Health and Wellbeing Research Centre

The Health and Wellbeing Research Centre is an interdisciplinary, cross-university research centre that increases understanding of how to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and populations across the life course.

Our research has a particular focus on under-served or in-need groups and the workforce and services that support them. Through our world-leading research and knowledge mobilisation, and with a commitment to social justice and inclusion, we seek to help reduce inequalities and inequities in health and wellbeing.

Our centre brings together academics from across the university and partners from health and social care, whose research seeks to: better understand experiences of health and well-being, provide important insights into the effective and acceptable delivery of health and social care and which supports the education of the health and social care workforce.

We recognise the complex determinants of health and the need to capitalise on innovation and technological development. Through this, our ambition is to generate knowledge, insight and impact, which can be applied through policy, practice and education to address some of the major current societal challenges that impact on wellbeing, and which contribute to health inequalities.

The NIHR funded PHIRST (public health intervention responsive studies team) South Bank Centre which was established in 2020 sits within the Health and Wellbeing Research Centre. PHIRST South Bank undertakes evaluations of locally led public health interventions to better understand what works in addressing important public health challenges at a local level.

In line with our commitment to researching health at a population level, the centre incorporates research on important priorities including addictive behaviours, mental health and learning disabilities, sport and exercise and with under-served groups. Our research also brings together work on specific acute and long term conditions.

For more information about how you can work with us contact Professor Susie Sykes (sykess@lsbu.ac.uk).

We have successful relationships with national funders of health and social care research to ensure our research addresses local and national priorities and enable the professional development of our staff.

The collaborative nature of our research and our close and long-established partnerships with health and social care providers, other academic institutions, industry and national governing bodies as well as through our commitment to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in research, we ensure that our research is relevant, innovative and transformative. We undertake research that has significant reach and impact locally, nationally and globally, while being personally valued.

Communities Addressing Gambling Harms

Short description: A PHIRST South Bank evaluation, this research investigated the “Communities Addressing Gambling Harms” project, administered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The project involved a community of practise of diverse community organisations and people with lived experience.

Academics involved: Dr Tom Mills, Prof Antony Moss, Prof Paula Reavey, Dr Catherine Jenkins, Prof Susie Sykes, Prof Jane Wills

Reducing inequalities in exercise participation: evaluation of the novel Bracknell Forest health and well-being locality service

Short description: This mixed methods evaluation undertaken by PHIRST South Bank explored the effectiveness of a novel initiative for tackling physical inactivity in Bracknell Forest. This evaluation sought to understand how a physical activity service based on principles of proportionate universalism engaged with agencies and structures in the local health and social care system and ensured uptake, engagement, acceptability and impact on users and target populations.

Academics involved: Prof Katya Mileva, Prof Jane Wills, Prof Susie Sykes, Dr Jessica Owugha, Dr Catherine Jenkins, Terassa Taylor-Kaveney.

Evaluation of a community health intervention in barbershops, for men of BAME heritage at risk of high blood pressure

Short description: This project is based on an innovative feasibility study that was carried out by LSBU during 2021-2022 and has since been published (Thomas et al 2023) “You Can Change the World With a Haircut”: Evaluating the Feasibility of a Barber-led Intervention for Men of Black and Ethnic Minority Heritage to Manage High Blood Pressure - Nicola Thomas, Catriona Ewart, Debi Lewinson Roberts, Andrew Brown, 2023 (sagepub.com)

Our study recommendations were to develop a more reliable and efficient means to record BP data and consider issues surrounding mistrust and customers’ concerns about having their data recorded. It was also deemed important to incorporate follow-up BP (over 6 months) to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The current study 2024-2025) is based on these recommendations. Given that the potential public health impact of this community-based research is high, with thousands of black-owned barbershops nationwide, a barber-led BP intervention shows promise as a novel approach to reduce health inequalities among men of BAME heritage.

Academics involved: Prof Nicola Thomas, Ally James and Mohammed Miah

SCeTCH: Smoking Cessation Trial in Centres for people experiencing Homelessness

Short description: Smoking is one of the largest contributors of early death and avoidable disease and because it is associated with multiple indices of disadvantage, a leading cause of health inequalities. People experiencing homelessness are up to 4 times more likely to smoke than those who are securely housed.

This NIHR-funded trial seeks to explore the effectiveness of providing free nicotine e-cigarette starter kits to people who smoke accessing homeless support centres across Great Britain. We have trained staff working at 32 homeless support centres to deliver the e-cigarette intervention or ‘usual care’. Participants in e-cigarette centres were given an e-cigarette starter kit, 4 weeks supply of e-liquids and support to use it. Those in usual care centres were given information and advice about stopping smoking (VBA+) and signposted to the local Stop Smoking Service (SSS). We followed people up at 4, 12 and 24 weeks to ask them about their quit attempts, current smoking, e-cigarette use, health, and measured their CO level.

We are also looking at how delivery of the intervention worked, and which parts of the intervention led to a change (if any) in smoking behaviour.

Academics involved: Professor Lynne Dawkins; Dr Allan Tyler; Dr Kirstie Soar

Fall Prevention in the Workforce

Short description: To develop and validate gait perturbation exercises to reduce fall risk due to trips, slips and missteps in steel and postal workers.

