Mr Ka Chun (Franco) Ho
Department of Politics and International Relations
PhD research student
Full contact details
Department of Politics and International Relations
Modular Teaching Village
Northumberland Road
Sheffield
S10 1AJ
- Profile
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Franco began his doctoral journey in October 2018, conducting research on the evolving landscape of local health governance amid the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. His broader research interests include English health policy process, new/discursive institutionalism, multi-level governance and policy implementation. Throughout this journey, he has developed an interest in bridging the gap between theory and real-world policymaking. He believes that theory-informed research has the potential to drive meaningful change, influencing policymakers and stakeholders alike.
Before returning to Sheffield for his doctoral journey, Franco had a brief stint working at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as a research assistant for an ERC-funded project. Recently, he completed a knowledge exchange project in the Centre for Equity and Inclusion at the University of Sheffield, where he worked with artists, performers as well as other PhD students in other academic departments at the University of Sheffield.
- Qualifications
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- BA (Hons) International Relations and Politics, the University of Sheffield;
- MA in Governance and Public Policy, the University of Sheffield
- Research interests
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PhD Project Title: The Politics of Health and Wellbeing: A Multi-level Discursive Institutionalist Approach
Recent cross-case research has suggested that Health and Wellbeing Boards across England—local statutory partnerships mainly between local authorities, NHS organisations, and local Healthwatch branches—have had limited success in addressing the health needs of their respective populations. While cross-case research is capable of generalising what happened, it has insufficient capacity to fully explain the richness of why certain health and wellbeing policymaking dynamics exist given their local context, as well as how such dynamics change over time, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This doctoral research addresses these gaps by intensively focusing on a northern English city's Health and Wellbeing Board. More specifically, it draws on a novel analytical framework—multi-level discursive institutionalism, which combines discursive institutionalism with multi-level governance—to examine two policymaking processes within the Board, one before and another during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His broader research interests include:- English health policy processes
- New/Discursive institutionalism
- Multi-level governance
- Policy implementation
- Health inequalities
- Research group
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- Governance and Public Policy
- SPERI Doctoral Researcher Network
- Grants
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- The Centre for Equity and Inclusion, the University of Sheffield, £1960. Knowledge Exchange Project
- Department of Politics and International Relations, the University of Sheffield, £800. PGR Support Fund
- Teaching interests
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- Political analysis
- Health inequalities
- Policy process
- English health policy
- British politics
- Teaching activities
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- POL120 Analysing Politics
- POL235 Development