Manchester City Council

Health and wellbeing Our approach, vision and aims

We want to enable policy-relevant research that delivers meaningful outcomes for residents. This research brings together:

  • Research that matters to residents and communities
  • Research that matches the Council’s priorities and is relevant to policy
  • Research that the academic community is interested in engaging with

Our Vision: Community-led research changes the way policy and decisions are made in Manchester

Community-led research changes the way policy and decisions are made in Manchester.

We are working towards a future where:

  • Communities have real influence over decisions
  • Research is embedded across the Council
  • Evidence is used consistently to shape policy and services
  • Action leads to measurable improvements in health outcomes

Aims

  • Provide equitable access to training, mentorships and partnerships for residents, communities and/or community groups, public sector partners and the local authority.
  • Communities engage/co-produce consistently in research to influence policy and practice.
  • Delivering, facilitating, and enabling inclusive research
  • Research findings are shared to make a meaningful difference in practice
  • Understanding what works and what doesn’t and using this to learn and develop our research
  • To mainstream and sustain a culture of community-led research and evidence-informed policy


Our approach: Putting communities at the centre of research and decision-making

A core principle of HDRC Manchester is co-production. This means we work with residents to design, deliver and evaluate the type of research and any research projects that HDRC Manchester generates.

We work with residents and communities to:

  • Shape research priorities
  • Design and deliver research projects
  • Interpret findings and identify what needs to change
  • Influence how services and policies are developed

This includes working with different council services, academic communities and developing a cohort of Community Co-Researchers, supporting local people to lead research grounded in lived experience.