Birmingham Museums Trust
Our Public Health Research Officer will work collaboratively on the agenda of Museums, Heritage and Public Health with a research focus in on Oral Histories as a methodology for populational health improvement.
A set of oral histories from an inner cities project dating back to the 1970s is being thematically analysed using our Food System Strategy thematic areas, to draw out the public health value of this historic records. Then a new set of oral histories will be recorded, aligned to Birmingham begin a ‘super-diverse city’ to gather the views, opinions and experiences of our citizens food and culture in Birmingham.
In this work, oral history can be used as both a research methodology and intervention tool to inform public health practice.
By reframing oral histories as community health assets, public health draws on lived experiences through both historical and contemporary narrative, giving an overview of the changing food landscape in the city.
In this project, this works to frame oral histories
- as an engagement and outreach resource: invoking nostalgia as a public health tool.
This can encourage individuals and communities to reflect on their own lifestyle choices, and engagement with the collection can be used as a health-promoting practice. - as an active research methodology: to examine experiences of health.
Adding to the archive in this way allows input from seldom heard voices, and creates an archive that reflects the population of Birmingham, providing an emic, lived experience of food in the city. - as a localised evidence base:
Repositioning the collection as a localised evidence base, understanding how the food system has changed in Birmingham over time.
For further information on this project, email:
- Public Health Research Officer Sophie Beckett: Sophie.Beckett@birminghammuseums.org.uk, or
- Senior Public Health Officer Rhys Boyer: Rhys.Boyer@birmingham.gov.uk
Page last updated: 28 August 2024
