixed methods study'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration on an evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier provides intellectual input to the collaboration and ensures alignment to SIPHER's work on the health impacts of the economic shock associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. She will sit on the Science Advisory Board for the research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of expertise and intellectual input. |
Impact | Successful NIHR funding application for 'Evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit: a mixed methods study'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration on an evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier provides intellectual input to the collaboration and ensures alignment to SIPHER's work on the health impacts of the economic shock associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. She will sit on the Science Advisory Board for the research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of expertise and intellectual input. |
Impact | Successful NIHR funding application for 'Evaluation of the mental health impacts of Universal Credit: a mixed methods study'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with Dr Yannish Naik, Specialty Registrar in Public Health in Yorkshire and Humber |
Organisation | Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | As described below under outputs, Petra Meier is now the lead supervisor for a Research Fellowship for Health Professionals in Humanities and Social Science application. Visakan Kadirkamanathan is the second supervisor. Meier and Kadirkamanathan have both contributed intellectual input to the development of the work and will provide ongoing intellectual input, staff training and access to wider resources through the SIPHER Consortium. |
Collaborator Contribution | Over the past 12 months Yannish Naik has worked with SIPHER WS2 to develop complex evidence review methodologies and is supporting the team to test out those methods using a case study review on work and health. Yannish has also collaborated with the SIPHER team to deliver our systems mapping workshops and in the development of our causal system dynamics research in WS4. During this time Yannish has developed his research fellowship application which is closely aligned to SIPHER and will be embedded within our research programme if successful. |
Impact | The collaboration between Yannish Naik and SIPHER resulted in a Research Fellowship for Health Professionals in Humanities and Social Science application titled 'Macroeconomic modelling for health, health equity and environment'. Unfortunately the application was unsuccessful. Yannish and SIPHER are keen to continue to collaborate in the future as opportunities emerge. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Collaboration with UKPRP Networks and Consortia to establish a Community of Practice |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Lucy Gavens has worked with Niamh Fitzgerald and Ruth Dundas to lead the Networks and Consortia to develop a UKPRP Community of Practice. The primary contributions include intellectual input and time and resource to pull together the collaborating partners. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual input and expertise. |
Impact | We submitted a funding bit to the UKPRP in October 2020, which was successful. The Community of Practice launched in January 2021. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with UKPRP Networks and Consortia to establish a Community of Practice |
Organisation | University of Stirling |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Lucy Gavens has worked with Niamh Fitzgerald and Ruth Dundas to lead the Networks and Consortia to develop a UKPRP Community of Practice. The primary contributions include intellectual input and time and resource to pull together the collaborating partners. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual input and expertise. |
Impact | We submitted a funding bit to the UKPRP in October 2020, which was successful. The Community of Practice launched in January 2021. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with University of Sydney |
Organisation | University of Sydney |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Intellectual input and expertise to conversations exploring the potential of expanding an interactive platform (Health Minister for a Day) developed at the University of Sydney to SIPHER's tools to enable innovative policy maker and public engagement. |
Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in and sharing of the interactive platform, developed by the computer science department at the University of Sydney together with their public health department. |
Impact | Collaborative conversations have encouraged SIPHER to think innovatively around how we can engage with publics as SIPHER develops. SIPHER's tools were not at the right stage to collaborate with the team in Sydney on Health Minister for a Day, but we have learned a lot about how these process can work, what is required for success and how we might look for similar opportunities in the future. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Ongoing Collaboration with CSART |
Organisation | CSART |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We are working closely with Professor Jo-An Atkinson at the University of Sydney in developing CSART, a not-for-profit transdisciplinary organization working to integrate health and social sciences with computational modelling, data science and systems science. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of expertise and intellectual input into the development of our research |
Impact | We are developing a proposal with Jo-An (CSART Managing Director) & colleagues in the US to use systems science to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on mental wellbeing. We are now jointly supervising a PhD student based at University of Glasgow in the Systems Science Programme and SIPHER, working on mental health system dynamic modelling. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | SIPHER-Clackmannanshire Council Collaboration |
