Dr Daniel Holman (he/him)
BA, MSc, PhD
Department of Sociological Studies
Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Public Health
+44 114 222 6417
Full contact details
Department of Sociological Studies
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
-
Dr. Dan Holman is an interdisciplinary researcher focussed on the interface between public health, sociology and social science. His overall research interest is in health inequalities and their social determinants, especially in relation the ageing process. He is especially interested in intersectional approaches to health and healthy ageing inequalities.
Dan joined the department in November 2014 to work with Professor Alan Walker as a Research Associate. He was Principal Investigator (Co-Investigators Professor Sarah Salway and Dr. Andy Bell) on a ESRC project on intersectional inequalities in later life chronic disease (‘Chronic disease and healthy ageing at the intersections: social locations, biomarkers, and health practices’). He has been Co-I on a number of national and international projects funded mainly by ESRC and NIHR. He has also worked on various international ageing projects including Mobilising the potential of active ageing in Europe (MoPAct), Social Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing (SIforAGE), and Social inequalities in extending working lives of an ageing workforce (EXTEND). He was Co-I on a World University Network project on Intersectional Methodologies.
Prior to joining Sheffield, Dan was a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He obtained his PhD in Sociology in 2012 from the University of Essex under the supervision of Professor Joan Busfield.
- Research interests
-
Intersectionality, health inequalities and healthy ageing
Dan is interested in how intersectionality can inform understanding of inequalities, especially in ageing and health. This has mainly involved quantitative but also mixed methods work. He is particularly interested in the ‘MAIHDA’ (Multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy) approach to quantitatively studying intersectionality and has published several papers on it. He focuses on how social determinants of health across the lifecourse shape health ageing for different intersections in the population.
Extending working lives
Dan was Co-Investigator on the ESRC funded project ‘EXTEND: Social inequalities in extending working lives of an ageing workforce’ which considered the social inequalities that result from extending working life policies. This included work on inequalities resulting from changes to the state pension age, the role of chronic conditions in driving later life exit from employment, case studies in the social care sector, policy mapping, and the impact of working conditions on post-retirement health.
Social science, social determinants and public health
Dan is interested in social science perspectives on public health and health behaviours/health practices. This work has involved reviewing behavioural science contributions to health promotion for the WHO and tracing the input of social science and sociological theory in health behaviour interventions. He is interested in social quality theory as a framework to investigate the social determinants of health. He has occasionally published in the field of medicine, specifically on risk models and healthcare costs in relation to chronic diseases and diabetes peer support.
- Publications
-
Journal articles
- Clarifications on the intersectional MAIHDA approach: a conceptual guide and response to Wilkes and Karimi (2024). Social Science and Medicine. View this article in WRRO
- Intersectionality and public understandings of health inequity in England: learning from the views and experiences of young adults. Public Health, 222, 147-153.
- Use of intersectionality theories in interventional health research in high-income countries: a systematic scoping review. The Lancet, 400, S58-S58.
- Can intersectionality help with understanding and tackling health inequalities? Perspectives of professional stakeholders. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Mapping intersectional inequalities in biomarkers of healthy ageing and chronic disease in older English adults. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
- Association between systolic blood pressure and cardiovascular inpatient cost moderated by peer-support intervention among adult patients with type 2 diabetes : a 2-cohort study. Canadian Journal of Diabetes.
- Challenges and practices in promoting (ageing) employees working career in the health care sector – case studies from Germany, Finland and the UK. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Educational inequalities in health after work exit : the role of work characteristics. BMC Public Health, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Learning from the experience of peer support facilitators and study nurses in diabetes peer support: a qualitative study. Chronic Illness. View this article in WRRO
- Using shrinkage in multilevel models to understand intersectionality: a simulation study and a guide for best practice. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 15(2), 88-96. View this article in WRRO
- Chronic conditions as predictor of later life disability employment exit: a gendered analysis. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. View this article in WRRO
- Derivation and external validation of risk algorithms for cerebrovascular (re)hospitalisation in patients with type 2 diabetes: Two cohorts study. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 144, 74-81. View this article in WRRO
- Total/high density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular disease (re)hospitalization nadir in type 2 diabetes. Journal of Lipid Research, 59(9), 1745-1750. View this article in WRRO
- Inequalities in women's awareness of changes to the State Pension Age in England and the role of cognitive ability. Ageing & Society. View this article in WRRO
- Social Quality and Health: Examining Individual and Neighbourhood Contextual Effects Using a Multilevel Modelling Approach. Social Indicators Research, 138(1), 245-270. View this article in WRRO
- Impact of peer support on inpatient and outpatient payments among people with Type 2 diabetes : a prospective cohort study. Diabetic Medicine, 35(6), 789-797. View this article in WRRO
- Development and external validation of risk scores for cardiovascular hospitalization and rehospitalization in patients with diabetes. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 103(3), 1122-1129. View this article in WRRO
- Shirt sponsorship by gambling companies in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues: global reach and public health concerns. Soccer and Society. View this article in WRRO
- Can peer support be cost saving? An economic evaluation of RAPSID: a randomized controlled trial of peer support in diabetes compared to usual care alone in East of England communities. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, 5(1). View this article in WRRO
- How do health behaviour interventions take account of social context? A literature trend and co-citation analysis. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine. View this article in WRRO
- Applying social theory to understand health-related behaviours. Medical Humanities, 42(2), 143-145. View this article in WRRO
- Exploring the relationship between social class, mental illness stigma and mental health literacy using British national survey data. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 19(4), 413-429.
