The Health Inclusion theme focuses on the health and wellbeing of people in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent who may experience complex and multiple needs and/or who may have difficulty accessing universal services. This could include, but is not limited to, people who experience substance misuse, homelessness, mental distress, migrants, and/or offenders.

This theme is important because people from marginalised groups often have poorer health outcomes. The Marmot review (2010) sets out six policy objectives that are required to reduce health inequalities.

Included in those objectives is the need to enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives, and to ensure a healthy standard of living for all. Thus, health inclusion and ensuring that there is equity in terms of opportunities for health and access to services are important in the reduction of health inequalities.

CHAD projects that sit within this theme are:

• COVID-19 and Homelessness: National policy at the local level
• Young People and Self-harm
• Hospital Discharge and Homelessness: Local stakeholder perspectives
• Evaluation of a pilot project: ‘Asking about ACEs’ (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
• City centre rough sleeping and street activity in Stoke-on-Trent

Fair Society, Healthy Lives: The Marmot Review (2010).

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COVID-19 and Homelessness: National policy at the local level

December 2020

The Centre for Health and Development (CHAD)set out to explore the ‘Everyone In’ initiative during the first emergency COVID response to rough sleeping (March-June 2020), and how the national policy was playing out at the local level. We interviewed a range of stakeholders at the local level (in Stoke-on-Trent), regional level (West Midlands) and nationally.

As the COVID-19 situation and government response has evolved, much changed in the months following data were collection, but some of the learning and take home messages remain relevant.

This was a collaborative project CHAD, Expert Citizens, VOICES of Stoke-on-Trent and Public Health England. The research was made possible by the National Lottery Community Fund through VOICES.

This research is available to download here.

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Young People and Self-harm

December 2019

Sian Parry, Fiona McCormack and Professor Chris Gidlow.

The Centre for Health and Development (CHAD) at Staffordshire University was asked to carry out research and a consultation exercise for Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The aim was to discover why the rate of hospital admissions as a result of self-harm for children and young people (CYP) in Stoke-on-Trent had increased. A literature review was conducted to understand the prevalence, outcome and risk factors for CYP that self-harm, worldwide and in the United Kingdom (UK).

Read the full report here

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Hospital Discharge and Homelessness: Local stakeholder perspectives

Fiona McCormack, Sian Parry and Chris Gidlow, November 2019, read

November 2019

We (the CHAD team) were approached by VOICES to carry out this piece of research. This was on the back of previous research we had partnered on, which used an assets-based approach to explore city centre rough sleeping and street activity in Stoke-on-Trent (McCormack et al., 2016; Massie et al., 2018). VOICES commissioned this research to explore stakeholders’ views and experiences of the hospital discharge process for homeless people, with the hope of highlighting gaps and strengths across the system..

Read the full report here

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Evaluation of a pilot project: ‘Asking about ACEs’ (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

This study is an evaluation of the pilot project ‘Asking about ACEs’ which is being trialled in two organisations in Stoke-on-Trent. The services involved are Arch and Youth Offending. It is a 6 month pilot and is being co-ordinated by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and evaluated by CHAD. We were successful in securing funding for the evaluation from Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a complex set of childhood experiences before the age of 18 that can include: sexual abuse, emotional abuse by a parent/caregiver, physical abuse by a parent/caregiver, emotional neglect by a parent/caregiver, physical neglect by a parent/caregiver, drugs/alcohol abuse in the household, having witnessed abuse in the household, a loved one in prison, loss or abandonment of/by a parent/caregiver, and mental illness in the household (McGee et al, 2015). Existing evidence has found that increasing ACEs are strongly related to adverse behavioural, health and social outcomes including, for example, involvement in violence, early unplanned pregnancy, incarceration, unemployment and problems with drug use and drug addiction (e.g., Felitti et al, 1998; Bellis et al, 2013).

Routine Enquiry about Adversity in Childhood (REACh) is the process of systematically asking individuals about adverse childhood experiences during routine assessments (McGee et al, 2015). The ‘Asking about ACEs’ pilot follows the same principle. Ultimately, the goal of this pilot is to enable individuals to move forward, changing focus from ‘what’s wrong with me’ to ‘what happened to me’, supporting people to break the cycle of risky behaviours/coping mechanisms and reduce demand for repeat interventions.

CHAD is conducting a mixed methods evaluation of the pilot. There are three main elements to this evaluation:

1. Conduct secondary analyses of service data
2. Collect qualitative data from clients to explore impact, experiences and delivery of the pilot
3. Collect qualitative data from service providers to explore views about implementation, delivery and impact of the pilot.

We anticipate completing this piece of work by the end of 2019.

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City centre rough sleeping and street activity in Stoke-on-Trent

November 2016

Qualitative study of city centre street activity and rough sleeping in Stoke-on-Trent: 2016-2017, VOICES of Stoke-on-Trent.

Homelessness, including rough sleeping, has been rising nationally. Stoke-on-Trent is no exception. Stoke-on-Trent has a wide range of assets available aimed at helping people experiencing homelessness to recover. This project aimed to inform the debate locally about perceived city centre homelessness and anti-social behaviour. This is with a view to further inform the development of positive city centre solutions which recognise the needs of people who are engaged in street activity alongside those who live, work and shop in the city centre.

We used participatory appraisal methodology – a cycle of research, data collection, reflection and learning – to build community knowledge and encourage collective action. A key part of this research was that  Expert Citizens, individuals with relevant lived experiences, conducted data collection through interviews with individuals engaged in rough sleeping and/or street activity and surveys/interviews with wider stakeholders.

Following data analysis, CHAD held a wider stakeholder event to share the research and discuss the findings. The event was well attended by a wide range of individuals and included representatives from the local authority, police, housing and third sector organisations.

Bringing stakeholders together in this way helped to generate a set of co-produced recommendations to improve experiences for all in the city centre

This research is available to download here.

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Doctoral research projects

Should require any further information about, details of, or access to any of our research, projects, publications or associated publications, please contact us.