HDRC Cornwall Areas of Research Interest (ARIs)

Our Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) are the key topics where HDRC Cornwall is keen to strengthen understanding.

We will develop evidence to inform policy.

Our ARIs highlight areas that are important for improving health and wellbeing in our communities. They are also where collaborative research can have a real and lasting impact.

The 2015 review of the UK Research Councils asked that departments share their research needs. This can then help researchers identify priority areas. In response, government organisations have created ARI documents since 2017.

ARIs aim to encourage dialogue and partnership between academics and local authority teams.

We are sharing these priorities to make it easier for researchers to align with the needs of local government. As a result they will be supporting research that is timely, relevant, and co-produced. 

Our ARIs share broad areas of focus with specific knowledge gaps we seek to address.

We welcome contact from academics and research partners to explore opportunities for collaboration. If you would like to conduct research or share existing evidence in any of these areas, please contact us. Email hdrc@cornwall.gov.uk    

Benefits of engaging with ARIs 

Engaging with ARIs offers researchers a unique opportunity to:

• Show real-world impact through contributing to local policy and practice.  As well as supporting REF impact case studies. This will also strengthen evidence of societal benefit.

• Co-produce research with policy partners. This will ensure we apply academic insights where they can have the greatest effect. It also ensures that on the ground realities shape findings.

• Access rich local data, insight, and networks. This includes community partners, practitioners, and decision-makers. They work across health, housing, environment, and social policy. We strive to adopt Open Research principles. For this we aim to support access to data held by the Council for research purposes.

• Develop longer-term collaborations by building trusted relationships. These will then underpin joint funding bids, pilot projects, and sustained research programmes.

• Increase degree programme attractiveness for students through delivering real-world policy experience. For example through a postgraduate student placement at Cornwall Council. 

Engaging with our ARIs 

We welcome engagement through:

• sharing evidence or research findings

• collaborating on research projects

• grant applications that align with our ARIs

• opportunities for engaging postgraduate students. This could be for example as part of a dissertation project or industry placement. 

If you have research evidence relevant to our ARIs we would love to hear about it. Also please let us know if you are planning research relating to one of our questions. You can contact us at hdrc@cornwall.gov.uk  

We may also be able to offer endorsement of grant applications. This will depend on resources available at the time.

We see our ARIs as an offer to collaborate with researchers on projects. We will respond to speculative approaches for research funding where possible and appropriate.

Please note that ARIs are not an invitation to tender, but they are an open offer to collaborate. Together we can shape Cornwall’s future through research and evidence-based policy making.   

Our areas of research interest 

Our team has been working across Cornwall Council to identify priority research areas. We have been interviewing staff to understand the Council’s research needs.  

We have summarised our findings under seven primary Areas of Research Interest: 

1. Children, young people, and education outcomes  

2. Population health improvement and prevention 

3. Work, skills, and economic inclusion 

4. Health, care, and system Integration

5. Housing and health

6. Place, environment, and sustainable communities

7. Community, belonging and social fabric

1. Children, young people and education outcomes 

SEND systems and family experience

• How do children, young people and families experience Cornwall's SEND system? What changes could improve access, coordination and outcomes?

• How are SEND reforms affecting:

  • support

  • family experience

  • inclusion

  • and outcomes for children and young people in Cornwall?

• Can AI reduce waiting times in SEN pathways and improve the experience of children, families and staff?

• How does waiting for a neurodevelopmental diagnosis affect children, young people and families? What support helps most during this time?

School inclusion and engagement

• Which approaches reduce school exclusions in Cornwall? Who benefits most, and in what settings?

• What causes persistent school absence in Cornwall? Which approaches improve attendance most?

• Why do families in Cornwall choose elective home education? How does this choice affect children, families and services?

• How do the:

  • academic

  • social

  • and emotional outcomes of home-educated children compare with those of similar pupils in mainstream schools?

Vulnerability and harm

• How does rural and coastal poverty affect the health, education, wellbeing and life chances of young people in Cornwall?

• How does contact with the justice system affect young people's health and wellbeing? Which approaches reduce harm and improve outcomes?

Family context and services

• How does parental trauma affect children's need for and use of clinical services? How could services respond better?

• Does reflective practice for health visitors improve:

  • staff wellbeing

  • professional practice

  • service quality

  • and family outcomes?

2. Population health improvement and prevention

Sexual health and reproductive outcomes

• Which :

  • personal,

  • social,

  • economic

  • and service factors explain differences in teenage pregnancy across Cornwall? Which factors can services change?

• What helps or stops different groups in Cornwall from using sexual health services when they need them?

• How do digital platforms, stigma and other barriers affect STI risk and testing? Which approaches improve testing and prevention?

Vaccination uptake

• Why does uptake of MMR, HPV, flu and COVID vaccines differ between groups in Cornwall?

• Which targeted approaches increase vaccine uptake among groups with lower coverage? Which offer the best value for money?

Cardiovascular and cancer prevention

• What raises the risk of heart disease among post-menopausal women in Cornwall? Which preventive approaches could improve outcomes most?

