Dr Jonathan Wistow

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Biography

I joined the School of Applied Social Sciences at Durham University as a Research Fellow in 2007, working on the 'Comparative analysis of how local system factors affect progress tackling health inequalities' research project, having previously combined working as a local government officer with postgraduate research. I subsequently worked as a researcher on the Built Infrastructure for Older People's Care in Conditions of Climate Change (BIOPICCC) project. This project focused on developing research strategies to help ensure that the infrastructures and systems supporting the health and social care for older people (aged 65 and over) will be sufficiently resilient to withstand harmful impacts of climate change in the future, up to 2050. A key output was the BIOPICCC Toolkit https://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/research/researchprojects/biopiccc/toolkit/comprising online resources to assist local authorities, partner organisations, and neighbourhood and community groups to undergo the process of cross sectoral local level resilience planning. 

My interest in health inequalities centres on the implications of both methodological and ideological framings for how this issue is understood and addressed. My research in this area focuses on the application of both complexity theory and qualitative comparative analysis to health inequalities and links to broader debates about governance and public policy implementation. 

I was a Teaching Fellow in SASS between September 2012 and June 2015, acting as module convenor for the Sociology of Social Exclusion (level 2) and Policy Related Evaluation and Research (Level 4) modules. I also taught the level 3 Urban Studies module in SASS in 2010/11. Since July 2015 I am a lecturer in the School and have added the Social Policy Level 3 and Level 4 module to my teaching portfolio.

Research Projects

Department of Sociology

• Built Infrastructure for Older People’s Care in Conditions of Climate Change (BIOPICCC)
• Comparative analysis of local strategies to tackle health inequalities.
• Extreme events and vulnerable people: Harnessing science to practice

Research Interests

• Health inequalities
• Qualitative comparative analysis
• Climate change adaptation and resilience
• Governance systems

Selected Publications

Authored book

• Wistow, J, Blackman, T, Byrne, D & Wistow, G (2015). Studying Health Inequalities: An Applied Approach. Policy Press.

Journal Article

• Telford, L. & Wistow, J. T. (2019). Brexit and the working class on Teesside: Moving beyond reductionism. Capital and Class
• McGowan, V., Wistow, J. , Lewis, S., Popay, J. & Bambra, C. (2019). Pathways to mental health improvement in a community-led area-based empowerment initiative: Evidence from the Big Local ‘Communities in Control’ study, England. Journal of Public Health 41(4): 850-857.
• Curtis, S., Oven, K., Wistow, J., Dunn, C. & Dominelli, L. (2018). Adaptation to extreme weather events in complex health and social care systems: The example of older people’s services in England. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 36(1): 67-91.
• Curtis, Sarah, Fair, Alistair, Wistow, Jonathan, Val, Dimitri V. & Oven, Katie (2017). Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems. Environmental Health 16(S1): 128.
• Wistow, J., Curtis, S. & Bone, A. (2017). Implementing extreme weather event advice and guidance in English public health systems. Journal of Public Health 39(3): 498-505.
• Cairns, J., Wistow, J. & Bambra, C. (2017). Making the case for qualitative comparative analysis in geographical research: a case study of health resilience. Area 49(3): 369-376.
• Wistow, J., Dominelli, L., Oven, K.J., Dunn, C.E. & Curtis, S.E. (2015). The role of formal and informal networks in supporting older people's care during extreme weather events. Policy and Politics 43(1): 119-135.
• Warren, J., Wistow, J. & Bambra, C. (2014). Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in the evaluation of complex public health interventions: A case study of a health improvement service for long-term Incapacity Benefit recipients. Journal of Public Health 36(1): 126-133.
• Warren, J., Wistow, J. & Bambra, C. (2013). Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to evaluate a public health policy initiative in the North East of England. Policy and Society 32(4): 289–301.
• Blackman, T., Wistow, J. & Byrne, D. (2013). Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to understand complex policy problems. Evaluation 19(2): 126.
• Blackman, T., Wistow, J. & Byrne, D. (2011). A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Factors Associated with Narrowing Health Inequalities in England. Social Science & Medicine 72(12): 1965–1974.

Report

• Curtis S., A. Fair, J. Wistow, D. Val & K. Oven (2015). Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems. Living With Environmental Change.

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Supervises

• Elizabeth Foster
• Cheng Lu
• Siti Mauzud
• Caitlin Sedgeworth
• Ms Rachel Reay
• Miss Fatha Hassan

Selected Grants