Dr Hannah Fairbrother

PhD, MA Cantab, PgDipHE, BMedSci, SFHEA

School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery

Senior Lecturer in Public Health

Dr Hannah Fairbrother, Senior Lecturer in Public Health
Profile picture of Dr Hannah Fairbrother, Senior Lecturer in Public Health
h.fairbrother@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2044

Full contact details

Dr Hannah Fairbrother
School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery
Room 104
362 Mushroom Lane
Sheffield
S10 2TS
Research interests

My research focuses on socioeconomic inequalities in health and well-being, particularly as they relate to children, young people and families. This is a longstanding interest and stems from my upbringing in Sheffield, a city of contrasts in health and wealth, visiting family in Liverpool and through voluntary work in Cambridge with young mothers and with children in an underserved area of Paris.

I am particularly interested in:

  • Work to understand and address the environmental, social and political influences on health.
  • Public perspectives, particularly children's and young people’s perspectives, on and understandings of health inequalities and their relationship with broader societal inequalities
  • The role of activism geared towards improving planetary health and promoting social justice 

I mobilise a variety of different methods to explore these key interests, including critical policy analysis, systematic and narrative literature review, participatory interviews, creative workshops, observation and systems mapping.

I am on the leadership team for the NIHR School for Public Health Research Children, Young People and Families Programme, with a particular focus on public involvement and engagement work. 

I co-lead the Child of the North N8 Research Partnership for the University of Sheffield, with my colleague Dr Jill Thompson. 

I am the Sheffield representative for Health Equity North.

Publications

Journal articles

Chapters

Conference proceedings papers

Reports

Preprints

Research group

I am an active member of the cross-faculty Health Equity Group and the Children and Young People’s Research Theme group in the School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery.

I am interested in supervising students in my research areas and welcome prospective students getting in touch to discuss potential applications.

Grants
Principal InvestigatorSponsorTitleDates
Fairbrother, HEmerging Priorities Programme School for Public Health Research (SPHR) National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Exploring the impact of family size on child health outcomes and service use: A mixed methods analysis to inform welfare policy2024-25
Hurley, KSchool for Public Health Research (SPHR) National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Promoting food security for children, young people and families accessing emergency or temporary accommodation: a scoping study2024-25
Fairbrother, HSchool for Public Health Research (SPHR), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Living with Housing Insecurity2023-25
Mason, WSchool for Public Health Research (SPHR), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Reducing inequalities by improving the system within which ‘at-risk’ young people access, and engage with, community assets that support mental health.2024-25
Dodd-Reynolds, CSchool for Public Health Research (SPHR), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Supporting safe and inclusive physical activity spaces for LGBTQ+ young people2023-24
Winpenny, ENational Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Understanding needs and co-developing a workplace intervention to support healthy lifestyle behaviours in young adults2023-24
Powell, K Grantham Centre Go FundActivism for Planetary Health and Equity2023
Goyder, EPublic Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team (PHIRST), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)Evaluation of the Nottinghamshire Healthy Families Programme Parent Infant Relationship Initiative2022-23
Fairbrother, HResearch EnglandConnect and Reflect: bringing together academics interested in participatory research with children2022
Goyder, EPublic Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchEvidence review of the impact of housing insecurity on the health and wellbeing of children and young people2022
Fairbrother, HSchool for Public Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchEnabling children and young people’s involvement in whole system action to reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health2020-22
Jago, R & Campbell, RSchool for Public Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchCreating a Health Research Network to improve young people's mental health and well-being2020-22
Fairbrother, H & DeVocht, FPublic Health Practice Evaluation Scheme, School for Public Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchEvaluating the Digital Health Contact service2020-21
Kipping, R., Powell, K. and Fairbrother, H.School for Public Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchExploring the policy context for reducing health inequalities among children and young people2019-20
Summerbell, C., Wistow, J., Powell, K. and Fairbrother, H.School for Public Health Research, National Institute for Health ResearchMapping the child health system at a local level to reduce health inequalities2019-20
Salami, B.Worldwide Universities NetworkAfrican Child and Youth Wellbeing in the Context of Migration and Displacement2019-20
Fairbrother, HESRC Festival of the Social SciencesLast orders: why might young people be drinking less alcohol?2018
Thompson, JMigration Matters FestivalHidden Voices: The Health Experiences of Migrant Children by Abdulazez Dukan2018
Holmes, JWellcome TrustWhy is youth alcohol consumption failing?  A mixed methods investigation of changing drinking cultures across recent generations.2018-2022
Fairbrother, H & Thompson, JWorldwide Universities NetworkHidden Voices: Exploring the health experiences of children who migrate.2016-2017
Swallow, VWhite RoseFostering and sustaining UK multidisciplinary family-focused care across the life-course: A White Rose collaboration in long-term condition management2016
Blank, LJoseph Rowntree FoundationRelationship between poverty and stress, low level anxiety and depression across the life course2015-2016
Fairbrother, HImpact, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IIKE) University of Sheffield,All About Me: making sense of health messages in a hands-on exhibition space2015
Fairbrother, HResearch Exchange for the Social Sciences (RESS), University of SheffieldAll About Collaboration: co-producing impact with a community partner2015
Teaching activities

I am committed to promoting educational equity and my approach to teaching is guided by a desire to create meaningful, engaging and constructively aligned programmes of learning to enable students from a wide variety of backgrounds to thrive in Higher Education and beyond.

I enjoy teaching and endeavour to integrate learning from and enthusiasm for my research into my teaching practice. I teach both undergraduate and postgraduate students using face-to-face, distance and blended learning modes.

I lead the Public Health strand of our teaching across our suite of Nursing courses. I am currently involved in teaching related to the Social Determinants of Health, Health Inequalities, Health Promotion and Literature reviewing. I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and have been awarded the Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Professional activities and memberships