A national conference brought together researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and families to showcase the latest research and innovations in child and maternal health.
Hosted by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Children’s Health and Maternity Programme, the one-day event featured a dynamic programme of cutting-edge research presentations, powerful lived experience insights, and collaborative discussions.
A post-event briefing has been published which gives an overview of the event, the session abstracts presented and the posters displayed. It’s hoped the briefing will provide a useful knowledge sharing resource for delegates and those working within child and maternal health research.
The conference, held at the British Library in London, explored a broad spectrum of topics, including maternity care, neonatal care, mental health, special educational needs, and the vital role of public involvement in health research.
Keynote talks were delivered by NIHR’s Scientific Director for Research Infrastructure, Professor Marian Knight MBE, and Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, Founder of Centre for Young Lives.
The event underscored the collective commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of children and families across the country, while fostering innovation and partnership within the sector.
Professor Vashti Berry, Sally Bridges, Professor Stuart Logan, and Professor John Wright are Co-Leads of the NIHR Children’s Health and Maternity Programme. In a joint statement, they said:
“Our intention was to create a space for meaningful discussions between researchers, practitioners, and the communities their work is designed to serve, and to share knowledge and experiences across the research community to ultimately improve child health.
“We feel strongly that this intention was achieved and we plan to build on the momentum of the day by strengthening our collaborations and partnerships to scale work nationally, and align efforts across regions to create a coordinated and lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of children and families.”