Large scale health and wellbeing research in Kirklees

Background

The overall aim of the Kirklees CLiK (Current Living in Kirklees) research was to gather comprehensive data on the health and wellbeing of Kirklees residents aged 16+ across a range of measures, including lifestyle choices, quality of life and quality of place.

Further objectives of the research included:

• Providing the Council with Kirklees-level, Locality-level, CCG-level and other geographical-level data;
• Enabling further analysis by specific population groups and communities of identity; and
• Refreshing outcome indicators for key programmes.

Methodology

M·E·L Research supported the development of a revised questionnaire design to capture health perceptions and behaviours. We drew a stratified sample by ward and deprivation and dispatched survey materials to over 42,000 residential addresses.  To minimise the environmental impact of the project, the initial mailing to more affluent deprivation quintiles comprised a ‘push to web’ invite letter. A subsequent reminder then included a 16-page postal questionnaire. For the other IMD quintiles both the initial mailing and the reminder contained the full questionnaire alongside instructions for how to complete online.

The final response was 6,208 completed surveys. We produced a final weighted data set based on the randomly sampled results and the surveys achieved via social media and partner promotion.

Outcomes

While the primary outcome was a data file, complete with an extensive series of derived/composite variables, M·E·L also provided the following to help Kirklees Council and its partners access and promote the availability of this rich dataset:

• A summary PowerPoint report summarising key messages and year on year trends
• An animated summary of the key research messages to share via social media with partners
• A 2 page infographic summarising the key equalities messages/variations within the data
• A self-service online table builder for bespoke / granular analysis
• A full technical report to aid replication of the next survey in 2025.

Key research outputs can be viewed here

Thank you for all your hard work on this survey – the project has been successful and we are now sharing our insights with colleagues and partners across Kirklees. We have a lot of interest in the CLiK data, so that will keep us busy until the next one rolls around in 2025!

Dr Debbie Hill