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University of Essex homepage Departments Health and Social Care Research Public health and social policy
Research Group

Public health and social policy

An old man holding a walking stick is walking along a tree-lined path towards a gate, holding the hand of a small boy walking next to him in a puffy coat and wellington boots.

Staff within the School have established work streams and research programmes which examine public health and social policy across all dimensions of health.

  • Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis is the academic leading this research group and will be co-ordinating a range of meetings and activities with a range of staff and PGR students. Most of Professor Ioakimidis’s research revolves around the broad theme of Social Work in Extremis, exploring social work practice in the context of unpredictable and extraordinary political, social, economic, and environmental change.
  • Other researchers in the School are involved in a 5-year project funded NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East of England a collaboration between Peterborough and Cambridge NHS Trust, and the university of Cambridge, East Anglia, Hertfordshire, and Essex. Professor Joffe is a standing member of the Management Executive Group, and Professor Ewen Speed is the implementation lead for the theme called “Inclusive Involvement in Research for Practice Led Health and Social Care” and Professor Gill Green.
  • A Better Start Southend (ABSS) is a national lottery funded programme which responds to the link between economic deprivation and poor life chances. A team of senior research officers are working on a range of community projects which include a formative evaluation lead by Professor Vicky Joffe with Dr Aaron Wyllie and a summative evaluation led by Professor Anuj Kapilashrami. The School is working with a number of strategic partners in the region including Southend Borough Council, Southend Police and Southend NHS Trust, and leading on an inter-disciplinary research team undertaking all research and evaluation activities for the research programme.
  • Eastern ARC Academic Research Consortium is a strategic collaboration between the universities of East Anglia, Essex, and Kent. The Eastern ARC have also launched a mentoring scheme. Professor Ewen Speed is a co-investigator on a UKRI collaborative project across 4 universities looking at differences in the volunteering response across the 4 UK jurisdictions.
  • Professor Anuj Kapilashrami, Director of Global Engagement and Partnerships, is the founding chair and leading a programme of research on migration and heath via the Migration Health South Asia Network.
  • The GEMMS research group brings together academics and practitioners with relevant expertise and experience in six institutions across four countries. The group will develop an evidence-informed intervention to provide on-going support to migrants in precarious situations in SA and India, and border spaces in Myanmar and Zimbabwe. The research group will establish a programme of work to generate new knowledge, improved understandings, and co-designed training and public health solutions. HSCs contribution will be led by Professor Anuj Kapilashrami
  • Professor Mariachiara Di Cesare is the Director of the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing which is committed to supporting the next generation of researchers in public health and wellbeing.

Group lead

Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis

Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis

Professor of Social Work

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Our projects

Evaluating recurrent care and edge of care services

Evaluating recurrent care and edge of care services

Evaluation of A Better Start Southend

Foundation Report for the British Association of Social Workers Human Rights Advisory Group

This project will create a written document that highlights human rights within the context of social work practice.
Gendered violence & poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS)

Gendered violence & poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS)

Resilience and delivery of HIV care in areas of violence and crime in South Africa

This Health and Social Care project examines how care of HIV patients can be carried out in areas with a high crime rate and endemic gang-related violence.

Postgraduate Research

We welcome postgraduate applicants who are interested in developing their expertise around area of public health and global health perspectives through a research degree.

You can find out more about the work of Anuj Kapilashrami in Global Public Health, international perspectives in social work by Vasilios Ioakimidis, and the work of the wider team by browsing the profiles listed below.

We also have links with researchers and post-doctoral researchers in in the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing led by Mariachiara Di Cesare and the team.

Studentships

PhD: Disrupting the cycle of gendered violence and poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS)

We are recruiting 3 PhD candidates for this studentship, which will focus on the poorly understood link between gendered violence and poor mental and psychosocial health and how these are experienced by migrant and mobile groups.

The successful applicants will be registered and start at the University of Essex, with extensive periods of field work in years 2 and 3.

We are particularly looking for candidates with an undergraduate and Masters degree, familiarity with quantitative or qualitative methods and data analysis experience, and knowledge of local languages that may be spoken in India, Myanmar, South Africa, or Zimbabwe.

Title: Disrupting the cycle of gendered violence and poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS)

Based in: School of Health and Social Care

Deadline: 7th November 2022


Find out more about this studentship

Current doctoral research

Exploring social inclusion and participation: assessing the impact of the Care Act (2014) on the social experience of being a carer

Applying a mixed methodology design this project aims to understand the extent to which the new provision for carers under the Care Act (2014) can promote their wellbeing, participation and inclusion through the use of direct payments. It draws on secondary analysis of carer specific national datasets and insights form carers.

Kathryn Chard

A critical examination of the political construction and development of social work in Greece with refugees and asylum seekers in the humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

The focus of this research is on social work in NGOs, focused particularly on exploring via interviews social workers’ experiences and the ethical difficulties they face in the context of their everyday practice.

NGO staff will also be interviewed to identify perceived ideas regarding social work to demystify the interplay between social work practice and the principles of social justice.

Georgios Papaleonidopolous

Our researchers

Academics

Dr Esther Ariyo
Dr Esther Ariyo

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Sai Bangera
Sai Bangera

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Sophia Carbonero
Sophia Carbonero

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Kathryn Chard
Dr Kathryn Chard

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr John Day
Dr John Day

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Mariachiara Di Cesare
Professor Mariachiara Di Cesare

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Ashish Dwivedi
Dr Ashish Dwivedi

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Gill Green
Professor Gill Green

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Ian Harris
Ian Harris

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Victoria Joffe
Professor Victoria Joffe

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Alex Kaley
Dr Alex Kaley

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Anuj Kapilashrami
Professor Anuj Kapilashrami

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Analisa Pais
Dr Analisa Pais

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Sarita Panday
Dr Sarita Panday

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Konstantinos Roussos
Dr Konstantinos Roussos

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Milagros Ruiz
Dr Milagros Ruiz

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Ewen Speed
Professor Ewen Speed

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Professor Robert Stawski
Professor Robert Stawski

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Antonella Trotta
Dr Antonella Trotta

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Aaron Wyllie
Dr Aaron Wyllie

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr ZhiMin Xiao
Dr ZhiMin Xiao

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Also Group Lead for the Physical and Mental Health and Wellbeing across the Lifespan research group.

Research staff

Victor Ashby
Victor Ashby

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Sally Burrows
Sally Burrows

Group member

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Esther Ariyo
Dr Esther Ariyo

Lecturer

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Ashish Dwivedi
Dr Ashish Dwivedi

Lecturer

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Postgraduate Students

Juwaretu Aliyu
Juwaretu Aliyu

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Lucia Collen
Lucia Collen

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Stephanie Ford
Stephanie Ford

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Yusuf Mustapha
Yusuf Mustapha

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Timea Putnoki
Timea Putnoki

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Nicola Warren
Nicola Warren

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

Dr Claire Wicks
Dr Claire Wicks

PhD student

School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex

close up shot of hands on a walking stick
Blog: COVID-19 and the failure of social care policy

Emeritus Professor Peter Beresford reflects on the failure of policy for social care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the blog
Research in the School of Health and Social Care
Research group: Assessment and management of neuro-developmental and acquired disorders
Research degrees from the School of Health and Social Care
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