Organisation | Government of the UK |
Department | Clackmannanshire Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | SIPHER is working with Clackmannanshire (Clacks) Council as a case study for the Scottish Government. The collaboration began in summer 2020 and to date our work together has focused on understanding how we can support each other in the inclusive growth agenda. In November 2020 we co-hosted a systems mapping workshop with Clacks Council to map the inclusive growth/economy systems. We anticipate that this will be just the first step in our collaborative relationship. |
Collaborator Contribution | Clacks Council are facilitating the use of their local area as a case study for SIPHER and actively participated in the design and delivery of the participatory systems mapping workshop in November 2020. In December 2020 the results were presented to, and very well received by, local politicians including the Leader of the Labour Party at Clackmannanshire Council in an All Party Parliamentary Briefing on the Wellbeing Economy and Community Wealth Building. Clacks Council are now using the map to inform conversations around financial planning in Clacks for 2021 and beyond. |
Impact | This is a multidisciplinary, multi-sector collaboration between Clacks Council, the Scottish Government and SIPHER researchers (including public health, engineers, social policy researchers). The participatory systems map is now close to completion and is being using in ongoing conversations to inform systems thinking in Clacks Council and financial planning for 2021 onwards. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Understanding the impact of Covid on inequalities in mental health |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier, Bambra Lomax and Heppenstall contributed intellectual input and expertise to the development of this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborators have contributed expertise and intellectual input, as well as access to data and existing tools. |
Impact | Grant application to The Health Foundation for 'Understanding the impacts of income and welfare policy responses to COVID-19 on inequalities in mental health: A microsimulation model'. Application submitted to https://www.health.org.uk/funding-and-partnerships/programmes/covid-19-research-programme in August 2020. This application was successful and is listed under 'Further Funding'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Understanding the impact of Covid on inequalities in mental health |
Organisation | University of Essex |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier, Bambra Lomax and Heppenstall contributed intellectual input and expertise to the development of this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborators have contributed expertise and intellectual input, as well as access to data and existing tools. |
Impact | Grant application to The Health Foundation for 'Understanding the impacts of income and welfare policy responses to COVID-19 on inequalities in mental health: A microsimulation model'. Application submitted to https://www.health.org.uk/funding-and-partnerships/programmes/covid-19-research-programme in August 2020. This application was successful and is listed under 'Further Funding'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Understanding the impact of Covid on inequalities in mental health |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier, Bambra Lomax and Heppenstall contributed intellectual input and expertise to the development of this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborators have contributed expertise and intellectual input, as well as access to data and existing tools. |
Impact | Grant application to The Health Foundation for 'Understanding the impacts of income and welfare policy responses to COVID-19 on inequalities in mental health: A microsimulation model'. Application submitted to https://www.health.org.uk/funding-and-partnerships/programmes/covid-19-research-programme in August 2020. This application was successful and is listed under 'Further Funding'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Understanding the impact of Covid on inequalities in mental health |
Organisation | University of Leeds |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meier, Bambra Lomax and Heppenstall contributed intellectual input and expertise to the development of this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborators have contributed expertise and intellectual input, as well as access to data and existing tools. |
Impact | Grant application to The Health Foundation for 'Understanding the impacts of income and welfare policy responses to COVID-19 on inequalities in mental health: A microsimulation model'. Application submitted to https://www.health.org.uk/funding-and-partnerships/programmes/covid-19-research-programme in August 2020. This application was successful and is listed under 'Further Funding'. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Attendance at the monthly Turing Urban Analytics group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Monthly meeting and exchange of ideas about research funding and development of ideas for the Turing Urban Analytics programme. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022 |
Description | Centre for Progressive Policy Inclusive Growth Conference 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Panel discussion with SIPHER's contribution focused on the topic 'Increasing healthy life expectancy: a proxy for inclusive growth in action?'. Short presentation followed by a discussion, question and answer session with members of the audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.progressive-policy.net/events/igconf2019 |
