Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dr Kris Southby
Senior Research Fellow
Kris is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Promotion Research. He has broad research interests around the role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in health and wellbeing.
Kris joined the Centre for Health Promotion Research in 2014. He worked for
worked for the learning disability charity Mencap as an employment coordinator before this.
Kris is involved in a all aspects of research across CHPR’s portfolio of work, including bid writing, data collection, data analysis, writing reports and outputs, and project management. Kris also supervises Masters and PhD student projects.
Kris' research broadly covers two areas. The first concerns the role of the VCSE in addressing health inequalities. The second concerns the experience of people with disabilities and ways of addressing the broad ranging and complex wellbeing needs of this group.
Kris' research generally uses qualitative or mixed methods to capture lived experience. He has experience of working with communities to develop participatory approaches to include those that might be excluded from more 'traditional' research designs. Kris is also experienced at doing rapid and systematic reviews of evidence.
Some of the organisations that Kris has worked with on research are:
- Mencap
- What Works Wellbeing
- New Economics Foundation
- Co-op Foundation
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- World Health Organisation Europe
- Yorkshire & Humber Clinical Research Network
- People's Health Trust
Research Interests
Kris is currently working with colleagues on a number of projects. These projects have led to a greater understanding of:
- Why some communities experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage appear more resilient to mental health issues than expected
- How VCSE organisations responded to the pandemic to keep supporting people
- How and why VCSE organisations use sport to mitigate against the health and social inequalities that impact on children and young people (C&YP) in disadvantaged areas across England and Wales
Ask Me About
- Equality and inclusion
- Community
- Health
- Mental health
- Public health
- Volunteering
- Wellbeing
News & Blog Posts
New research shows how the voluntary sector tackled inequality and isolation during the pandemic
Space to Connect digital toolkit
Who said what: different perspectives about the role of VCSE organisations during Covid-19
New research signals importance of community in mental health, as one in three say lack support or tools to deal with ‘ups and downs of life’
