Partnerships for Social Justice

Dr Ghazala Mir, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Responsive Mode Impact Fund

Social inequalities are widening yet public awareness of the causes of inequality and how to reduce these is low. Four equity-focused Networks will collaborate to explore how to reduce inequalities through work with public services and community organisations. The Inequalities Research Network, Health Inequalities Research Network, Equal England and Leeds Equality Network all bring together academic, voluntary sector, policy and public sector staff interested in improving health and wellbeing and addressing social factors that contribute to disadvantage and social exclusion.

We will develop ideas for future research on a) how to improve public understanding about the social causes of inequality and b) how to increase leadership on equity in public services and within disadvantaged communities. We will also train organisations who can support disadvantaged communities to conduct research about the inequalities they experience.

We aim to achieve concrete benefits from this work, including:
• Greater public and professional awareness of how public service institutions can reduce inequalities;
• New collaborations between Networks and organisations to develop further research;
• Research skills in groups that experience inequalities;
• Development of existing training materials for use in diverse contexts and disadvantaged groups;
• Publications on the activities by students in the University of Leeds School of Dentistry.

Dr Ghazala Mir can be contacted by email: G.Mir@leeds.ac.uk