Young People and Activism for Health Equity in the UK

Project description:

The UK is one of the most socioeconomically and spatially divided countries in the world, exacerbated by both the Covid-19 pandemic and the Cost-of-Living crisis. There are acute inequalities in people’s access to resources which promote positive health and wellbeing (e.g. food, housing, education and income). Unsurprisingly, these inequalities in the building blocks of good physical and mental health are echoed in inequalities across a wide range of health outcomes throughout the life course. For example, young people in the North of England have higher rates of poor mental health and obesity and lower life expectancy than their counterparts in the South. These inequalities also act at hyper local scales with significant differences in health outcomes visible within small geographical areas. Cities like Glasgow, London and Sheffield, for example, have stark differences in health and wellbeing within short geographical distances. Young people in the UK are, and will continue to be, acutely impacted by rising socioeconomic, spatial and health inequality.

While young people are increasingly visible in activism across a range of issues (particularly the environment), we do not have a clear picture of their role in, and ways of working in, advocating for social and health justice.

This PhD will seek to address the question: How are young people in the UK today mobilising in activism for socioeconomic, health and spatial equity?

The Phd will involve three main stages:

– First, the candidate will carry out a scoping review of published and grey literature relevant to young people’s activism for socioeconomic and health equity. They will create a logic model depicting how young people understand their role in reducing socioeconomic, spatial and health equity.

– Second, using the logic model as a basis, they will design and carry out innovative, participatory qualitative fieldwork with a relevant range of young activist groups to develop an in-depth understanding of how different groups work in practice. Key issues to explore might include: group aims, ways of mobilising other young people, extent to which groups engage with local and national politics / political groups and lobbying organisations (e.g. Labour, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Equality Trust) / thinktanks /charities, what is working well (including evidence of impactful change) and challenges.

– Third, the candidate will analyse their data and write up their thesis. They will also create a public facing, co-produced report and, subject to timely completion of the above, a co-produced public exhibition either in a local public space and/or that ‘tours’ the various public engagement festivals or a co-produced creative output like a short film or theatrical production.

How to apply:

Please complete a University Postgraduate Research Application form available here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply/applying. 

Please clearly state the prospective main supervisor in the respective box and select ‘School of Allied Health Professionals, Nursing & Midwifery’ as the department.

Proposed start date:

October 2024

Entry Requirements:

Candidates must have a first or upper second class honours degree or significant research experience.