Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Doncaster

Doncaster’s Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) is an exciting opportunity for the council, our partners and our residents to improve health and reduce health inequalities. HDRCs represent significant investment to enable Councils to become more research active and embed a culture of evidence-based decision making.

About HDRC Doncaster

HDRC Doncaster is one of 30 across the UK, funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). They aim to help local authorities to become more research-active and to embed a culture of evidence-based decision making. It is hosted by City of Doncaster Council, in collaboration with our partners at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. We aim to reduce health inequalities and address the wider determinants of health (e.g., the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age in).

Our vision is simple: we will focus on growing our capacity to develop and use knowledge within our decision-making processes. This will lead to better outcomes for our citizens.

Watch below a short film explaining the overarching strategy and ambitions of Health Determinants Research Collaborations:

About our work

Our delivery plan has 2 core workstreams that are based on our local ‘TIDES’ principles:

• Work will be Theory Informed
• We will learn by Doing and share our learning
• We will ensure we do not privilege some voices/ideas above others (Equity)
• We will ensure our collaboration is a pathway to Sustainable and applied research in Doncaster. 

Workstream 1 - Knowledge mobilisation:

• Develop skills in our people and our organisation to bring together research evidence combined with what we know locally
• Identify how best to deliver this information so that it can be embedded within decision making.

Workstream 2 – capability, capacity and motivation building:

• Develop skills in our people and the processes necessary to do research to help us understand the factors that influence our health and wellbeing
• Embed Public Involvement and Community Engagement approaches in our work.  

Public involvement and community engagement

The Public Involvement and Community Engagement (PICE) function is around developing and coordinating HDRC Doncaster’s approach to PICE activity by embedding the principle of Equity ensuring that HDRC Doncaster does not favour some voices, ideas, or ways of knowing above others.  This is a linchpin for the HDRC, which will contribute to the development of our research culture. We will work to engage stakeholders to ensure innovative, diverse public involvement in developing research studies and increasingly diverse participation in research across Doncaster. This enabling activity within HDRC Doncaster is crucial to delivery, expertise development and securing on-going external funding. 

We will regularly update this section with more information and opportunities to get involved. 

Current Projects 

There are already a number of projects supported by the HDRC team in a number of ways. These include: 

• Born and Bred in Doncaster (BaBi-D) - A research programme aimed at improving health and well-being outcomes for children and families across Doncaster.
• Doncaster Fairness & Well-being Commission - Work being led by some of our embedded researchers to review and scope evidence to support the Doncaster Fairness and Well-being Commission. 
• Commercial Determinants of Health Research Project - A project to better understand the range of ways in which private sector activities that are designed to generate profit are at the same time affecting health. 
• Re-presentation Evaluation Project - A project to understand more about why those who complete drug and alcohol treatment return to access treatment again within 6 months, including better understanding the barriers for people to achieve long-term recovery. 
• Doncaster's ethnic minority community Health Needs Assessment - this needs assessment is currently being refreshed. Keep your eye on this link for further updates Health Needs Assessments - City of Doncaster Council
• Remake Learning Evaluation – work with colleagues coordinating the Remake Learning festival to undertake a more comprehensive evaluation to inform the future offer

 How you can get involved & find out more

• Contact the team via HDRCDoncaster@Doncaster.gov.uk
• You can find out more about the NIHR HDRC funding on the NIHR website.

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