• Why are there gaps in cervical screening and HPV vaccine uptake in Cornwall? Which approaches can reduce these gaps?

Smoking and Vaping cessation

• Which stop-smoking approaches help different groups in Cornwall to quit for the long term?

• Which approaches best reduce children's exposure to second-hand smoke at home and in community settings?

• What leads young people in Cornwall to start, continue or stop vaping? Which fair and effective approaches can prevent or reduce vaping?

Food systems and nutrition

• How can Cornwall put food at the heart of decisions across local government and partner services? What effects could this have?

• Which approaches best improve:

  • food knowledge,

  • cooking skills,

  • confidence,

  • and healthy eating across Cornwall's communities and age groups?

• What are the patterns, causes and effects of food insecurity in Cornwall? How can early action reduce the need for emergency food support?

• Which:

  • behavioural,

  • community,

  • and environmental approaches best improve diet, especially for groups with poorer health?

• How could tax, regulation and planning policies affect diet, obesity, food insecurity and health gaps in Cornwall?

• How can food and nutrition programmes reduce, rather than widen, health gaps between places and income groups?

3. Work, Skills, and Economic Inclusion 

• What causes Cornwall's productivity gap with similar areas? Which causes can local policy address?

• What helps young people in Cornwall move from education into secure, good-quality work?

• Which personal, family, school and local factors are linked to young people becoming NEET in Cornwall? Which can services change?

• How do education and school experiences in Cornwall affect later work, earnings and economic activity?

4. Health, Care, and System Integration

Integrated care pathways

• How do specialist hospital discharge pathways for people experiencing homelessness affect:

  • housing,

  • health,

  • service use

  • and costs?

• Which changes to hospital and social care discharge improve speed, patient outcomes and use of resources?

• Do NHS referrals to local government, especially for housing needs, improve health, housing and service use?

Workforce sustainability

• What affects recruitment, retention and wellbeing in Cornwall's social care workforce? Which workforce and career programmes improve these outcomes?

Technology-enabled care

• Which forms of technology-enabled care prevent falls and reduce their effects for people at risk?

• Can technology-enabled care identify and manage risk better ? Can it reduce avoidable admissions to hospital or care homes?

Community-based models

• Do multi-agency community support alliances, such as the Newquay model, improve:

  • access,

  • service coordination and

  • outcomes for residents.

5. Housing and health

Housing conditions and health risk

• How can Cornwall collect, link and share damp and mould data better to find risks and target action?

• How much do housing conditions contribute to seasonal excess deaths in Cornwall? Which housing measures could prevent the most deaths?

• How does poor-quality housing affect physical and mental health in Cornwall? Which groups face the greatest harm?

• Can home sensors improve the detection and management of housing health risks? How do retrofit works affect homes and health?

Housing regulation and enforcement

• Which enforcement approaches in the private rented sector improve housing conditions? And which protect tenants' health most?

• How do renters' rights reforms affect:

  • landlords, 

  • tenants,

  • housing supply,

  • housing quality,

  • and enforcement in Cornwall?

• How do landlords respond to changes in housing rules and enforcement? What effects do their responses have on tenants and housing?

• What health, safety and financial risks arise from park homes and other poorly regulated housing in Cornwall? How can these risks fall?

Housing system performance

• How do housing supply and planning decisions affect:

  • affordability, 

  • availability,

  • and population outcomes in Cornwall?

• Why do homes in Cornwall remain empty? Which approaches bring them back into use?

• Where are the main gaps in housing for vulnerable groups in Cornwall? What causes them, and which models could close them?

• Which approaches best reduce the need for temporary accommodation? And which improve outcomes for households experiencing homelessness?

Data infrastructure and decision tools

• How can Cornwall create consistent housing datasets that:

  • work together, 

  • and support sound decisions?

• How can Cornwall's private rented sector work add to national evidence? What can Cornwall learn from similar programmes elsewhere?

• Can a combined housing and health index find the places and groups most at risk? Does it help target action?

• Does a linked housing information system improve how services:

  • find 

  • and prioritise homes or households that need support?

6. Place, Environment, and Sustainable Communities

• How do green and blue social prescribing programmes affect health and wellbeing? Which groups benefit most, especially among young people?

• What are the long-term health, social and economic effects of programmes based on nature, heritage and farming?

• How can councils engage developers to include health-promoting features in new developments? How do these features affect residents?

• Do current deprivation measures understate hardship in rural Cornwall? How can measures better identify communities with unmet needs?

• Which low-carbon transport and active travel options work in rural Cornwall? How do they affect access, health, inequality and emissions?

7. Community, Belonging, and Social Fabric

• How is social belonging linked to health and wellbeing in Cornwall? Which approaches strengthen belonging for people at risk of isolation?

• How can public services, voluntary groups and communities build lasting partnerships? How do these partnerships affect residents?

• How does investment in community facilities, including the Newquay model, affect:

  • social ties, 

  • wellbeing,

  • service use,

  • and local outcomes?

• How does involving communities in culturally relevant health programmes affect:

  • participation, 

  • behaviour,

  • and health outcomes?