Description | Clackmannanshire Inclusive Economy Participatory Systems Mapping Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 40 participants attended this participatory systems mapping workshop to map the inclusive economy system in Clackmannanshire. Since the workshop the map has been used to inform an All Party Briefing on the Wellbeing Economy and Community Wealth Building, with the Leader of the Labour Party in Clackmannanshire advising us that this work has helped local decision makers to understand the complexity of poverty. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Conservative Party Conference Fringe Event hosted by the Centre for Progressive Policy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | A fringe event on Inclusive Growth at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in October 2019. Lots of using contacts made and interesting discussion about use of language. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Developing a synthetic population for the England |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Discussion with Public Health England to explore similarities and differences in our approach to developing a synthetic dataset for England. Medium term plan made to continue to share work and to learn from each to further develop our models. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Discussion of the current use of decision support tools in Sheffield City Council |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 8 people joined this session to explore the current use of decision support tools to inform policy making in Sheffield City Council, and aspirations for the SIPHER decision support tool. The session sparked a number of questions and is informing the development of a SIPHER white paper on decision support for systems science in public health. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Expert Data Advisor: JBC |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | I am an invited expert on the JBC panel advising on data and methods used to analyse COVID data. This feeds directly into the SAGE group and government policy on COVID. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-biosecurity-centre |
Description | Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership Population Health Strategic Management Team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SIPHER presentation to the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership Population Health Managers. Resulted in the planning of a systems mapping session to capture health and social care perspectives within the GM inclusive economy systems map. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Greater Manchester Inclusive Economy Participatory Systems Mapping Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 15 participants attended an initial participatory systems mapping workshop to map the inclusive economy system in Greater Manchester. Since the workshop we have held follow up sessions with policy officers in specific fields - health, transport, etc - and are currently finalising the map to share with GM colleagues to support conversations around the inclusive economy system. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Inclusive Economy Advisory Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | SIPHER's Inclusive Economies Advisory Group will meet regularly to provide expert advice to our developing research in the field of inclusive economies. The Group is chaired by Lord Kerslake and met for the first time in October 2020. The discussion revolved around SIPHER's inclusive economy research plans and presentations sparked interesting questions. Many participants, who are senior representative from their organisations (e.g. JRF, Northern Powerhouse Partnership, CIPFA), offered to link up separately outside of the biannual Advisory Group meeting to support SIPHER's development. The group had now met 3 times and is due to meet again in April 2022. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
Description | Invitation to present to Clackmannanshire Council's 'Be the Future' meeting on Community Wealth Building |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presentation to inform discussion and decision making at a council meeting of elected members in Clackmannanshire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.clacks.gov.uk/council/press/?release=4400 |
Description | Invited presentation of a systems science approach to health and wellbeing in all policies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Inaugural presentation to introduce SIPHER to a wide range of researchers and students at the University of Glasgow, and to share ambitions for future development in this area. It generated significant interest in the work of SIPHER and the UKPRP and as a result we have started to develop new research collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Knowledge Transfer Meeting about Systems Mapping with Tower Hamlets |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Supported Tower Hamlets to upskill in systems mapping to support the development of a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We provided bespoke training and advice to local practitioners, who then used and adapted as appropriate for a series of workshops in early 2021. We received feedback that the systems mapping was a success thanks to the quick, interactive training we were able to provide to the local public health team. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
Description | Looking Back Looking Forwards: Learning Together for Wider Non-Communicable Disease Prevention |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Introduced policy and non-governmental organisation colleagues working at a local level in Scotland to SIPHER. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.rehis.com/event/scottish-government-looking-back-looking-forwards-learning-together-wide... |