- Class dis-identification, cultural stereotypes, and music preferences: Experimental evidence from the UK. Poetics, 50, 44-61. View this article in WRRO
- ‘What help can you get talking to somebody?’ Explaining class differences in the use of talking treatments. Sociology of Health & Illness, 36(4), 531-548.
- An analysis of intersectional disparities in alcohol consumption in the US. Social Science and Medicine.
- Extending intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) to study individual longitudinal trajectories, with application to mental health in the UK. Social Science and Medicine.
- Use of Intersectionality Theory in Interventional Health Research in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(14), 6370-6370.
- Can White allyship contribute to tackling ethnic inequalities in health? Reflections on the experiences of diverse young adults in England. Critical Public Health, 1-13.
- Neighbourhood deprivation and intersectional inequalities in biomarkers of healthy ageing in England. Health and Place.
- Understanding unequal ageing: towards a synthesis of intersectionality and life course analyses. European Journal of Ageing.
- Transforming the health system for the UK’s multiethnic population. BMJ, m268-m268.
- Impact of Community Based Peer Support in Type 2 Diabetes: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of Individual and/or Group Approaches. PLOS ONE, 10(3), e0120277-e0120277. View this article in WRRO
- Educational differences in the influence of health on early work exit among older workers. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- Discursive change from ‘early’ towards ‘late’ exit/retirement, Rapidly Increasing Retirement Ages (pp. 16-39). Edward Elgar Publishing
Preprints
- Extending intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) to study individual longitudinal trajectories, with application to mental health in the UK, Center for Open Science.
- Can Intersectionality Help with Understanding and Tackling Health Inequalities? Perspectives of Professional Stakeholders, Research Square Platform LLC.
- Clarifications on the intersectional MAIHDA approach: a conceptual guide and response to Wilkes and Karimi (2024). Social Science and Medicine. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
-
Co-lead: Healthy lifespan Institute workstream on Intersectionality and Health
- Grants
-
- 2023-24: Evaluating the impact of national and local action aimed at levelling up and pandemic recovery - Phase 1 (Co-I). National Institute for Health Research. £257,000.
- 2021-22: Intersectional Methodologies (Co-I). World University Network. £10,000.
- 2022-25: Storying Life Courses for Intersectional Inclusion: Ethnicity and Wellbeing Across Time and Place. (Co-I). ESRC £1.35m.
- 2020-22: Strengthening the intersectional equity focus in public health research in and beyond School for Public Health Research. (Co-I). National Institute for Health Research £132,179.
- 2020-23: The Social Determinants of Multimorbidity in Sheffield. (Co-applicant). ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership PhD with Professor Alan Walker and Sheffield City Council.
- 2018-21: Chronic disease and healthy ageing at the intersections: social locations, biomarkers, and health practices. (PI) ESRC £198,000.
- 2016-18: Social inequalities in extending working lives of an ageing workforce. (Co-I). ESRC £171,000.
- 2014: Randomised Controlled Trial of Peer Support in Type 2 Diabetes Health Economic Assessment. (Co-I). Peers for Progress £30,000.
- Teaching activities
-
Dan teaches and supervises students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His teaching is focussed on methods, health inequalities and ageing.
Dan’s teaching is always informed by his research experience which has entailed leading or co-leading a wide variety of projects and publishing actively in his disciplines.
Dan is currently convenor on SCS6107 Researching Society and the dissertation and extended essay modules (SCS3001, 3002, 3003, 3044, 3050).
- Professional activities and memberships
-
Co-Director of Wellcome Trust Public Health Economics and Decision Science Doctoral Training Centre.
- Postgraduate Supervision
Current postgraduate students
Sophie Bright. Incorporating intersectionality within a microsimulation of alcohol control interventions. Co-supervisor. Wellcome Trust Public Health Economics and Decision Science, 2022. Sophie
Maxine Kuczawski. The social determinants of health in adolescents. Co-supervisor. ESRC/White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership Collaborative Award, 2021.
Shidong Huang. Exploring Chinese nursing home residents’ levels of satisfaction with service provision. Co-supervisor. Self-funded, 2020.
Topics of interest
I am interested in supervising students who are working in the area of health inequalities, intersectionality and/or healthy ageing.