Health Research in Wales – Aligning Policy and Research Priorities
Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Welsh GovernmentThis presentation outlined Welsh Government priorities, referencing the Taking Wales Forward programme and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. There was mention of four interrelated, overarching strategies that Welsh Government is currently developing:
1) Healthy and active
2) Prosperous and secure
3) Ambitious and learning
4) United and connected
These are to be published later on this year, with the purpose of driving development towards better health and wellbeing in Wales.
Important work in the area of population health has been undertaken in Wales, however it should be noted that there is unfinished business as well as unsolved problems. New and emerging challenges were raised as potential priority areas to think about, in particular common pathways to addiction such as gambling, in addition to communicable diseases that remain on the population health agenda as a priority area.
It was stressed that we should draw upon valuable resources that exist within the research infrastructure in Wales (especially Health and Care Research Wales, the National Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research (NCPHWR), the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Database (SAIL) and the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer)) and effectively use these assets as we continue to undertake research in public health priority areas. It is also important to be aware of the wider research framework that is present within the rest of the UK and other initiatives that exist.
In summary, although they are many key initiatives in place, there is a need for greater visibility of population health priorities both nationally and internationally and also better coordination and collaboration within the research community.
Click here to see Dr Franks' presentation
003 CMO-PHW Research Showcase Event 2Mar-2017.pptx