The IPH Research and Information Team supports the development, implementation and evaluation and monitoring of public health actions that aim to improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities across the island of Ireland.
Research, information and population health
Evidence-informed policy making and practice are at the core of the two public health frameworks, Making Life Better and Healthy Ireland, on the island. The work of the Team directly supports each framework in the context of North-South co-operation by producing, disseminating and applying research and information. It strengthens these activties by helping to build research and information capacity.
Our work
The IPH policy team supports the development, review and implementation of policies relevant to health and health inequalities on the island of Ireland. Facilitating meaningful and effective North South cooperation is a core activity of our policy work.
Policy making and public health
The overall aim of this EU project was to contribute to halting the rise of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents by 2020. JANPA stands for “Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity”.
Considerable work has been done on the healthcare costs of adult obesity. Impacts of childhood obesity, however, are rarely included in such obesity costing studies. More work was necessary to understand the impacts of childhood obesity as well as exploring non-healthcare (societal) costs in more detail. JANPA Work Package 4 starts to fill this gap by “developing the evidence-based economic rationale for action on childhood obesity”.
The technical objectives of Work Package 4 are:
Creating awareness and engaging the range of sectors, agencies, disciplines that contribute to health is essential to improved population health. Providing these stakeholders with skills, expertise, training, information, materials and increased confidence and leadership to engage with this agenda is an essential part of the IPH work programme
The Capacity Building Division’s work supports a greater awareness and understanding amongst government departments and other agencies of the determinants of health and health inequalities.
Objectives
Ageing Research and Development Division’s work
Promoting public health intelligence for better policy-making and improved services is a core focus of IPH work. The Division of Ageing Research and Development has a particular focus on improving public health intelligence relating to ageing and older people. The division which was previously known as the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) became part of IPH in September 2015.
Ageing and public health