About

Why do we need Public Health research?

We all want to live in a healthy society. A healthy society is one in which people can experience physical and mental wellbeing, make meaning of their lives and have the sense of control needed to pursue life goals.

Our health is shaped by a wide range of factors including where we’re born and the places where we grow up, live and work. These are the building blocks of a healthy society and are also known as the wider determinants of health.

In England, lives are being cut short because of unfair and avoidable differences in people’s health. We don’t all have the same opportunities to live healthy lives.

Public health research investigates these differences and tries to understand how everyone in society can have the same opportunity to live healthier lives.

Within local and national government, decisions that are made about the building blocks of health – including transport, housing, education, and planning – all affect the health of people and communities. SPHR research and evidence can be used to inform these decisions so that money can be spent where it’s needed most to make a positive difference to people’s lives and benefit everyone in society.

How does the NIHR School for Public Health Research help towards building a healthy society?

The NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) is rising to this challenge by generating the evidence needed to inform and shape research-driven decisions. This will help put in place and strengthen the building blocks of good health that are needed for all of us to live healthier lives.  

How does it do this?

Established in 2012, the School is a partnership between nine leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research in England.

To achieve our goal of supporting the creation of a healthy society, we:

• Work together to produce evidence which can be used to address the problems people face.
• Create an environment which brings together researchers, people who work in public health, people who are experts by experience and the general public to create the right environment to produce first class evidence.
• Help people understand the benefits of using evidence, and support people to use it.
• Train the public health researchers of the future.

The SPHR is one of three national research Schools alongside the NIHR School for Primary Care Research and the NIHR School for Social Care Research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Each national School is a unique collaboration between leading academic centres in England, carrying out high-quality research in their respective fields. This research can be applied across the country to meet the needs of policymakers, practitioners and the public.

The School is committed to building research capacity in public health through training and development opportunities.

View map as PDF