Exploring how floods affect maternal health and wellbeing in Accra and Hull
Posted on 22 October 2024
Dr. Amanda Mason-Jones from the University of York and Dr. Samuel Adjorlolo from the University of Ghana have successfully secured funding from the Medical Research Foundation’s 2023 Impact of Climate Change on Health call. One of only 6 new projects to be funded through an extremely competitive process, their joint project will investigate the impact of flood events on maternal health in two coastal cities: Accra and Kingston upon Hull. This collaboration aims to understand community experience from different parts of the world that experience flooding.
Image above: Flood risk map of Accra Metropolitan Area (City of Accra).
Source: Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS (CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Accra, July – August 2013. https://cersgis.org
The three-year research project will explore the effects of flooding on maternal health and well-being. The long-term goal is to identify both the risks to and strategies used to overcome these challenges.
More specifically, the funding will support the University of York in the following areas:
- Scientific Advances on the Impact of Climate Change on Health and Well- Being: By funding Amanda Mason-Jones, Lindsay Stringer and Beth Mroz in the UK, and Samuel Adjorlolo and Caroline Dinam Badzi in Ghana, the MRF not only establishes the groundwork for transdisciplinary research at York but also challenges academic norms by incorporating researchers from different career stages, disciplinary backgrounds and country contexts to collaborate on the same project.
- Dissemination to the Broader Society: Our researchers will ensure the wider community benefits from this research by including policy makers and local communities and sharing findings in short accessible summaries. They will help understand healthcare access challenges, which in turn have the potential to inform healthcare practices and generate new policies.
- Equitable Partnerships: Additional opportunities have been made possible by a further linked grant from the Africa Research Excellence Fund to ensure equitable partnerships, mutual South-North, North-South benefits and shared learning throughout the project.
About this new partnership, Amanda said:
“Samuel and I are determined to ensure that our project can identify both challenges and community strengths to tackle flooding. Those who are pregnant are not often included in discussions about climate change and environmental degradation. We hope to change that. We are also committed to equitable working where the exchange of knowledge, skills, and understanding is mutual despite our different contexts.”
The research would not have been possible without philanthropic support, and the University of York wants to thank the Medical Research Foundation for funding this innovative study that brings together diverse communities across the world. This study will leave a lasting legacy here at York by facilitating knowledge exchange on our UK campus, bringing together the Department of Health Sciences, where Amanda and Beth are based, and the York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI).
For more information on the research project:
Medical Research Foundation announcement: ‘From mental health to mosquitos’
If you would like to find out more about the partnership and equitable approaches, please contact amanda.mason-jones@york.ac.uk .