Tower Hamlets Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) – research theme setting

Health determinants, or the ‘building blocks of health’, are the wider environmental, economic and social factors that directly or indirectly affect people’s lives. These include where we live, where we work, what we eat, our employment and our income, our access to healthcare and education, our sense of community and more.

These factors play a key role in shaping health inequalities and are heavily influenced by the work of local government. The Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) programme, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is a national programme designed to improve the capacity and capability of local authorities to conduct high-quality research on health determinants and address pervasive health inequalities.

In October 2022, Tower Hamlets Council, along with its core partners (Queen Mary University of London, University of East London, London Metropolitan University and Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Services) were successful in their bid to join the first cohort of HDRCs.

Our vision is to make the London Borough of Tower Hamlets an organisation which works closely with local people to collate, build and use research to make decisions and shape policy so that its local communities can live longer and healthier lives.

Our mission is to:

• build and embed a research culture across the council
• bring together local policymakers, partners, universities and the voluntary and community sector to identify and build evidence where it is needed the most
• involve local people in building evidence and shaping policy.

As part of this work, Tower Hamlets HDRC will be hosting a series of coproduction workshops to establish key research themes in 2025. The process has been designed to give a strong voice to residents from groups at the greatest risk of poor health.

This student will work closely with a small project team to:

• Support data collection at the workshops through taking filed notes
• Thematic analysis of the filed notes focussed on how consensus regarding themes is built
• Write up of the above for a report and publication

• Work on a pioneering NIHR-funded programme to address pervasive health inequalities in Tower Hamlets
• Gain first-hand experience of working within local authority systems and processes at the interface of research, policy, and practice.
• Collaborate with a wide range of external stakeholders and work closely in an interdisciplinary team consisting of Council staff, senior researchers, representatives from the community and voluntary sector and residents.

• Previous experience of public involvement in research
• A good understanding of principles and methods for co-production
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders
• An interest in working to reduce health inequalities through working closely with local residents and communities
• Strong writing and organisational skills

There is scope for the student to co-author a paper about the process of collaborative prioritisation. The student will work closely with partners on the Tower Hamlets HDRC and there will be a full evaluation of their experience at the end of the internship for the benefit of the student, the HDRC and LISS DTP.

1. Please send (to the project supervisor) a CV, a brief cover letter and a written answers to the following two questions (up to 300 words for both answers):
i. How does your research and other experience relate to this project? 
ii. How would working on the project provide an opportunity for your career development? 
Please contact the project supervisor(s) in advance of submitting the application with any questions.

2. If selected by the project supervisor, the student must then complete the Placement /Internship Application form. This ensures that there is approval of PhD supervisor, and the necessary information is obtained to extend funding (for DTP1 students) or confirm placement requirement fulfilled (for DTP2 students), and to fulfil ESRC reporting obligations.  

Please note:

• Research Assistant Internships must not be undertaken with the student’s current supervisor and/or home department.
• DTP1 students (those whose funding commenced before Oct24): a maximum of 4 Research Assistant internships will be funded. These will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the 4 DTP1 places are filled, we will inform PIs that only DTP2 students are eligible for the Research Assistant internships. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL DTP1 PLACES HAVE NOW BEEN FILLED.
• DTP2 students (those whose funding commenced from Oct24): are required to complete a 3-month placement, which is funded through their studentship. No limits to number that can be funded.
• Reports: at the conclusion of the internship, the student will be required to complete an internship report, which will include a question for the internship host to feedback on the internship.

Contact liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk with any questions.