Health and Well-being

The Health and Wellbeing research theme brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers interested in health and wellbeing, particularly in relation to ageing, health and social care, inequality, intergroup relations, migration, socioeconomic diversity and economic planning and precarity.

The Health and Wellbeing research theme explores a range of subjective and objective health and wellbeing measures, using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. The theme also brings together researchers who are interested in inequalities in health and wellbeing (financial, relational, and subjective). Focusing on people as the unit of analysis, it considers the role of geography and institutions in health and wellbeing.

Theme lead - Matt Bennett 

Current and recent projects

Publications

Clasby, B., Bennett, M.R., Meadham, H., Hodges, E., Hinder, D., Williams, W. H., Mewse, A., and Hughes, N. (2019). The Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury from the Classroom to the Courtroom: Understanding Pathways Through Structural Equation Modelling. Disability and Rehabilitation. 42(23): 1-10 https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1635214

Hall, K., Needham, C. and Allen, K. (2019) Micro entrepreneurship in the care sector: motives, values and practices, Voluntary Sector Review, vol 10, no 3, 311–328, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1332/204080519X15738068469662

Ramos, M., Bennett, M R., Massey, D., and Hewstone, M. (2019). Humans Adapt to Social Diversity Over Time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (25): 12244-12249.

Simcock, N., Thomson, H., Petrova, S., and Bouzarovski, S. (eds). (2018). Energy Poverty and Vulnerability: A Global Perspective. Oxford: Routledge.

Kamerāde, D., and Bennett M. R. (2017). Rewarding Work: Cross-national differences in benefits, Volunteering During Unemployment, Well-being and Mental Health. Work, Employment and Society, 32(1): 38-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017016686030

Thomson, H., Snell, C., and Bouzarovski, S. (2017). Health, well-being and energy poverty in Europe: a comparative study of 32 European countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(6).

Hall, K. and Hardill, I. (2016) Retirement migration, the 'other' story: caring for frail elderly British citizens in Spain, Ageing and Society, 36(3), pp. 562-585.

Hall, K., Miller, R. and Millar, R. (2016) Public, Private or Neither? Analysing the Publicness of Healthcare Social Enterprises, Public Management Review, 18(4), pp. 539-557.

Liddell, C., Morris, C., Thomson, H., and Guiney, C. (2016) Excess winter deaths in 32 European countries: a critical review of methods. Journal of Public Health, 38(4), 806-814.

Needham, C., Allen, K. and Hall, K. (2016) Micro-enterprise and personalisation: What size is good care? Bristol: Policy Press.

Tod, A., and Thomson, H. (2016) Health impacts of cold housing and energy poverty. In K. Csiba (eds.) Energy Poverty Handbook. Brussels: The Greens / European Free Alliance in the European Parliament.

Snell, C., Bevan, M., and Thomson, H. (2015) Welfare reform, disabled people and fuel poverty. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 23: 229-244.

Snell, C., Bevan, M., and Thomson, H. (2015) Justice, fuel poverty and disabled people in England. Energy Research & Social Science, 10: 123–132. 

Members of the Health and Wellbeing theme

Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite

Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite

Associate Professor
Deputy Director of Research (Impact), School of Social Policy
Birmingham Fellow

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology. She is also the Deputy Director of Research (Impact), School of Social Policy.

Kayleigh’s research interests focus on poverty and inequality, social security, and stigma, specifically investigating charitable food provision and food insecurity. Her work is strongly ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5717
Email
k.garthwaite@bham.ac.uk

Dr James Gregory

Dr James Gregory

Senior Research Fellow

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Dr James Gregory received his doctorate in political theory before moving into social and housing policy research.  His housing research started at the Fabian Society, where he was a Senior Research Fellow. James is interested in homeownership, asset-based welfare, and neighbourhood research. In addition to a number of think-tank reports, James has recently published papers in Critical ...

Telephone
+44(0)121 414 6212
Email
j.gregory@bham.ac.uk

Dr Louise Overton

Dr Louise Overton

Associate Professor in Social Policy
Director of the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM)

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Louise is an Associate Professor in Social Policy and Director of the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM). Her research interests focus on older people and personal finance (and personal finance-related issues), including financial security, financial advice, and the regulation of consumer financial services.

Louise’s research is strongly empirical, but against a ...

Telephone
+44(0)121 415 1066
Email
l.e.overton@bham.ac.uk

Dr Neil Stephens

Dr Neil Stephens

Senior Lecturer in Technology and Society

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Neil (he/him) is a sociologist and Science and Technology Studies scholar. A key focus has been innovation in biotechnology, and he has conducted research about the politics of stem cell science, mitochondrial donation, and cultured meat, among others.

Neil has conducted a diversity of public and policy engagement activities. This includes multiple appearances in newspapers and broadcasts across ...

Email
n.stephens@bham.ac.uk

Dr Maxine Watkins

Dr Maxine Watkins

Research Fellow

School of Social Policy

Dr Maxine Watkins is a qualitative researcher who joined CHASM in July 2021. She is currently working with the Centre for Care on a project that explores the decisions that family (unpaid) carers make in relation to caring responsibilities and employment, to understand the short and longer term impacts on their financial wellbeing.

Email
m.watkins@bham.ac.uk

 

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