A new web-based platform that aims to strengthen the focus on equity in research.

Focus On Research and Equity (FOR EQUITY) is a new web-based platform providing tools and resources to help make research evidence more relevant for action to reduce social and health inequalities.

FOR EQUITY tool was launched on the 15th of March and the online event was attended by approximately 200 people. It is a joint NIHR School for Public Health Research and ARC North West Coast resource. It provides a revised version of the Health Inequalities Assessment Tool (HIAT) an inventory of existing guidance to support research teams to apply an equity lens in their studies; and a library of resources.

The HIAT aims to support people to reflect on how they can better integrate an equity lens throughout the research process from identifying issues to study, through study design and conduct to dissemination and knowledge exchange.

HIAT was originally developed by the NIHR Collaboration for Applied Research and Care in the NW Coast and has been revised to include a broader intersectional perspective on inequalities. There is a strong focus on how involving people with lived experience and policy or practice expertise can help strengthen the equity lens in research. It also includes a new section on principles for equity sensitive research practice highlighting researchers’ and institutions’ responsibilities to deliver evidence that can contribute to reduce health inequalities and the social inequalities that drive these.

The Guidance Inventory is based on a systematic review of published tools/guides that provide practical advice on how to embed different dimensions of equity into research. Searches were conducted of key academic databases and grey literature published in English and topic experts were also consulted.

Each entry in the Inventory is summarised outlining its intended use in the research process, its theoretical orientation plus evidence of public involvement and application in other research. The inventory can be searched topic or by using free text searches.

The FOR EQUITY Library has two sections. A series of case studies linked to the HIAT illustrate how researchers have attempted to integrate an equity lens into the research
process. A section on general resources including websites, papers and reports covering a range of issues involved in developing, delivering and disseminating research that is equity sensitive.

Here is a link to the tool: https://forequity.uk

We hope the FOR EQUITY resources will contribute to increasing the research evidence base for action that can reduce social and health inequalities. We welcome any suggestions for how the website can be improved. If you have any comments or feedback, please contact Harris Kaloudis h.kaloudis@lancaster.ac.uk