Health and Care Workforce

The Health and Care Workforce network is aligned to the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute and has evolved to support the development of research related to the organisation and delivery of care within the NHS and health and social care.

Aims

We aim to work with health and care providers to explore the intersectionality between arts and science via the exploration of the role of arts in wellbeing. For example, how the arts can be used to give voice to stigmatised health conditions, decrease social isolation and build community cohesion.

Together with colleagues from the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, we develop research from design to dissemination in collaboration with our partner organisations, incorporating community and public engagement to connect communities, organisations, and assets, based on current issues within the context of health and social care. This facilitates potential for knowledge exchange to have a tangible impact on practice and policy, local growth, regeneration to transform lives in the region.

Our aims are:

To work collaboratively between Faculties and with our external partners to address the social and health challenges facing the health and care workforce.
To align research activity to the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute strategy.
To support NHS organisations to fulfil their statutory mandate to undertake research activity.
To work collaboratively with VCSE organisations to increase wellbeing in underserved local communities.
To use research to underpin policy advocacy work to support change within health and care.
To make a positive contribution to local growth and regeneration through knowledge exchange activity.

Who we are

Dr Yitka Graham is the main convenor of the Health and Care Workforce network. She is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing and Head of the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute, where she leads the development of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health (NMAHP) clinical research capacity and capability within the University, and with our partners in health and social care settings.

You can contact Yitka for further information or queries about the Health and Care Workforce network: yitka.graham@sunderland.ac.uk.