Drivers of Healthy Start uptake across England and Liverpool

Description

Are you passionate about improving food access for low income families in the UK? Looking for a PhD that will also provide the opportunity to work closely with a local public health team and food alliance? Apply to work on our applied NWSSDTP ESRC-CASE PhD project.

Food insecurity has been rising in the UK, with a substantial rise among households with children in particular. Food insecurity impacts children’s health and social well-being in multiple ways, but one concern is that it reduces access to fresh fruits and vegetables, as these foods are not affordable or viewed as good value for money to low-income families. Dietary inequalities in early life play a role in shaping health inequalities into the future.

Early years interventions that support access to nutritious foods for low-income families are paramount. In England, a key programme is Healthy Start (HS), which provides weekly payments for pregnant women and for children up to age 4 if they’re on qualifying benefits and successfully apply for the scheme. Purchases are restricted to fruit and vegetables, cow’s milk, and/or infant formula.

However, the uptake of HS has remained relatively low since it began in 2006, with an overall average uptake rate of 54% across local authorities in 2021. Qualitative studies among stakeholders and recipients have suggested that a lack of awareness about the programme and difficulty applying are barriers to uptake.

In light of low HS uptake rates, many local authorities and/or local food alliances have made promotion strategies of HS a key pillar of their public health and food strategies. However, the extent to which promotion strategies have had an impact has not been examined. There has also been little systematic quantitative research to understand potential factors that influence uptake rates within households or across different areas.

Working with Feeding Liverpool, who has made action to increase HS uptake a key part of their Good Food Plan, this project aims to explore household-level, area-level and within-area drivers of HS uptake.

This project is a mixed methods study, requiring both quantitative and qualitive skills. Four research questions will be addressed:

(1)        What household and individual level factors are associated with receipt of HS vouchers?

(2)        What area-level factors are associated with area-level uptake rates across England?

(3)        What within-area factors are associated with ward-level uptake rates across Liverpool?

(4)        What are the views on facilitators and barriers to uptake among stakeholders and potential beneficiaries in wards with different levels of uptake?

The study design will involve analysing household survey data, longitudinal area-level data on uptake rates across local areas in England and across wards in Liverpool, and conducting qualitative interviews with potential beneficiaries, Children’s Centre staff, and other frontline professionals from selected case study wards across Liverpool.

Over the course of the project, the student will do placements with Feeding Liverpool. These placements will be designed to orient the student to the work of Feeding Liverpool, including their work on Healthy Start uptake across the city, work on the city’s Good Food Plan, and partnership working with food access groups and Children’s Centres across the city. The student will play an active role in the Good Food Plan’s Policy group, co-chaired by Dr Naomi Maynard, which will provide a cross-sector space to present emerging research findings. The student will also join Liverpool’s Healthy Start working group – a newly established group led by Liverpool City Council’s Public Health team.

This project will have important public health impact, informing local area approaches to promotion of the Healthy Start scheme and recommendations for improvement of the scheme to ensure its relevance and accessibility for low income families.

The ideal candidate will have a passion for contributing to research on health and social inequalities and commitment to conducting high quality public health research. Training in public health, public health nutrition, and/or epidemiology as well as quantitative and qualitative research methods are also needed. A relevant MSc or MA must have already been completed.

Find out more about the Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems and the Health Inequalities Research group here:

Health Inequalities Policy Research Group (HIP-R) - Institute of Population Health - University of Liverpool

Find out more about Feeding Liverpool and their work on Healthy Start here: www.feedingliverpool.org/a-healthy-start-for-liverpool-new-report/

To apply for the position, please email  attaching a covering letter, CV and details of 2 referees. 

Availability

Open to students worldwide

Funding information

Funded studentship

This PhD project is funded by the ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership CASE Studentship programme. Successful candidates who meet the University of Liverpool’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fellowship to cover payment of academic fees at the standard UKRI Home rate, a maintenance stipend (£17,668 in 2022/23, exact rate for 2023/24 subject to confirmation from UKRI), access to a Research Training Support Grant for training and fieldwork, and opportunities to apply for additional funding.
 

 

Supervisors