Imperial College MPH

Professor Azeem Majeed, MPH Course Director, has been invited to join the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Atlas Committee. The IDF Diabetes Atlas is the authoritative source of evidence on the burden of diabetes for health professionals, scientists, economists, policy-makers, and national and international agencies. The evidence presented in previous editions of the IDF Diabetes Atlas has been used widely by news media, governments, and international organisations such as the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the World Economic Forum.

Dr Matthew Harris, Clinical Lecturer in Public Health, has been promoting the work of the Brazilian Family Health Strategy Community Health Worker model at a variety of locations within the UK. Highlights include: A round table discussion at the RCGP conference in Glasgow, October 2012, with Professor Nigel Mathers (Vice Chair of RCGP) and Professor Martin Marshall (Chair of Ethics RCGP) which appeared in GP Online magazine. A keynote presentation on the Brazil-UK Memorandum of Understanding at Brazil-Bangor University-BCUHB-Wales International Health Symposium on 31 October. A round table discussion at the GP Innovation Forum of NHS London on the 7 November, Earls Court, with Sarb Basi, Managing Director Practice Partners and Ben Richardson, Partner, McKinsey. The Brazilian Community Health Worker model has now featured in two of Matthew's commentary articles in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and the London Journal of Primary Care. In November, he returned...

Qualitative Methods for Health Research Geva Greenfield, Agnieszska Ignatowicz & Jessica D. Jones Nielsen (NIHR Research Design Service, Department of Primary Care & Public Health, Imperial College London) What is qualitative research?  Qualitative research allows researchers to investigate phenomenon by broadening and deepening their understanding through description and is used by a variety of disciplines. The strength of qualitative research lies in its ability to provide information about the “human” side of any issue – that is, it seeks to discover the meanings that participants attach to their behaviour, how they interpret and experience situations, and what their views are on particular issues. This methodology has received increasing recognition in health research as it focuses on how patients interpret and describe their experiences and captures their perspectives of healthcare. What kind of topics can qualitative health research address? A qualitative stu...

Research led by Dr Chris Millett, Deputy Course Director for the MPH programme, that was published in the journal Pediatrics showed that the introduction of smoke-free legislation in England was immediately followed by a fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with asthma symptoms, a new study has found. NHS statistics analysed by researchers at Imperial College London show a 12.3 per cent fall in admissions for childhood asthma in the first year after the law on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces came into effect in July 2007. The researchers found that asthma admissions continued to fall in subsequent years, suggesting that the benefits of the legislation were sustained over time.

Sarah Payne, a former MPH student, was awarded the prize for best oral presentation at the Association of Schools of Public Health forum at the EUPHA conference in November 2012. The presentation was based on her MPH research project (Achieving comprehensive childhood immunization: an analysis of obstacles and opportunities in The Gambia).

The 2012-13 MPH Course Book is now available for download at http://goo.gl/CtiGy . The course book contains a detailed description of the course that will be useful for prospective students. 

There are significant variations in the quality of primary care in London, according to a  new report commissioned by NHS London from The King’s Fund and Imperial College London . The report was featured by a number of media outlets, including the  BBC  and  Pulse . General practice in London faces unique challenges - its population is more transient and diverse, with hundreds of different first languages spoken. It is also growing faster than elsewhere in England. While on some measures Londoners are healthier than people from other parts of the country, widespread inequalities exist, with life expectancy varying by up to nine years and infant mortality three years between different parts of the capital. The report highlights some examples of excellent performance - for example, some deprived parts of the capital have the highest rates of child immunisation in the country, and London practices have made good progress in adopting new information technology. Howeve...