Research partnership helping to tackle Yorkshire coast health inequalities
A pioneering partnership is helping put Yorkshire’s rural and coastal communities at the heart of health research.
The study comes as a new report from England’s Chief Medical Officer highlights the health challenges facing people living in rural areas.
The Scarborough Coastal Health and Care Research Collaborative (SHARC) brings together York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, York St John University and community partners to better understand and address the health inequalities experienced by people living in coastal and rural communities.
The Chief Medical Officer’s 2026 annual report, Health in Rural Areas and Small Towns, highlights how rural populations are generally older and ageing more rapidly than those in urban areas, placing increasing demands on health and social care services. Limited public transport and difficulties accessing healthcare can create additional challenges for people living in these communities.
The new report follows Professor Chris Whitty’s landmark 2021 report Health in Coastal Communities, which highlighted significant disparities between the health of people living in coastal areas and their inland neighbours.
SHARC’s projects and partnerships have explored areas including cancer, maternity, emergency care, multiple long-term conditions and wider health inequalities, while collaboration with other NHS organisations and ambulance services is helping researchers better understand how services can respond to the particular needs of rural populations.
SHARC works with residents, service users and community organisations to co-produce research and has engaged with groups including older people, people with disabilities, migrant workers, LGBTQIA+ communities and people experiencing homelessness.
Head of Research and Innovation at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lydia Harris, said: “The Chief Medical Officer’s latest report reinforces why research in rural and coastal communities matters and why we need to make sure these populations are properly represented in the evidence that shapes health and care.
“Since the development of SHARC, we have worked with more than 240 community groups, charities and organisations across different sectors, bringing together people with very different experiences and expertise to help identify and investigate the issues that matter to our communities.
“Research cannot simply be something that happens to communities. We need local people and organisations involved in identifying the questions, designing the research and helping us understand what the findings mean in the real world. That is what SHARC is helping us to achieve.”
North Yorkshire Coast Outdoor Activities Development Officer, Sam Allum, from The Outdoor Partnership, said: “The support from SHARC has been great. Having people who know the health and research sectors in the way they do has helped us navigate those sectors and use that knowledge within funding applications and our day-to-day work.
“We as an organisation have our expertise and knowledge; what SHARC can bring is a different expertise. They have supported us with funding bids and connecting us to the right people, and we can't wait to see what this relationship brings in the future.”
Chief Executive of The Hinge Centre, Jo Sanders-Potts, said: “Usually when I go to a meeting, I’m the only VCSE organisation in the room. Here I’m one of many. I have a voice and you are listening.”
SHARC will continue to build its network of community, academic and health and care partners, develop new research and champion greater representation of rural and coastal communities in local and national research.