Healthy Families

The Healthy Families theme of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Yorkshire and Humber works with the public, service providers and researchers to improve health, wellbeing and promote fairer futures for families living in deprived areas across the Yorkshire and Humber region. The theme is co-led by Professor Rosie McEachan and Dr Sunil Bhopal and builds upon the foundations established by the previous Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs).

Research is undertaken across five broad topic areas (Best Start; Oral Health; Healthy Bodies and Minds; Healthy Learning; Healthy Places) and complemented by a cross-cutting Systems Change topic. Healthy Families research projects which were established in 2020 to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on the COVID-19 page. We have over 50 research projects in our theme and are always interested in hearing new ideas – please do get in touch. Explore the topic areas below to find out more about our current projects.

Healthy Families Projects

Healthy Families

Healthy Urban Places

The Healthy Urban Places project (HUP) is exploring how the places where people live can impact their physical and mental health. The project focuses on two areas – Bradford District...

Healthy Families

Acceptability of photobiomodulation for mucositis management in children and young people

Most children with cancer are treated with chemotherapy. Eight in every ten of these children develop a sore mouth, which can involve extensive, painful ulceration. We call this oral mucositis....

Healthy Families

GP drop-in clinics at Family Hubs

Our team are supporting Hull City Council to evaluate a new GP drop-in clinic at a Family Hub. The clinic is available to all families attending certain play sessions at...

Making a Difference: Our Latest Healthy Families case studies

Healthy Families

A breakthrough for BRUSH

Healthy Families

A breakthrough for BRUSH

Healthy Families

Evaluating the ‘Me and My Baby’ (MaM-B) parent-infant bonding tool for use in UK universal healthcare settings

Healthy Families

Evaluating the ‘Me and My Baby’ (MaM-B) parent-infant bonding tool for use in UK universal healthcare settings

Healthy Families

Join Us: Move Play (JU:MP)

Aim: Increase physical activity in children and young people aged 5 to 14 who are living in some of the most deprived areas of the UK

Healthy Families

Join Us: Move Play (JU:MP)

Aim: Increase physical activity in children and young people aged 5 to 14 who are living in some of the most deprived areas of the UK

Sunil Bhopal

Theme Co-Lead

Healthy Families

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Rosie McEachan

Theme Co-lead

Healthy Families

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Kate Pickett

Professor of Epidemiology

Healthy Families

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Our latest Healthy Families publications

Healthy Families

Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula

Healthy Families

Overcoming doubt: developing CDoH Essentials, a practical tool to introduce the commercial determinants of health

Healthy Families

A national survey of supervised toothbrushing programmes in England

Healthy Places

The Healthy Places topic seeks to understand how our environments can impact on our health. We use a range of methods from engagement and citizen science projects with our children, families, and communities, to collecting and analysing environmental and health data and evaluating interventions.

Healthy Schools

The Healthy Schools topic seeks to develop interventions and methods to improve mental and physical health in schools through across sector collaborations with health and educational professionals.

Oral Health

The Oral Health topic aims to improve children's oral health by researching and implementing evidence-based oral health promotion across early years services.

Systems Change

The cross cutting Systems Change topic helps to establish and harness linked routine data to plan and evaluate services, facilitate collaboration, and integrate services across health, social care, education and community settings.

Healthy Bodies and Minds

The Healthy Bodies and Minds topic aims to co-produce scalable community and system interventions to tackle the child and family obesity crisis. It seeks to support the optimum physical health of children and families including prevention of obesity.

Best Start

The Best Start topic aims to improve the mental and physical health of parents and infants from conception onwards. This includes developing and evaluating interventions, co-producing and testing measures, and promoting equitable access to support for families.

Theme lead(s): Sarah Blower

Healthy Families