Local collaboration
Service integration through embedded research: evaluating Live Well Gateshead
Fuse and Gateshead Council have developed an innovative partnership that supports the use of research evidence within the Council.
The model involves a researcher-in-residence being co-located with the Public Health team to help inform the design of Public Health interventions and to effectively measure the outcomes of these interventions. The collaboration aims to develop closer links between both organisations by improving research skills within the Council’s Public Health team and increase awareness among the academics in Fuse on the evidence needs in the Local Authority.
The partnership initially focuses on the qualitative evaluation of the 'Live Well Gateshead' (LWG) programme, with the aim of applying the learning to other projects within the Public Health team. Live Well Gateshead supports individuals, families and communities to improve their health and wellbeing by reducing health inequalities through improved service integration and by moving resources towards prevention and early intervention and away from avoidable treatment and care.
Dr Mandy Cheetham, Research Associate at Teesside University and member of the Fuse Translational Research programme, has been appointed the 'researcher-in-residence' and is working three days a week at the Council developing the evaluation research between August 2015 and July 2016. She is based in the Public Health team offices and is part of its day to day running. Her embedded role has enabled Mandy so far to build strong relationships with the Public Health team and wider stakeholders, who consult her for advice on related research projects, requiring Mandy to draw on wider expertise within Fuse and broker links with Fuse academics. In return, Mandy is gaining insight into the decision making processes within the Council, and the potential mechanisms of influence. The initial findings from the research will contribute to discussions about re-modelling of the existing LWG programme to provide a more targeted service within a context of ongoing efficiency saving in Public Health.
Contact information:
- Dr Mandy Cheetham, Research Associate, email: m.cheetham@tees.ac.uk, tel: +44 (0) 1642 345611; or
- Behnam Khazaeli, Public Health Programme Lead, Gateshead Council, email: behnamkhazaeli@gateshead.gov.uk, tel: +44 (0) 191 433 3036.
Events:
- Mandy presented on her new role at a Fuse seminar on embedded research in June 2015 with Prof Martin Marshall from UCL on; and at
- The UKCRC15 conference in November 2015, which featured a joint workshop between Fuse and DECIPHer on embedded research (see page 57 of the abstract booklet).
- She will be jointly presenting with Gateshead Public Health colleagues at a symposium on embedded research at the Third Fuse International Conference on Knowledge Exchange in Public Health in April 2016.
News items:
Please note: This is not an SPHR project but a good example of how Fuse is collaborating closely with a Local Authority through embedded research.
Last modified: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:44:46 GMT
