HDRC Surrey
Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Surrey
Surrey County Council is one of 30 local authorities across the UK that have been awarded funding by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to establish a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC).
Surrey Health Determinants Research Collaboration will bring together experts from the council, the University of Surrey, the voluntary and community sector, and other partners to ensure a research-led and evidence-based approach to meeting health priorities.
Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) enable local authorities to become more research-active, embedding a culture of evidence-based decision making. HDRCs are designed to centre around local residents who will influence policymaking by setting research priorities. Aiming to build the evidence for how to meet the needs of local people, Surrey HDRC will facilitate research to inform how lifestyle, social, economic, built and natural environment factors (also known as the wider determinants of health) affect health, for example: poor housing conditions, food poverty and air quality. The HDRC will enable the council to bring together evidence for what works, for who and when to improve and protect the health of Surrey residents.
About HDRC Surrey:
Although Surrey is thought to be one of the most affluent parts of the UK, there are areas with high levels of deprivation associated with poor health. In 2020, a man living in the most deprived area of Surrey is likely to live 10 years less than a man living in the most affluent part of the county. To address this, we need to better understand how factors like the environment, housing and the economy affect people’s health in Surrey. Our Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) will help us to do this. Surrey HDRC will improve how as a local authority we use research to get a better understanding of what works and for whom to reduce health inequalities.
About our work:
Our delivery plan has 5 core workstreams:
1. Research governance infrastructure and prioritisation
2. Research capacity building and training
3. Knowledge management, transfer and dissemination
4. Research implementation, impact assessment and evaluation
5. Public involvement and research co-production
Research themes:
- Early years
- Poverty (including food insecurity and fuel poverty)
- Housing and homelessness
- Asset based community development and social inclusion
- Climate change
- Access to green and blue space
- Employment and working conditions
- Transport methods (including active travel and physical inactivity)
NIHR grant award information:
For more information about the NIHR award granted to Surrey County Council, please visit: Developing a robust research infrastructure underpinned by culture change to build local knowledge about health determinants and reduce health inequalities: a collaboration between Surrey County Council and University of Surrey – NIHR Funding and Awards
- Chief Investigator:
- Ruth Hutchinson, Director of Public Health, Surrey County Council
- Co-investigators:
- Dr Negin Sarafraz-Shekary, Public Health Principal, Surrey County Council
- Mari Roberts-Wood, Managing Director, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
- Professor Jo Armes, Professor of Cancer Care and Lead for Digital Health, University of Surrey
- Professor Paul Townsend, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey
How to get in touch:
If you would like more information about Surrey Health Determinants Research Collaboration, please contact Negin Sarafraz-Shekary (Public Health Principal, Surrey HDRC Implementation Lead) or Ella Turner (Surrey HDRC Programme Manager) via Surrey County Council’s Public Health team at: [email protected]