Investigating lived experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and how community engagement can be utilised by local government in the UK, France and USA to improve response to future pandemic outbreak.
The Enabling Early Childhood Development in Ealing (ECDE) project, explores the perspectives and experiences of parents and carers with children under age 5 in the London borough of Ealing, aiming to understand how families in the borough can be better supported and how services can be improved...
In the UK, 50% of people in the most deprived areas report poor health by age 55–59, over two decades earlier than those in the least deprived areas. Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair, and systematic differences in health between different groups of people. Health inequalities exist...
In community-based research, the process does not end with data collection and analysis. A vital but often overlooked step is validation, where findings are shared with participants for feedback. This helps check researcher interpretation, supports relationship building and empowers communities...
14 July 2025
At a time when early years are again in the spotlight in the UK – and not for good reasons – new IDS research explores the enablers and barriers of early childhood development in a local context, from the perspectives of families and service providers themselves. A solid foundation of...
22 February 2024
Sexual, reproductive health and rights – including the right and ability to access safe abortion – have long been among the last priorities in health systems, not least because those who benefit from them the most are often the most marginalised and vulnerable. As social science and public...
29 June 2022
Research on the context of COVID-19 vaccine ‘hesitancy’ can highlight a wide range of long-standing historical, political-economic, and social issues faced by marginalised communities. Young people, for example, were often labelled ‘vaccine hesitant’ when COVID-19 vaccines first became...
14 June 2022
Community engagement is a crucial part of preparedness and response to health emergencies. It can enable more effective and equitable approaches by listening and responding to people’s needs, aspirations and priorities as much as communicating information to people and seeking to guide their...
2 July 2025
This evidence brief draws on anthropological research in Ealing, a borough in Northwest London, to demonstrate how investing in community engagement infrastructure is fundamental to pandemic preparedness. While traditional preparedness often focuses on plans and protocols, the Ealing...
2 July 2025
SSHAP Briefing
Humanitarian crises affect diverse populations in complex ways, often exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities. Among those disproportionately impacted are LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other SOGIESC – sexual orientations, gender...
27 September 2024
SSHAP Briefing
This brief presents social and political considerations for the design and implementation of vaccination-related risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategies for mpox in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
10 July 2024
The movement to decolonise humanitarian action is gaining critical momentum. Join us for a webinar led by fellows from the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform to get beyond the buzzwords and explore the multiple and emerging meanings, modes and methods for decolonising aid and...