Research and implementation
We actively involve patients and health and care professionals to produce high-quality research that addresses the real healthcare concerns of people living in the South West and beyond.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (ARC) West works with its partner organisations to conduct applied health research and implement research evidence, to improve health and healthcare across the West of England.
We undertake applied health research projects, in collaboration with our partners and others in our region and nationally. The research we do must have a real world application and fall into one of our broad thematic areas of ‘improving the management of chronic diseases’ and ‘public health interventions and population health’.
We work across the following research themes
Dementia and Neurological Conditions
ARC South West’s Dementia and Neurological conditions theme focuses on enhancing service provision, equity of care and quality of life from diagnosis through to end of life.
Mental Health
ARC South West’s Mental Health Theme addresses the urgent national need for equitable, person-centred mental health care, with a particular focus on underserved rural and coastal communities.
Prevention
ARC South West’s cross-cutting Prevention theme focuses on reducing the burden of preventable disease and tackling the structural causes of health inequalities across the South West.
Ageing Well
ARC South West’s Ageing Well theme focuses on improving health, function, and quality of life for older people – particularly those with multiple long-term conditions or frailty, including across rural and coastal communities.
Methods for Research and Implementation
ARC South West’s Methods for Research and Implementation theme provides the methodological foundation for all ARC activity, ensuring our research is rigorous, inclusive, and ready for implementation. The theme brings together leading expertise in evidence synthesis, health economics, statistics, qualitative and realist methods, data science, epidemiology, and implementation science, underpinned by co-production, research inclusion, and knowledge mobilisation.
Children and Young People’s Health
ARC South West’s Children and Young People (CYP) theme focuses on improving health, wellbeing, and equity for children and young people, particularly those living with complex needs, disability, or social disadvantage. Our work follows a life-course approach, addressing the social, economic, and environmental conditions that shape health from infancy onward.
