LIRCH | Health and Social Care Research

Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health

Rural and Coastal Health in a Changing World

The Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health (LIRCH) conducts world-class interdisciplinary research to address the most challenging health issues facing rural and coastal communities locally, nationally, and internationally. We aim to 'shine a light' on the unacceptable place-based health inequities across the rural-urban divide and to find innovative ways of reducing or ideally eliminating that inequality.

The institute brings together world-leading specialists, conducting research across a range of rural health related concerns, ranging from oral health, cancer care, infectious disease epidemiology, HIV, mental health through to sustainable remote health care delivery solutions, place-based community-engaged methods, meta-governance approaches, and m-health technological innovation.

LIRCH is supported by generous grants from the , and the

Our research benefits from strong links and cross-disciplinary working with members of , the School of Psychology, the School of Health and Social Care, the Department of Geography, particularly DIRE, and the School of Computer Science. Nationally, the institute has strong links to researchers at and is a key partner of the .

A New Approach to Tackling Inequalities

Following a £10.9 million grant from UK Research and Innovation, the institute has been scaled up to become the Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health. This will be the country's first integrated and multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to bringing together rural and coastal health and wellbeing research to help tackle the place-based inequalities experienced in these communities.

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Our institute supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are an urgent call for action to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems, now and into the future.

Our Purpose

We aim to improve the health and wellbeing of rural, remote, and coastal populations. We have a commitment to include communities and people in research and knowledge exchange that is regionally relevant and addresses national and global challenges.

Our Vision is to be the preeminent rural and coastal health research institute worldwide.

Our Mission is to conduct world-class research that seeks to address the most challenging health issues facing rural and coastal communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Our Strategic Goals

Our key goals are to conduct collaborative and innovative research across regional, national, and international contexts.

Strategic Goals

Our strategic goals are to:

Address knowledge and data gaps relating to health demographics, epidemiology, and gaps in rural health and care systems.
Develop opportunities for influence of policy, knowledge exchange, community engagement and academic development including public health, clinical training, and sustainable development of healthcare professionals within remote and rural populations.
Design, build and evaluate innovative and sustainable rural/coastal models of care.
Develop new high-quality data frameworks and tools to improve planning approaches and provide more appropriate outcome and impact indicators for rural and coastal population health.
Translate our context-specific knowledge of rural population health realities into actionable high fidelity healthcare solutions applicable to real world contexts.
Develop innovative approaches to effective inclusion and engagement of rural and coastal citizens in health and care research and health system design.
Create and support evaluation and post-graduate teaching expertise in rural and coastal health and care.
Provide strategic and practical leadership and support for developing public health capacity across the college, university, and region.