Supporting children, women, and family health

About this research theme

Children, women, and families in the North East and North Cumbria experience some of the deepest health and social inequities in the UK. Healthy life expectancy for women has stalled. The region has the highest rates of domestic abuse, and more children enter care than anywhere else in England. This includes babies being born into care and mothers experiencing repeated care proceedings.

Our work aims to reduce these inequities through impactful applied health and care research that benefits children, women and families in an equitable way.

Through our academic, practice, policy and public partnerships, we will generate and mobilise evidence that will improve the life chances and wellbeing of children, women and families.

Our priorities

• Secure a healthy start in life for those born into families living in poverty, to break the intergenerational cycle of ill health

The first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are crucial for a child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development, and early disadvantage can shape health across a lifetime. Our work will focus on long‑term, cross‑sector actions to support families facing the greatest disadvantage and reduce exposure to social risk factors. This includes developing and testing effective ways to prevent children being taken into care.

• Supporting women to live longer, healthier and productive lives

Our research will include examining the role of workplace policies, or lack of, on women’s health and ability to participate in the economy. It will also look at women’s mental health across the life course (e.g. perinatal mental health and mental health and the menopause), aligned with the Women’s Health Strategy.

• Taking a family-informed approach to inform respectful and inclusive health and social care

Families facing disadvantage often have fewer opportunities for social mobility. To tackle these inequities, we will explore how care can be shaped around the needs and experiences of children, women and families.

We will also examine how intersecting factors such as gender, ethnicity, disability, income, education, employment, social support and environment, shape health and wellbeing.

• Mobilise evidence that has shown impact on narrowing the health and care inequities experienced by children, women and families

We will mobilise evidence from our previous work in ARC 1, alongside wider research, to narrow the persistent health and care inequities affecting children, women and families. This includes working closely with practitioners, policymakers and communities to ensure findings are used in real‑world settings.

Co-leads: Professor Judith Rankin (Newcastle University) and Dr Ryc Aquino (Newcastle University)​

Practice deputies: Becca Scott and Nicola Jackson (ICS NENC Local Maternity and Neonatal System)