IPPO Newsletter No.9: Two Years On: What Have Researchers And Policymakers Learned?
Welcome to the latest newsletter from the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO).
On March 24, 2022 we marked the second anniversary of the UK’s first COVID-19 lockdown with a day-long event that focused on what policymakers can take away from this crisis.
Sessions included in-depth discussions on:
- How to tackle a worsening mental health crisis that is unlike any other
- What social scientists can do to have more impact on government policy
- How the pandemic changed our understanding of education and how we do it
- How different policy responses across the world failed or succeeded for valuable reasons
To watch videos and read key takeaways from all of the sessions, please click here.
Please also check our expert post-event blogs, including a piece from Andy Haldane, the former Cabinet Office permanent secretary for Levelling Up, and Christine Bundy on how to support those who are immunocompromised for whom the pandemic is definitely not over.
News
On June 16, 2022, 3-5pm IPPO will hold an event to discuss the results of its report on NHS staff wellbeing and mental health, completed by topic and review specialists from UEA, RAND Europe and UCL. Speakers will include Dr Steve Boorman and Dr Kevin Fong.
The report (to be published the same day) will include estimates of the financial cost of poor staff wellbeing to the NHS and a rapid evidence review of how organisational-level changes can impact mental health and make the case for the need to invest in organisational level interventions that change some aspects of staff jobs, such as changed shift patterns and better leadership styles.
NHS staff are experiencing an escalating mental health crisis that has seen hospital staff take more than eight million days off sick in the past five years.
To sign up to the event, click here. And for more information about the research, please email: ippo@ucl.ac.uk.
More IPPO events coming soon…
This year we’ll continue to host virtual events to inform our research.
Mental health in the city: how are insights around wellbeing and place being applied to boost the urban recovery? (Thursday 12 May: 2 – 3pm GMT)
Mental health and wellbeing are critical for a place’s productivity, resilience, and economic development. As cities and regions across the world implement their recovery plans, this IPPO Cities roundtable will explore insights from the pandemic for policymakers around mental health, as well as examples of innovative place-based strategies to promote wellbeing.
Confirmed speakers include Chris Murray, Director of Core Cities UK, Ed Davie, Policy & Public Affairs Lead at the Centre for Mental Health, and Nancy Hey, Executive Director of What Works Wellbeing, with more to be announced.
Register for this event here. If you have any questions please or would like to get involved, please email jeremy-williams@ucl.ac.uk.
In case you missed it…
We’ve recently begun working with the University of Colorado Boulder to help disseminate their research findings on how countries across the world utilised scientific advice to address the pandemic.
Please read this fascinating article from Dr Silvia Camporesi, a reader in Bioethics and Health Humanities at King’s College London, which describes how Italy’s politicians worked with scientists to manage the crisis based on first-hand reports from those involved.