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A new report from the MultiVerse Lab public engagement project has revealed the top ten most talked-about health concerns in our region.

MultiVerse Lab was launched in Autumn 2020, with the aim of gathering views from people in the North East and North Cumbria, around what matters most when it comes to their health.

Through a specially designed website, which later evolved into a touring pop-up event, MultiVerse Lab asked members of the public to consider the question ‘What is the health breakthrough you hope to see in your lifetime?’ It was particularly targeted  at communities who were often under-represented in public engagement.

It managed to reach over 3,000 people across the North East and North Cumbria, capturing 500 voices. Those who contributed talked about issues that affected them and their loved ones, with over 90 different topics mentioned, from common experiences to rare conditions.

Alongside the issues raised, two cross-cutting themes of poverty and long-term conditions kept coming up in relation to the topics being discussed.

The top ten most talked-about issues (in descending order) were:

• Cancer
• Mental health
• Dementia
• Equality
• Personalised treatment and care
• Healthy ageing
• Social care
• Women’s health
• Prevention
• Covid-19

What happens next?

The team behind MultiVerse Lab are now working to share the results with partners across the region, who will use the knowledge in various different ways –  including using it to shape future health and social care research priorities.

Visit the MultiVerse Lab

You can download the summary report, below.

The MultiVerse project was commissioned by a collaboration of partners including:

• VOICE
• The National Innovation Centre for Ageing
• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – involving:
o NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre
o NIHR Newcastle In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative
o NIHR Newcastle Clinical Research Facility
o NIHR Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre Cluster (Newcastle)
o NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria
• Newcastle University
• The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust