Institute for Health and Care Improvement
Reducing inequalities
in health and care
Research theme.
Health is affected by the society and environment that we live in, as well as lifestyle choices made.
At York St John University, our research aims not only to increase population health and wellbeing but to improve the fairness of its distribution. The work of this theme aims to contribute to greater health equity for communities locally, nationally and internationally by producing high-quality applied research.
Our current projects include:
Health inequalities and rurality: an exploratory case study of North Yorkshire
The project will examine the relationship between rurality and health and social care services. A key aim is to determine if it is necessary to categorise rurality as a geographical factor when addressing rising levels of health inequalities.
The work is in collaboration with Healthwatch North Yorkshire, and project benefits will be primarily driven through their information sharing, championing and campaigning work.
For further information contact Dr Sarah Baker or Mark Mierzwinski.
Delaying and reversing frailty in rural communities
Frailty can be defined as a state of physiological vulnerability to external stressors. It increases the risks of illness, falls, dependency, disability, and death. Frailty has been described as the most problematic expression of population ageing.
There is now increasingly clear evidence to support that frailty can be delayed or reversed. Interventions with both muscle strength training and protein supplementation have shown promise both in terms of effectiveness and ease of implementation. However, these interventions are rarely offered to older people with frailty, particularly in rural communities, where there are unique barriers to delivering healthcare services.
This PhD project, led by Ruth Kay, will develop and test an exercise-based intervention targeting frailty amongst rural community dwellers. The work has co-production at its core.
For further information contact Ruth's PhD supervisor, Professor Garry Tew.
