Giving each child in the North East of England the best start in life

Fuse Knowledge Exchange Broker, Peter van der Graaf has been awarded a NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellowship, a personal training award enabling him to conduct research over four years, supported by international mentors in academia and practice to help develop his research career.

Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellowships are designed to support a balance of innovative knowledge mobilisation (moving research evidence into policy and practice) and research into the processes and impacts of such innovation. Peter’s research aims to improve the use of research evidence in the commissioning of health services for young children (0-2 years old) in North East England. He will evaluate a new collaborative approach between academic researchers and policy makers in the region: the North-East System Led Improvement - Approach for Best Start in Life. This innovative quality improvement approach is developed by the 12 directors of public health to improve the commissioning of early years’ services in the region.

His Fellowship aims to research the mobilisation of different types of knowledge within the System Led Improvement (SLI) approach. Moreover, the Fellow will actively facilitate the blending of different types of knowledge by organising critical reflection and dialogue between academics and commissioners in the North East. Working in co-production with these partners, the Fellowship will sustain the SLI approach and support its application to other areas and topics by developing a 'best practice' model and training for commissioners grounded in social learning networks.

Last modified: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 11:02:14 GMT