Public health
The World Health Organization reports that 71% of deaths (41 million people) around the world each year are due to non-communicable diseases. The major risk factors for non-communicable diseases such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets are often initiated in early life or adolescence. Adolescence is also a time when half of all mental health conditions develop, affecting up to 1 in 5 adolescents globally. Consequently, it has been proposed that in order to improve the health of the public we need to develop cultures and environments in which the healthy choice is the easiest choice, throughout the life course (the fifth wave of public health).
It is in this context in which the Societal and Behavioural Public Health group undertake research with the ambition of improving the health of individuals, communities and populations. We focus primarily on adolescents and young people, with a life course social epidemiological approach. We collect and analyse data on health and wellbeing locally, nationally and internationally to understand health disparities and undertake evaluations of public health interventions into complex social systems to inform practice and policy. Our research is multidisciplinary and co-produced with relevant stakeholders and publics. We place special emphasis on capacity building both in teaching and supervision, and also through working with schools and communities to empower people to use data for the public good.
