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Welcome to SPHR@L.
Our research aims to strengthen evidence and understanding for better decision-making on the social and environmental factors that determine public health.
Established in April 2012, SPHR@L forms part of the wider NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR), comprising eight UK universities and research centres of excellence.
As outlined in the Government’s ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People‘ White Paper, the management of public health has radically shifted to local government and communities, enabling them to work together to improve health throughout people’s lives, reduce inequalities and focus on the needs of the local population. SPHR@L , as part of the wider SPHR, is committed to supporting this transition through our research.
Find out more about us! Download our SPHR@L brochure
Our Goals
- Gather knowledge
- Develop evaluation methods
- Analyse decision-making
- Build public participation
- Make evidence more useful
Supporting Local Government
Our work aims to help local government, in particular, to use housing, transport, social and environmental determinants of health outcomes. We aim to support the objectives, set out in the ‘Healthy Lives, Health People’ White Paper, to ‘improve the health of the poorest fastest’ and ‘unleash new ideas based on the evidence of what works’.
Our Skills
Our multidisciplinary team has extensive expertise in working with local government and research expertise in the fields of: complex decision-making, medical science, housing, food and alcohol, the environment, transport, inequalities, smoking, education, criminology, community development and citizenship.