Health and wellbeing

Although significant advances have been made globally in improving health, increasing life expectancy and tackling communicable diseases, the UN has recognised that progress has slowed or stalled.

We can play a part in reversing this. Our work ranges from the clinical and scientific (through the Norwich Medical School, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Kent and Medway Medical School, and our biological and life sciences) to the study of public health and health systems (through centres such as Kent’s Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) and the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU)), the examination of wider issues of wellbeing and mental health through our psychological research and the broader relationship with culture and ethics through the medical humanities network, which stretches across all four universities.

We also look at the social drivers of health and long­term change through world­leading centres such as the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Essex, which allow us to examine issues around deprivation, equality of opportunity and life choices.

The breadth and complementarity of our work, the way in which we balance different methodologies and alternative perspectives, gives us the opportunity to examine issues in the round, offering a comprehensive analysis of the scientific and social challenges we face in health and wellbeing.