Good health and wellbeing 2023
Learning and Students
The University is a major contributor to teaching and learning, research and knowledge exchange in health. In 2022/23, 1,527 graduates were in the health professions (27%), a slight decrease from 2021/22 when the number was 1,771 (28%).
Public and Business Engagement
We have current local collaborations with a range of health partners, e.g. Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, & Locala Health and Wellbeing (Locala Community Partnerships CIC). National health collaborations include those with our Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention Institute, e.g. Salford Royal NHS Trust and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust. Global Collaborations include those via our Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention Institute, with Vienna, Tel Aviv, Dublin and New Zealand, and through healthcare industry partners including URGO, HARTMANN, Mölnlycke, etc.
We deliver outreach programmes and projects in the local community to improve or promote health and well-being. The University runs an award-winning Podiatry Clinic, which serves the needs of members of the public and provides much needed placement opportunities for students. The University’s award-winning Get Set Goal is a wellbeing service committed to improving the health and wellness of individuals and communities by helping people to achieve personal goals by making informed and positive lifestyle choices. Delivered by healthcare students from the University, Get Set Goal offers a series of one-to-one appointments to help improve the health and wellbeing of anyone 18+. Appointments can be online or in person and are tailored to each individual’s needs.
Sport is an important contributor to health and well-being. The University of Huddersfield has an on-campus Sports Centre including a Sports Hall, Gym, and Dance Studio. The University makes these facilities available to the public through partnerships for example with England Netball who have used the Sports Hall on a regular basis, and Rugby League Cares, the charitable arm of the Rugby League. Both are examples of partnerships which are very extensive and include a range of measures to enhance participation, building from e.g. the exploitation of the resources held in each sport’s archives preserved in the University’s archives, at Heritage Quay.
Impact for Students
In the important field of sexual and reproductive health-care services, the University Health Centre provides free access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including information and education services, under the National Health Service.
Volleyball in the Sports Hall.Education and support are also provided free through the University’s Student Services, and through the University of Huddersfield Students’ Union. Each run regular awareness campaigns around sexual health and wellbeing issues.
The University provides free access to mental health support. It offers a counselling service within its Student Services, and there is a Wellbeing service which employs qualified professionals. The University Health Centre also provides access to mental health services through the NHS, free of charge.
The campus of the University is smoke-free and there is no smoking in any building on the campus. There is no provision of ‘smoking shelters’ or equivalent, and where buildings are located near public rights of way, highways etc, signage clearly indicates that smoking should not occur within 5m of the access points to the buildings.
Research
The University’s research groups, centres and institutes contribute to the goal of good health and wellbeing. For example, the Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP) within the School of Human and Health Sciences is a world-leading centre in the field of skin integrity and wound care research. Comprising of a multi-disciplinary international team of experts within the field of wound care research, our vision is to provide translational research through a ‘bench to bedside’ approach, entrenched in scientifically rigorous methods with a clinical focus that has real world impacts on patient care. The ISIaIP is represented on regional, national and international bodies (such as NICE and NHS England) and contributes towards the development of policies and health system improvements and has close connections to industry leaders and health care providers. As well as undertaking contract and consultancy research with industry, the Institute also delivers high-quality education, training the next generation of health care practitioners, scientists, engineers and product designers.