Examples and details of PPI in SAHSU projects
Public Health Impact of Clean Air Zone (PHICAZ)
Event 1:
We are working on a five-year program of research to explore the impacts on health of clean air zones, including the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which are interventions that are trying to reduce traffic-related air pollution.
Our project team is working with the local community to raise awareness of our research and to ensure that the way that we communicate the findings of our research will be useful for the public.
In July 2023, Dr Rosemary Chamberlain (then a third-year PhD student), hosted a Public Involvement and Engagement event at the Imperial College Invention Room, White City Campus, supported by her PhD supervisors Dr Bethan Davies and Dr Daniela Fecht.
Rosemary led a discussion with six members of the local community to explore people’s perspectives on research into the impacts of the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on health and hear about how to clearly communicate our findings to the public.
Rosemary presented (PHICAZ Focus group slides) an overview of the impacts of traffic-related air pollution on health and then set out what she was investigating in her research project. Rosemary answered questions from the participants and together they explored how the results of the research project should be presented for effective communication with the public.
Event 2:
Building on the activity in July, Dr Oluwaseyi Arowosegbe, a research associate on the PHICAZ project, undertook a focused discussion with people from the Open Age group, a charity that works to help older people (50 years and above) living around Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham areas of London to sustain their physical and mental fitness, maintain an active lifestyle and develop new and stimulating interests.
This event was held virtually in December 2023 to raise awareness on how the PHICAZ project is using health and environmental health data to assess the health impact of clean air zone intervention on the population of London. Fourteen members of the group attended the meeting, the members were interested in the findings of the project, especially for their age group (50 years and above).
The group requested a follow-up meeting to discuss the results of the PHICAZ project when they are out. They also volunteered to help design science communication of the results for the population.
Event 3:
The PHICAZ project was part of the 2024 Imperial College Great Exhibition Road Festival from 15th – 16th June 2024. Dr Oluwaseyi Arowosegbe and Dr Bethan Davies designed an activity to engage with the children about the new London Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) policy and its impact on population health and the environment.
During the two-day event, the children were curious about why an “old non-ULEZ complaint car” would be fined while driving around the streets of London. Several of the children (mostly aged 5 years and above) told us the activity helped them to understand why their parents had recently changed their old car for a more climate/health-friendly car. About 50, 000 visitors attended the festival and almost two-thirds of people were with children.
Event 4:
In our continued aim to engage diverse London residents on the aim of PHICAZ project, Dr Chang Cai joined the Imperial Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC) at the ‘Community Involvement in Research Event’ at West Acton Community Centre, Ealing, for parents and carers on 10th October 2024. The event was a pop-up informal café where community members could join sessions of their choice from a “menu” of various research projects. Hot drinks and lunch were provided. It was co-designed and co-delivered with community leaders and invited community members.
Before the event, we collaborated with community partners/leaders and the PERC team to refine our questions to the public through three iterations to ensure the questions were relevant and easy to understand.
On the day, Chang undertook four 30-minute sessions with 3-6 community members, assisted by a community partner. She introduced herself and the researcher team and invited community members to introduce themselves too. After briefly describing our research programme, Chang led a discussion of the three prepared questions regarding how the ULEZ has affected the local environment and the participant’s daily lives and how they would like to be communicated about our research.
Most of the attendees were aware of the ULEZ and the links between air pollution and respiratory health. There was generally less awareness that air quality is associated with birth outcomes. People raised questions about how our research could separate the health impacts of the ULEZ from other potential explanations, such as Covid-19 and other policies that target ambient and indoor air pollution. Chang explained that these factors will be addressed in our analysis and the interpretation of the results. Some participants told us that they lived at the boundary of the ULEZ and they reported that they have observed a notable change in local traffic and air quality. They were curious if the ULEZ has had a distinct impact on their health compared to those who reside within the ULEZ but further away from the boundary. This is an important question that the research team is aiming to address in our work.
A key outcome from this event was the importance of sharing our research findings in a range of languages spoken locally to make sure that information on air pollution and its health impacts reaches a wider range of audiences.