Academics involved: Dr Julian Werth, Dr Gaspar Epro

Fatigue after Critical Illness (F-ACT)

Short description: Fatigue is one of the three most significant problems described by people recovering from critical illness. This programme of work, delivered by a multi-professional group of researchers and clinicians from four universities, three NHS Trusts and six former patients includes two systematic reviews, a qualitative study exploring people’s experiences of fatigue and development of a fatigue intervention. The web-based intervention is a co-produced, theory-based, healthcare professional (HCP)-supported self-management intervention based on the common-sense model of self-regulation. The intervention is currently undergoing feasibility testing in a multi-site NIHR Research for Patient Benefit funded randomised controlled trial.

You can read more about this work here:

Academics involved: Prof Suzanne Bench, Prof David McWilliams (Coventry University) , Dr Wladzia Czuber-Dochan (KCL), Dr Louise Stayt, Dr Georgina Cook, Dr Clare Martin (Oxford Brookes University), Dr Akshay Shah (Oxford University)

Whole Systems Haematology Workforce for the UK

Project description: Commissioned by the British Society for Haematology, this comprehensive work examines the current and future haematology workforce in the UK across different professional groups. The project combines social science, humanistic workforce modelling and computational mathematics to look at the needs of the workforce as well as workforce capacity providing services in the NHS.

Academics involved: Prof Adele Stewart-Lord Prof Alison Leary, Cidalia Das Neves Eusebio

EMERGENT: Evaluating eMbErs: Digitally suppoRtinG childrEns meNtal health

Project description: This study funded by the NIHR (£1.7 million) will evaluate the effectiveness of a digital gamification programme designed to assist in the enhancement of wellbeing in children aged 4-7 years and build confidence in parenting skills. The study will measure the effectiveness of the programme in schools and in the community across all social groups. The study uses mixed methods, involving measures of wellbeing as well as interviews with parents and children using the programme.

Academics from LSBU: Professor Dan Frings, Dr Jowinn Chew and Professor Paula Reavey

Schools As Enabling Spaces To Improve Learning and Health-Related Quality Of Life For Primary School Children In Rural Communities In South Africa

Project description: This mixed study investigated This research investigated how schools work effectively with communities in rural areas by developing and evaluating a systems-oriented and multi-layered complex intervention.

Academics involved: Professor Patrick Callaghan & Dr Kerry Wood with partners from University College London and University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Court-based Mental Health Liaison and Diversion (L&D) Services

Project description: This study examined the evidence on how such services support people with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs).

The research has examined the characteristics of this population and has looked through the lens of court and clinical staff, working within L&D services in London.

The work examines the reported risk of suicide and self-harm behaviour in 9088 attendees assessed by five London Court Liaison and Diversion Services. It aims to examine the association of risk for suicide and self-harm behaviour within Liaison and Diversion services with several factors including gender, ethnicity and mental disorder. Although we know that individuals in contact with the criminal justice system are at higher risk of suicide than the general population, little is known about the court setting.

Some of our Centre members are listed below. Click on the links to read more about their work and get in touch.

Professor Susie Sykes (Director)

Professor Eiman Abdel Aleem

Professor Suzanne Bench

Professor Neil Brimblecombe

Professor Patrick Callaghan

Dr Elisa Carrus

Professor Eddie Chaplin

Dr Sarah Church

Mr Danny Clegg

Dr Joanne Cull

Professor Lynne Dawkins

Professor Dudley-Mcevoy

Dr Rita De Oliveira

Dr Rachael Elward

Professor Chris Flood

Professor Daniel Frings

Dr Catherine Jenkins

Professor Kiros Karamanidis

Professor Alison Leary

Dr Thomas Mills

Dr Alex Marchant

Dr Siobhan McLernon

Professor Calvin Moorley

Dr Jessica Oha

Professor Paula Reavey

Dr James Smith-Spark

Professor Adele Stewart-Lord

Dr Allan Tyler

Professor Nicki Thomas

Professor Jane Wills

Dr Lisa Zaidell

Research and Innovation Festival

In November we celebrated the launch of the Health and Well-being Research Centre along with LSBU’s four other new Research Centres at the inaugural LSBU Research & Innovation Festival. With over 200 attendees, the festival brought together staff, students and external partners to explore and showcase the very best of LSBU’s research and innovation.

The festival concluded with the first ever Research & Innovation Awards ceremony, where we celebrated excellence across eight categories. With 108 nominations it was exciting to see Centre reaching the finals in all categories. Congratulations to winners:

Research Project of the Year - SCeTCH (Lynne Dawkins, Kirstie Soar, Allan Tyler, Sharon Cox, Caitlin Notley)
Outstanding Researcher of the Year – Professor Susie Sykes
Early Career Researcher – Dr Catherine Kimber
Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity – Dr Udita Mitra

‘Outstanding Contribution to Local Community’ award

A project led by one of the Health and Wellbeing Centre members, Professor Nicola Thomas, has won the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Local Community’ award at the Times Higher Education Awards 2024 for its innovative approach to tackling high blood pressure among at-risk groups.

The project focuses on reaching individuals from black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities, who are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure. Factors such as genetic predisposition, lack of awareness, and distrust in traditional healthcare services contribute to these groups being at greater risk. These initiatives focus on offering free blood pressure checks and expert advice, aimed at promoting awareness and early prevention.

The project, run by LSBU and Croydon BME Forum trained barbers who have customers from around South London to provide on-the-spot blood pressure checks along with their regular trim in a bid to tackle undiagnosed health issues. The initiative aimed to reach Black and Asian men who have undiagnosed high blood pressure.