Inclusion health research in the East of England

NHS England defines inclusion health as activities addressing the health needs of socially excluded individuals, who often face multiple overlapping risk factors including: membership of particular ethnic populations; refugee or asylum-seeking status; being LGBT+; experiencing homelessness; leaving care or prison; adverse childhood experiences; sex working; and ongoing impacts of poverty, violence, and trauma. Poor access to health services and negative experiences of contact with health professionals are common for inclusion health groups due to systemic barriers.

Our team works closely at the intersection of research (utilising a range of methodologies, including mixed methods, creative practices; policy reviews and statistical analysis); evaluation and design of policy interventions; and development of educational resources in an attempt to reduce such inequities and enhance social justice.

We work closely with a range of public bodies including central and local government agencies; ICS and specialist civil society organisations. Principles of co-production are embedded into all of our activities.

Recent activities

The inclusion health team have published the full report for our project, 'An Exploration of Inclusion Health Teaching in Undergraduate Medical Curricula'. The team have presented findings at several conferences, including the international conference hosted by Pathway/Faculty of Homeless and Inclusion Health, and the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) conference.

The team also produced a briefing paper for the East of England APPG, 'Levelling up Healthy Life Expectancy in the East of England'.

We have established and continued to foster collaborative stakeholder connections through local (e.g. Healthwatch Essex and Chelmsford Sanctus Homelessness Charity), regional (e.g. Cambridge Homelessness Impact and Research Network (CHIRN) and the Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign) and national (e.g. The Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health (Pathway) affiliations.

We have developed our inclusion health research work into two new projects in 2025, in partnership with and funded through the CPICB. The first project received CPICB REN funding to co-produce a series of ethics guides aimed at Research Ethics Committees (RECs). The intention is to provide guidance to RECs who are reviewing project applications involving individuals from inclusion health groups. The ethics guides have recently been completed, and the team are planning to launch the guides at an event in October 2025.

The second project, funded through a CPICB RCF Award, is to consult and collaborate on the development of activities around barriers to health-seeking and support access for former prisoners. This project is due for completion in December 2025.

The team continues to be active in the inclusion health research space, with new projects and publications on the horizon, and a series of online seminars hosted every two months on a variety of inclusion health-related topics. The aim of the seminars is to focus on the work of community workers, charity partners and medical professionals who are undertaking initiatives to support those from inclusion health populations who are accessing healthcare. The seminars include speakers who provide insight into both local and national initiatives.

The team are also involved in supervising PhD students, clinical academic trainees and Medicine students on a number of research projects.