Generating a research agenda to support resilience
A collaborative programme is developing a shared long-term vision for the research priorities most likely to support the UK’s response to COVID-19.
The long-term impacts of COVID-19 stretch far beyond our usual measures for health, and the consequences for health outcomes and global recovery are not yet understood. While much of the early research funded in response to COVID-19 focused on biomedical and clinical needs, beyond the initial recovery phase, it will be important to look at the broader impacts of the pandemic. This may include research on inequalities, health service and social care delivery and population health.
The Health Foundation has established a long-term research agenda programme to develop a shared vision for the long-term social, political, economic and public health research and evidence requirements to support the UK to become more resilient to future health shocks like COVID-19.
Intended to support funders, researchers, and policymakers, the programme will identify and prioritise areas of work – from under researched topic areas through to the infrastructure, systems and processes – required to support this. In doing so it will provide a platform for further debate and action on key issues and research challenges emerging from COVID-19 and as a result of health inequalities and the wider determinants of health.
Ipsos, working with partners RAND Europe and The Strategy Unit, is supporting the Health Foundation in engaging with stakeholders to develop this long-term research agenda.
It provides a unique opportunity to explore the intersections between different groups’ experiences of the pandemic. The programme is using an in-depth deliberative process and has been designed to be highly participatory bringing together experts from across disciplines, funders, policy and practice, with the public including underrepresented and diverse groups that have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.
The programme entails a scoping phase including desk-based research and interviews with those working in this space, a series of mini-workshops with underrepresented and diverse groups that have been adversely impacted by the pandemic, interviews with stakeholders across research and policy audiences through a Delphi process, and three half-day online deliberative summits with the public. The findings of this research will be collated and shared with key audiences to provide a platform for further debate and action on key social, political and economic and public health issues and research challenges emerging from COVID-19.
The results of these broad engagement activities will be used to identify, refine and develop the key areas and associated research questions on which UK-wide research funding programmes and research activity across the UK can helpfully focus to bring about future resilience.
The knowledge and evidence required for a successful recovery will be significant, but the programme focuses on the long-term social, political, economic and public health research agenda in relation to:
If you would like to find out more about the programme, please email covid.agenda@health.org.uk.
A collaborative programme is developing a shared long-term vision for the research priorities most likely to support the UK’s response to COVID-19.
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