Nursing across diverse communities

Our academic staff work across a range of settings to improve public health outcomes for all.  Many have expertise in understanding and addressing health inequalities that may be related to hard-to-reach groups, including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, traveller communities, older people, people with mental health conditions to name a few.

As part of this commitment to improving public health Northumbria University is part of FUSE, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health. FUSE undertakes research to reduce health inequalities, which then informs improvements in policy and practice.

One recent example of some prominent research focuses on the health needs of traveller communities as they are often found to have high ‘socioeconomic inequalities markers’ which means they are more likely to suffer from poor health, lower life expectancy and often require additional support.  The findings of this two-year project highlighted the need for health care providers to specifically work with these groups to develop trust and to have dedicated outreach workers who can develop understanding about their unique needs and culture.  The more these workers can develop trust and build relationships in the community the more likely they are in achieve successful outcomes in relation to promoting healthier behaviours.  The researchers from this project are now working with health providers to help them design and commission outreach interventions that are more likely to be effective.

Northumbria offers a Masters in Public Health for those wishing to develop their careers in the broad area of public health, including those responsible for health promotion to the general public.  The programme was developed in response to the UK Government’s public health strategy and modernisation agenda.  International public health concerns and challenges are also embedded within the curriculum.  Participants on this programme can also study at Postgraduate Certificate/diploma levels and modules can also be studied separately.  Modules include:

• Public Health Fundamentals
• Leadership and Collaborative Working in Public Health
• Public Health Intelligence and Epidemiology
• Research Skills:  Approaches, Designs and Methods.