University of Hertfordshire secures £2.5m funding to evaluate public health interventions

The funding, from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will allow PHIRST Connect - a team of highly experienced researchers and practitioners led by Katherine Brown, Professor of Behaviour Change in Health at the School of Health, Medical and Life Sciences - to support the public health workforce and improve public health.

Herts-based PHIRST Connect joins nine other academic teams around the UK that make up the NIHR PHIRST scheme ‘Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams’.

Each team will complete up to 10 evaluations over the next five years.

PHIRST Connect, first commissioned in 2020 and now renewed for a further five years, is already evaluating projects including a child vaccination initiative in the London Borough of Haringey and a programme to reduce vaping among young people in Slough.

Professor Katherine Brown said:

“PHIRST Connect are delighted to have been re-commissioned for another five-year term. We have a vibrant and dedicated team which includes collaborators at the University of East Anglia and Queens’ University, Belfast. We continue to place public involvement and co-production with the wider public health workforce at the heart of our work, conducting high quality evaluation and mobilising knowledge effectively to improve public health.”

The PHIRST scheme is part of the NIHR’s Public Health Research programme that funds research that generates evidence to improve the health of the public and reduce health inequalities. It is open to any tier or function of Local Government across the UK, including the devolved nations - Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Organisations such as local councils apply to the PHIRST scheme for academic support to evaluate a specific public health service or scheme.

If successful, PHIRST works with the local government partner to deliver a robust evaluation of the intervention over a 12- to-18-month period. Each PHIRST evaluation is co-produced with the local partner, associated stakeholders and members of the public to make sure the research provides answers to locally important questions.

Organisations are then able to use the findings and recommendations to inform evidence-based practice and policy decisions about each intervention.

Professor Adam Briggs, Programme Director for the NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme, which funds the scheme, said:

“The building blocks of health, things like decent housing, secure employment, clean air, and access to healthy food, are crucial to creating healthy places that support health and address inequalities.

“The NIHR’s investment in the PHIRST scheme is key part of how we work with local government to generate high quality evidence on what works to strengthen these building blocks, helping local decision makers maximise their impact on how services and programmes improve population health and tackle inequalities.”

PHIRST Connect’s first set of 10 evaluations covered a diverse range of public health topics from whole system approaches to obesity, initiatives in small and medium size enterprises to support workforce mental health, and the impact of moving drug and alcohol services to remote online delivery due to COVID-19.

As well as local impact, the findings and recommendations are being used by the wider public health community.

For instance, the approaches to address healthy weight and obesity has been cited in national level strategies in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Denmark.

Similarly, recommendations on moving drug and alcohol support services from in-person to remote delivery has been included in guidance from the UK Government Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Details of all evaluations conducted by NIHR PHIRST are available on the NIHR PHIRST website.

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