Participatory Research Specialist for the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Ealing
Permanent role.
Ealing is a highly diverse and vibrant borough in West London. Home to around 370,000 people, it is the third largest borough by population in London and is an exciting, diverse and challenging place to live and work. There are stark and longstanding inequities in health determinants – the ‘building blocks’ of health – like education, social connection, housing, and good jobs. This leads to poorer health and shorter lives for disadvantaged communities.
To help address this, the council is one of four London boroughs to be awarded £5 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to create the NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration Ealing. This will enable us to have the capacity and infrastructure to do meaningful research on the health determinants in Ealing, learning together how to promote more healthy, thriving and equitable communities.
As a partnership with local community organisations, Golden Opportunities for Skills and Development, Ealing and Hounslow Community and Voluntary Service, and Southall Community Alliance, and research institutions London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, and the Institute of Development Studies, the HDRC Ealing will bring a new approach to collecting and learning from data and insights on the building blocks of health, with stronger community participation and involvement in research.
HDRC Ealing values and promotes diverse forms of knowledge, participatory approaches and systems thinking. We are looking for an exceptional candidate who has the expertise and passion to drive forward this exciting programme of work.
This senior research role will be responsible for embedding a culture of using participatory research approaches into the everyday work of Ealing council and partners on the building blocks of health, such that residents with lived experience of health inequity from our diverse communities, will shape action that is community driven, evidence-informed, locally meaningful and most effective at influencing change.
The post holder will achieve this by:
1. Leading strategic work to embed participatory research approaches into routine systems, processes and ways of working in Ealing
2. Providing expert advice and support to council officers, and colleagues from both the community and voluntary sector and our wider strategic partnerships e.g. NHS, police etc…on participatory research approaches to work on the building blocks of health
3. Leading the coordination of, engagement with, and further development of our new community researcher infrastructure – residents trained in systemic participatory action research by Institute of Development Studies
4. Leading the capacity and learning offer to council officers and community and voluntary sector colleagues in a range of participatory research approaches.
Success would be:
• Positive culture change in Ealing Council, Community and Voluntary sector and wider strategic partners such as NHS, towards greater and systematic use of participatory research and evaluation
• Sustained success in applying for further research funding for proposals with embedded participatory research approaches
• Staff trained and able to lead on participatory research approaches to their work on building blocks of health
• Growth and development of Ealing Community Action Research Initiative to enable a permanent infrastructure of community and participatory action research
• An active research collaboration, using participatory research approaches wherever appropriate in the field of applied health determinants and health equity focused research.
Collaboration is at the heart of this programme and you will be working closely with council departments, academic and community partners, considering ways to promote knowledge and skills exchange focussed on participatory research approaches. This role offers a great learning opportunity in organisational capacity development and influencing culture change across diverse sectors.
There has never been a better time to join the team at Ealing to work on health equity.
• The Council Plan has a strong focus on tackling inequalities and is supporting a vision of ‘connected communities’
• Our new Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2028 is focused on tackling inequalities through the building blocks of health
• We are 1 of 30 NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaborations, including 4 in London.
By joining Ealing, you will be part of a respected, innovative and diverse London borough, committed to promoting health equity through stronger evidence use and creation.
This is a permanent post.
Currently, the majority of staff are hybrid working, with 2 days a week attendance required in Perceval House and 3 days virtually from home (this may change depending on the needs of the collaboration and council).
For a discussion in confidence, please contact Shana Nessa nessash@ealing.gov.uk, using ‘HDRC Ealing Participatory Research Specialist’ in your email heading.
This post is subject to Ealing’s enhanced vetting process.
You must have the right to work in the UK. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.
It is an exciting time to join us, here at Ealing Council. If you would like to make a positive difference to our residents and borough, then we are looking forward to hearing from you.
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Ealing Council is committed to creating good jobs and delivering on its connected communities’ agenda. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive.
We therefore welcome applications from all residents of the borough, we particularly welcome applications from candidates who are entering the employment market in the early stages of their career and mid-career professionals, who are currently underrepresented in Ealing’s workforce.
Please note all applications will be determined on merit.