Description | Meeting to discuss Public Mental Health work with colleagues in the Scottish Government |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Meeting to discuss proposed work across Public Mental Health and Inclusive Growth with colleagues in the Scottish Government. Good connections made for future SIPHER activity. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Meeting to explore collaboration between SIPHER and Clackmannanshire Council |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Discussion to explore collaboration with Clackmannanshire Council in Scotland. The conversation was productive and SIPHER is now collaborating closely with Clackmannanshire Council. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Meeting to explore collaboration between SIPHER and the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Discussion of how the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network and SIPHER can work closely together and learn from one another. The BSPHN has valuable links to practitioners across the UK that SIPHER can link to. We also shared opportunities to collaborate. As a result of the meeting both the BSPHN and Hertfordshire County Council joined SIPHER as Practice Partners. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Meeting with South Yorkshire Police |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Meeting to discuss how SIPHER and South Yorkshire Police can work together. Explored topics of mutual interest and ways to share data and expertise across teams. Agreed actions to further develop the relationship and share knowledge, including an invitation to share our work with inspectors across South Yorkshire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Meeting with the Scottish Government to explore the Triple I Tool |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Meeting with colleagues from the Scottish Government to explore their Triple I Tool and outline SIPHER modelling plans. Useful links made and valuable follow up conversations planned. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Regular Meetings with Public Health Scotland Wellbeing Economy Colleagues |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | To share work on understanding and developing inclusive growth indicators between PHS and SIPHER. In early sessions we discussed SIPHER's work to date on inclusive economy indicators. We now meet regularly to share learning in this policy space. Since the initial meeting we have agreed to support the development of two additional projects of mutual benefit. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
Description | SIPHER Blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | We launched a SIPHER blog in January 2020. The blog will provide regular updates from SIPHER team members on different aspects of our research, and it is tailored to a policy maker audience. We advertise the blog through Twitter and LinkedIn to reach different audiences. We have now published 16 individual blog posts on our website including several that are focussed on the impact of Covid-19 on health inequalities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
URL | https://sipher.ac.uk/sipher-blog/ |
Description | SIPHER Bulletin |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The SIPHER Bulletin is a regular newsletter that we use to share updates from our work including our research findings, upcoming events and impacts on policy development. For more information see here: https://sipher.ac.uk/sipher_bulletin/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022,2023 |
URL | https://sipher.ac.uk/sipher_bulletin/ |
Description | SIPHER Consortium Launch |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Event organised by SIPHER to formally launch the Consortium in November 2019. 70 people attended from over 20 government and third sector organisations across England and Scotland. The event raised awareness of our research and sparked interest from a number of policy colleagues who have since request further information or follow-up meetings to discuss potential collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | SIPHER Presentation to the Sheffield City Partnership Board |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SIPHER presentation and discussion at the Sheffield City Partnership Board. SIPHER was very well received and following the meetings we had requests for meetings from the Police, Police & Crime Commissioner and Sheffield City Region. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Scientific Advisory Board |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SIPHER's Scientific Advisory Board meets annually to provide expert advice to our developing modelling work. The Group is chaired by Professor Arpana Verma at the University of Manchester and met for the first time in November 2020. The discussions revolved around SIPHER's methodological developments in the field of inclusive economy. Many participants, who are senior researchers and policy influencers around the world, offered to link up separately outside of the meeting to support SIPHER's development. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
Description | Sheffield Health and Wellbeing Board (November 2019) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presentation and discussion of SIPHER components-of-wellbeing. Board members contributed to an active discussion and gave advice on the future development of SIPHER. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Sheffield Inclusive Economy Participatory Systems Mapping Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 20 participants attended a participatory systems mapping workshop to map the inclusive economy system in Sheffield. Since the workshop we have finalised the systems map and shared the product with policy makers in the authority to inform conversations about policy development that supports an inclusive economy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
Description | Turing workshop on reproducibility |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Co-organiser of the "Reliability and reproducibility in computational science: Implementing verification, validation and uncertainty quantification in silico" workshop. As a result of this event, I discussed methods with Prof Peter Challenor (Exeter) and wrote and submitted a Turing grant on Uncertainty. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.turing.ac.uk/events/reliability-and-reproducibility-computational-science |