Wellcome Open Research (Oct 2019)
ActEarly: a City Collaboratory approach to early promotion of good health and wellbeing [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
- John Wright,
- Andrew Hayward,
- Jane West,
- Kate Pickett,
- Rosie M. McEachan,
- Mark Mon-Williams,
- Nicola Christie,
- Laura Vaughan,
- Jess Sheringham,
- Muki Haklay,
- Laura Sheard,
- Josie Dickerson,
- Sally Barber,
- Neil Small,
- Richard Cookson,
- Philip Garnett,
- Tracey Bywater,
- Nicholas Pleace,
- Eric J. Brunner,
- Claire Cameron,
- Marcella Ucci,
- Steve Cummins,
- Daisy Fancourt,
- Jens Kandt,
- Paul Longley,
- Steve Morris,
- George Ploubidis,
- Robert Savage,
- Robert Aldridge,
- Dan Hopewell,
- Tiffany Yang,
- Dan Mason,
- Gillian Santorelli,
- Richard Romano,
- Maria Bryant,
- Liam Crosby,
- Trevor Sheldon
Affiliations
- John Wright
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Andrew Hayward
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Jane West
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Kate Pickett
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- Rosie M. McEachan
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Mark Mon-Williams
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
- Nicola Christie
- Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Laura Vaughan
- Space Syntax Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Jess Sheringham
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Muki Haklay
- Extreme Citizen Science Group, Department of Geography, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Laura Sheard
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Josie Dickerson
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Sally Barber
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Neil Small
- University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK
- Richard Cookson
- Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- Philip Garnett
- York Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis and School of Management, University of York, York, YO10 5GD, UK
- Tracey Bywater
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- Nicholas Pleace
- Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, UK, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- Eric J. Brunner
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Claire Cameron
- Department of Social Science, UCL Institute of Education, UCL, London, WC1H 0AA, UK
- Marcella Ucci
- UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL, London, WC1H 0NN, UK
- Steve Cummins
- Population Health Innovation Lab, Department of Public Health, Environments & Society, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1H 9SH, UK
- Daisy Fancourt
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Jens Kandt
- Space Syntax Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Paul Longley
- Consumer Data Research Centre Department of Geography, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Steve Morris
- Primary Care Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, UK
- George Ploubidis
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL, London, WC1H 0NU, UK
- Robert Savage
- Institute of Education, UCL, London, WC1H 0A, UK
- Robert Aldridge
- Institute of Health Informatics, UCL, London, NW1 2DA, UK
- Dan Hopewell
- Bromley by Bow Centre, UCL, London, E3 3BT, UK
- Tiffany Yang
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Dan Mason
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Gillian Santorelli
- Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK
- Richard Romano
- Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
- Maria Bryant
- Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
- Liam Crosby
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Trevor Sheldon
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15443.1
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 4
Abstract
Economic, physical, built, cultural, learning, social and service environments have a profound effect on lifelong health. However, policy thinking about health research is dominated by the ‘biomedical model’ which promotes medicalisation and an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment at the expense of prevention. Prevention research has tended to focus on ‘downstream’ interventions that rely on individual behaviour change, frequently increasing inequalities. Preventive strategies often focus on isolated leverage points and are scattered across different settings. This paper describes a major new prevention research programme that aims to create City Collaboratory testbeds to support the identification, implementation and evaluation of upstream interventions within a whole system city setting. Prevention of physical and mental ill-health will come from the cumulative effect of multiple system-wide interventions. Rather than scatter these interventions across many settings and evaluate single outcomes, we will test their collective impact across multiple outcomes with the goal of achieving a tipping point for better health. Our focus is on early life (ActEarly) in recognition of childhood and adolescence being such critical periods for influencing lifelong health and wellbeing.
