Resilient populations: a geographical perspective

Lead researcher - Dr Richard Mitchell, RUHBC, University of Edinburgh
Co-Investigators - Professor Stephen Platt, University of Edinburgh, Professor Danny Dorling, University of Sheffield
Formally Research Fellow - Julia Gibbs and Research Assistant - Helena Tunstall

A number of studies have identified geographical areas in which mortality rates are lower than might be expected, given their socio-economic and demographic characteristics, but these areas are rarely explored in depth. Areas which have resisted the translation of economic adversity into higher mortality rates provide a natural laboratory through which to explore resilience at a population and area level. This approach complements the individual level focus of the other proposed network projects by aiming to elucidate features, organisations and policies of areas which promote resilience amongst their populations. The key components of the study will be to (a) observe the differential effect of episodes of economic adversity on area-level mortality rates across Britain and thus identify resilient populations, (b) explore the history, character and nature of a representative sample of these areas to identify the foundations and mechanisms of resilience and (c) determine whether these are absent in non-resilient areas. This will be a two phase study.

Phase one will identify areas in which economic adversity has been translated into subsequent rises in mortality rate (non-resilience), and those in which the rises have been absent or minimal (resilience). A small number of case study areas (resilient and non resilient) will then be selected for further exploration in phase two. Phase two will commence six months after the start of phase one, allowing time for preliminary identification of resilient and non-resilient case study areas. It will begin with a systematic literature review which, together with close communication with other projects in the network, will identify features of life thought to foster resilience. Evidence for the presence or absence of these features and policies to cultivate them, will then be sought in the resilient and non-resilient case study areas.

A systematic analysis will then identify features common to the resilient case study areas, determine how they compare to those documented in the literature and by the wider network, and explore how they differ to those in non-resilient areas.

This page last modified 30 November, 2007 by Administrator