ITT: Scoping partner to inform a funded research programme exploring people, place and health

The Health Foundation is interested in how the circumstances in which we live – or the wider determinants of health – shape our opportunities to be healthy.  

Through research programmes including Social and Economic Value of Health, Shaping Places for Healthier Lives, Economies for Healthier Lives and the COVID-19 impact inquiry, we have developed an understanding of the stark differences in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy observed across the UK – and the role of the wider determinants of health in maintaining health. 

However, it can be hard to unpick the relationships between health, place and the population demographic. To understand these better, we are planning a funded research programme investigating how health inequalities have been shaped over the long term by structural social, economic and political factors. We are looking for an ambitious and creative organisation to work with us to scope our new initiative. 

Scoping partner for our new funding programme  

We are looking to appoint a scoping partner to shape and inform a funded research programme.  

Sound scoping and groundwork is required to provide assurance that a funded research programme is needed and practically feasible. The programme would be subject to the approval and authorisation of the Health Foundation board. 

The commissioned scoping exercise will consist of: 

• an external-facing thought piece that sets out the current evidence and understanding around the relationship between places (and the social and economic shocks and opportunities that arise over time), populations (and their flows in and out of a place) and the population health of that place  

• work to lay the ground for the funded research programme, including an internal document that can form the basis of the open call, and a process to warm up the academic field.  

The successful supplier will require a team with demonstrable experience in designing and delivering a scoping process to inform the design of new initiatives. The supplier will also have experience in synthesising different forms of knowledge to inform decision making, and a broad understanding of the health and social care sector. 

How to apply

If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please follow the steps below to complete your application.   

1. Please read the Invitation to tender for full details of the tender response requirements and selection criteria. 

2. If you have any queries after reading the ITT, please email Consultant Research Manager Liz Cairncross (liz.cairncross@health.org.uk).  

3. Complete your application via our online portal by 17.00, Friday 10 February 2023. We will not accept proposals submitted after this deadline or in any other format.   

4. Interviews will take place between Monday 27 February and Friday 10 March 2023. Please ensure you are available to be interviewed.   

5. The final decision will be communicated in the week beginning Monday 13 March 2023.