(De)constructing health & wellbeing through data

This project is the result of a collaborative effort between LSE DSI, LSE Cities, the Ordnance Survey (OS) and the National Health Service (NHS England Data & Analytics team). It has the objective of exploring the different dimensions necessary to improve the mapping of spatial health inequalities in England in an integrated manner. It seeks to examine the complexity of the system involving environmental determinants of health and their relationships with geography, behaviour, and socio-economic and health groups. Understanding how these elements contribute differently to defining conditions that impact the well-being of individuals.

Ultimately, this project aims to identify gaps in spatial data and suggest areas for improvement. By doing so, it seeks to provide valuable support to academics, practitioners, designers, and policy-makers in their respective fields.

Year 1
Year 1 of the project started by exploring the intricacies of health and well-being determinants, mapping them conceptually, and developing a classification to capture the range and scale of health determinants and their factors. The second phase included the exploration of a health-related issue, air pollution, and the investigation of the complexity and challenges behind the selection of air pollution interventions to improve air quality in London. During this investigation, the use of interactive images was explored as a potential tool for translating academic literature reviews and assisting urban planners in decision-making. This project aims to illustrate that exploring the determinants and factors that influence health and well-being is crucial not only for measuring and evaluating health inequalities but also for shaping academic research and policymaking.

Year 2
During the second year the project will build on the framework developed in Year 1 to outline the need to understand and measure the value of a place, extending beyond the traditional value of space to include the sense of place. It will aim to understand how different health and well-being factors combine to shape an overarching sense of place. As by recognising that variations exist in the way individuals and communities perceive a particular space, we can gain valuable insights into the nuanced ways different factors influence health outcomes and disparities.

Consequently, it proposes to build a "neighbourhood value index" for local green areas, using a mixed-method approach, involving residents from Haringey and users of three local parks of varying scales. The development of this index will aid planners and policymakers in comprehending the role of placemaking in health inequalities and, crucially, in identifying interventions that could help reduce local disparities.