As our health and care systems continue to face complex and growing pressures, the call to focus more on prevention—rather than only treating problems once they arise—has never been more urgent. Yet our best efforts continue to run into familiar barriers: siloed ways of working, competing priorities, and short-term pressures.

Prevention is a central focus for both researchers and those working within the health and social care system. While prevention is a core ambition of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), turning that ambition into practical action remains a shared challenge. Meanwhile research provides strong evidence about the promise of prevention but insights about how to shift our collective focus to preventive working amidst today’s pressures are still developing.

Addressing these challenges requires researchers and practitioners from all sectors to come together to share insights, make the most of what we know, and shape the research of tomorrow. That is what 2025’s in-person ICS Research–Practice Network aimed to do. Picking up on the priorities our previous meeting identified, we explored:

• Good practice and the latest research on prevention
• The vital roles of voluntary and community partners in preventive efforts
• Strategies for leading prevention-oriented systems
• How to align prevention research with the needs of practice

During our first session, we heard insights on practical experiences of prevention from Valerie De Souza, Consultant in Public Health, Coventry City Council; Ailsa Dunn, Executive Director of Insight & Group Services, Prima Group; Catherine Heffernan, Director of Health Improvement, South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB); and Peter Merrifield, Chief Executive, SWIM Enterprises. You can listen to their talks and watch their slides here.

Our keynote session featured contributions from both researchers and senior leaders, on a blood-borne viruses prevention programme: Alec Fraser, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Management, King’s College, London; Mark Gillyon-Powell, Deputy Director for Viral Hepatitis Elimination and Health Inequalities, NHS England; and Aneesha Noonan, Medical Director for Specialist Commissioning (London) and National Primary Care Clinical Lead for HCV Elimination, NHS England. You can watch their presentations here.

In a final session, we built on the discussions throughout the day to identify key areas where further prevention research was needed. This was co-led by colleagues from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), including Richard Buchanan, Gareth O’Brien and Emma Munro. While this session was not recorded to facilitate free discussion, ongoing work about the themes raised can be found on our LinkedIn group.

The ICS Research-Practice Network is for anyone interested in Integrated Care Systems and related research – whether you work in or study the health and care system. Together, we pool knowledge, share experience build connections. We hope that this helps make the most of what we know while stimulating research on the questions to which the sector needs answers. Put simply, we try to get more research into practice – and more practice into research.