Title: London Borough of Islington Health Determinants Research Collaboration: accelerating evidence-based approaches to challenging inequalities
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: BACKGROUND. Islington is one of the poorest areas of London, and child poverty is high. The council is committed to making the borough fairer for all and reducing poverty. We know that to achieve this, we need to use evidence better. Evidence goes beyond formal research undertaken by a few. It means widening who is involved to include voluntary groups, communities, and residents to understand their needs and listen to and incorporate their experiences, particularly from those we don’t often hear from. We then need to use this evidence to improve the ways in which we design services to better reflect residents’ ambitions and take action on the “wider determinants of health” (such as housing, employment, and the environment), which have such an important impact on our health and wellbeing. VISION. To establish a Centre of Research Excellence in Islington that will transform the way we work. Through this Centre we will have a better understanding of what works to improve residents’ lives. We will use this knowledge to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities. We AIM to: 1. Create an environment, in partnership with residents and communities, which places evidence at the heart of how we work to improve residents’ lives. 2. Strengthen how we generate and use evidence to identify and reduce inequalities in health and wellbeing. 3. Build capacity and participation in creating evidence to drive positive change, ensuring that residents are central to these activities. PLANNED ACTIVITIES focus on three related areas: Building partnerships. We will build stronger partnerships across Islington by improving the ways in which we work and communicate with each other. We will also work more with our residents, particularly those most experiencing hardship or those we don’t usually hear from; charities and other community groups; health and wellbeing leaders across London and beyond; and universities. Create and use evidence. We will improve how we collect, store, join together, and use the information we collect. We will find different ways to use this information to feed into how we make decisions across Islington, focused on improving residents’ lives. Building skills and resources. We will train our staff, councillors, community groups, and residents in the skills needed to create and use evidence so that it can be most effectively captured to achieve change. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT. Voluntary and community resident groups have shaped our plans. These include creating Citizen Ambassador Panels and a Community Researcher team to review council plans and undertake research locally to feed into these plans. Residents and the voluntary sector will be at the heart of all our activities, ensuring that we continually address residents’ priorities in an organised and coordinated way. KNOWLEDGE SHARING. We will share what we find during this programme widely with different audiences and find new ways to share achievements and challenges. Residents and community groups will be actively involved in how we do this, so that we can maximise impact to those most likely to benefit. IMPACT. Establishing this Research Centre will create the energy, excitement, and capability to improve and change the ways in which we create and use evidence across Islington to transform our residents’ lives. This will help us to realise our ambition of making Islington a more equal place, where everyone who lives in the borough has an equal chance to thrive.

Lay abstract: BACKGROUND. Islington is the sixth most deprived borough in London, with the highest rate of child poverty and characterised by stark inequalities. Our Local Authority (LA) has a strong corporate commitment to using data intelligently, working with residents and communities to address the wider determinants of health and reduce inequalities. Whilst we have a good track record in interrogating data, undertaking research activity and collaboration, this is often small-scale and limited to single LA departments, leading to siloed approaches in which findings are often only disseminated internally. Similarly, working under financial pressure can divert our focus away from evidence use in day-to day work and from generating and using research at scale. VISION. To reduce inequalities and improve health and wellbeing among our residents by creating an organisational culture where research, data, and resident insights are intrinsic to the way our LA works. This will drive equitable and effective policy and decision-making across all functions and departments, enabling our LA to make a difference to residents’ lives, particularly those experiencing greatest deprivation. AIMS. Within our LA and Islington as a place, to: 1. Create a sustainable research culture that places research at the heart of how we work with communities to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities. 2. Strengthen preventive and population health and wellbeing by generating and mobilising data and insights overall and at a hyper-local level to identify inequalities and support and evaluate action to improve outcomes. 3. Build capacity and participation in research as a way of driving change and making a positive difference to residents, ensuring they are central to research design and delivery. HDRC ACTIVITIES include three interrelated workstreams: Strengthening collaborations and culture. We will develop stronger research networks by working more effectively across LA departments; and by working in partnership with residents, particularly from under-represented communities; voluntary and community organisations; public health partners and leaders across London and beyond; and higher education institutions. Data and infrastructure. We will make it easier for data and insights to be harnessed to inform policy and decision making by improving how we collect, store, integrate, and use data. We will create a clear pathway for undertaking research in Islington. Capacity building. We will offer training to residents, elected members, and LA staff to provide them with the skills to create, undertake, use, and bring research to life in a meaningful and impactful way. Offering training to residents will create a community of research ambassadors central to all HDRC activities. OUTCOMES. We will undertake action-based evaluation of the HDRC’s impact on our culture and leadership, decision-making, and wider influence to shape how the HDRC works and assess how it helps us achieve our vision. DISSEMINATION. We will share our experiences and outputs locally, regionally, and nationally with a variety of audiences and formats, widening participation to include residents to maximise impact. IMPACT. This HDRC funding will transform Islington by building the energy, excitement, and capability to sustain, improve, and diversify the use of research to address the wider determinants of health and create a more equal borough with residents and communities as central partners.

Research activity codes: 3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE