Webinar: Systems science in public health: turning thought into action

The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age are key drivers of health and health inequalities. Preventing ill health related to these wider determinants of health requires well-coordinated policies across many sectors, such as the economy, welfare, housing, education and employment. 

Systems science can provide new and much needed evidence on the complex, interlinked and long-term consequences of policy decisions across these sectors. 

On Tuesday 2 November 2021 we held the second webinar in this series sharing emerging findings from UKPRP-funded projects and exploring their implications for policy. Speakers from the SIPHER (Systems science In Public Health and Health Economics Research) consortium discussed the importance of a systems science approach to research and practice in public health and shared their learning so far from their research. 

Speakers 

• Dr Sophie Hawkesworth (Chair), Senior Research Manager, Discovery Research, Wellcome Trust 
• Julian Cox, Head of Research, Greater Manchester Combined Authority 
• Greg Fell, Director of Public Health, Sheffield City Council 

Watch the recording:

The SIPHER consortium brings together scientists across six universities, three government partners at local, regional and national level, and ten practice partner organisations. It aims to deliver new evidence of the costs and benefits of the long-term consequences of policy decisions in four areas: inclusive economic growth, adverse childhood experiences, housing and mental health.  

SIPHER is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP).  

The UKPRP is a £50 million multi-funder initiative that supports novel, multidisciplinary research into the primary prevention of non-communicable diseases, to improve population health and reduce health inequalities. The UKPRP made its first round of awards in 2019, including to SIPHER. A further round of awards has recently been announced.  

This webinar was the second in a series of four over the autumn in which emerging learning from the UKPRP funded projects are being shared.