A GAMES LEGACY FOR GLASGOW - a catalyst for social change (5 October 2009)

On Monday 5 October 2009, the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and Glasgow City Council hosted a seminar to consider the legacy that the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will leave. 

Bruce Dewar, Chief Executive Officer of 2010 Legacies Now (a not for profit society committed to creating sustainable legacies) was the key note speaker, describing to delegates the sustainable legacy plans for the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic and how these are focused on being a catalyst for social change in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 

Download Bruce Dewars presentation slides-

Set of slides 1 - Human Legacies

Set of slides 2 - ActNow BC

Councillor Steven Purcell, Leader of Glasgow City Council, also spoke at this event, focusing on his vision for a lasting 'people' legacy from the 2014 Commonwealth Games. 

A post-event report will be available to download from here soon. 

Scottish Observatory for Work and Health (20 August 2009) 

On Thursday 20 August 2009 the Glasgow Centre for Population Health hosted a discussion seminar, chaired by Eugene Waclawski, at which the first annual Scottish Observatory for Work and Health findings report was presented (the full report and a summary report can be downloaded below)

Presentations were heard from a number of different speakers and a lively discussion session concluded the morning. 

Summary report

Download the presentation slides-

Alan McGregor, University of Glasgow PRESENTATION

David Coyne, Glasgow Works PRESENTAION

Gabe Docherty,  NHS Lanarkshire PRESENTATION

Ewan Macdonald, University of Glasgow PRESENTATION

Genuine Progress Index (26 March 09)

Prior to presenting at the 'Measuring What Matters' conference in Dundee, Dr Ronald Colman attended a seminar, hosted by the GCPH, at which he presented GPI Atlantic's Genuine Progress Index.

The origins and uses of this index were discussed as well as the implications this could have for Glasgow and Scotland.

(Download presentation slides set 1 and set 2 here)  

The Aftershock of Deindustrialisation (18 June 08)

This seminar took place on the back of the publication of the GCPH/NHS Health Scotland report, "The Aftershock of deindustrialisation: trends in mortality in Scotland & other parts of post-industrial Europe" (Download the full report here).

The principal overall finding of the report was that the health of virtually all the comparable post-industrial European regions is improving faster than that of Scotland, and especially the West of Scotland. Speakers were invited to share the experience of four of the key regions included in the report with the audience. The regions were: Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France; the Ruhr in Germany; Northern Moravia in the Czech Republic; and Katowice in Poland.

Download the seminar programme

Download the seminar slideshow (NB This is a large file (6.8mb) and may take some time to open on your computer)

Prof Carol Tannahill's inaugural professorial lecture - 'Improving Glasgow's Health: Learning from the Past, Influencing the Future' (24 January 08)

Professor Carol Tannahill has been appointed as Honorary Visiting Professor to the School of Health & Social Care at Glasgow Caledonian University. Carol's appointment will support the School's development in two areas of strategic importance: Research Development and Social Enterprise.  Carol gave her inaugural lecture on 24 January '08.  

Listen to the lecture

Listen to the lecture and view accompanying slideshow

Promoting positive mental health in a time of inequalities: an ethical dilemma? (11 October 07)

This seminar was one in a series hosted by the Journal of Public Mental Health that explored key issues in public mental health and invited debate about the gap between what we know about population level influences on mental health and current policy responses to psycho-social problems. 

The series was supported by the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing , the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health and the Mental Health Foundation.

This seminar featured eminent speakers Prof Richard Wilkinson and Prof Corey Keyes.  The audio recordings of their presentations are available to download and listen to below.  (Please note that as the files are large they may take a few minutes to download.)  

Prof Richard Wilkinson presentation audio file: 'Inequality and psychosocial wellbeing'

Prof Corey Keyes presentation audio file: 'The paradox of race and health in the United States' 

Economic Evaluations of Public Health Interventions: A Role for the Capabilities Approach? (22 August 07)

Large scale interventions, including housing regeneration projects such as GoWell, do not readily lend themselves to the application of established economic evaluation techniques because their outcomes are complex and varied.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's capabilities approach, however, has the potential to provide a framework within which to undertake such evaluations. The approach is based on the notion that it is the opportunities in life that are important for wellbeing: we should consider what people are able to do, not just what they choose to do.

The event closed with discussion of work using the capabilities framework in Glasgow, funding by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, which is seeking to develop a questionnaire to measure outcomes for use in the evaluation of public health interventions (Dr Paula Lorgelly).

Capabailities seminar slideshow
Capabailities seminar literature review

Socioeconomic change seminar series (Nov / Dec 06)

The Glasgow Centre for Population Health hosted a series of three seminars based around socioeconomic change in Glasgow and the surrounding conurbation. These seminars were intended to test ideas generated by the work completed on behalf of GCPH by James Arnott, Senior Economic Development Officer with Glasgow City Council.

Friday 24 November '06: The Changing Geography of Deprivation

The results of the recent Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006 appear to show progress in reducing deprivation in Glasgow. This seminar presented and explored these data in relation not only to what they tell us about past approaches to tackling multiple deprivation in Glasgow but also what they might mean for the future. How profound is the change that has taken place? What can we imply about our approaches to more deprived areas in the city?

Changing geography of deprivation summary

Friday 1 December 06: The City and the Conurbation: A Comparison

To what extent can Glasgow and the surrounding conurbation be seen as a coherent socioeconomic entity? Is there a fracture developing between the city on one hand, and the surrounding conurbation on the other? If so, is this a general urban phenomenon, or is it something specific to Glasgow? Again, the effects of past policies and implications for the future were explored.

The city and the conurbation summary

Friday 8 December 06: Glasgow: Transformation City

How can we make sense of the changes in Glasgow over the last thirty to forty years? Was Glasgow typical of most UK industrial urban centres or was there something more specific about the change in Glasgow, and why did deprivation become such an issue for the city? Given the signs of a significant upturn in Glasgow’s fortunes, how should we plan for the future?

Glasgow transformation city summary

Celebrating 30 years of the MIDSPAN studies (25 November 05)

In recognition of 30 years of the MIDSPAN studies (Scotland's largest and longest health study) the Centre hosted a scientific meeting of those involved in the studies. The presentations focused on data collected from thousands of Scots on areas including alcohol, blood pressure, cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity, smoking, social class and stress.

More information and downloads from the MIDSPAN event.

If you have any queries regarding the MIDSPAN studies contact Pauline MacKinnon at the University of Glasgow on 0141 330 4039 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

10th September 2008: What then shall we do? 

 Julian Tudor Hart and David Donnison, two giants of social medicine and social policy share a lifetime's experience with 200 participants in this unique event.

Read What then shall we do? Summary