Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, a leading Cardiff University expert in factors that influence people’s health and wellbeing has collected his knighthood from the Queen.
The accolade, which recognised Sir Mansel’s services to healthcare, was announced in the New Year Honours list. It is the second such honour Sir Mansel has received having also been appointed a Companion of the Bath in 2002, itself a level of knighthood.
Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Sir Mansel’s research has informed practical public health interventions in Wales and elsewhere. He has examined the psychosocial, social, economic and cultural factors that shape health and wellbeing, as well as identifying the factors which pose obstacles to recovery, public beliefs about illness and disability and the relations between work and health.
As chair of Public Health Wales, a new NHS Trust aiming to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the population of Wales, Sir Mansel is contributing to a new primary and community care strategy for Wales, reducing patients’ time in hospital and delivering healthcare support as close to where they live as possible. Since 2005 he has been the Director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research which extends knowledge and understanding of the factors that influence health, illness, recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration into rewarding work.
Sir Mansel, of the School of Medicine, attended the event at Windsor Castle with members of his family. Commenting on the occasion, Sir Mansel said: “I cannot adequately describe the sense of great honour and sublime pleasure I feel at my receiving this accolade from Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle in the presence of my wife, son and daughter.
“I owe a very considerable debt to my family, to colleagues at Public Health Wales and Cardiff University and to all those people in my life who have nurtured and supported me without whom I would not have gained knighthood. I am so very grateful and delighted especially that this honour marks a contribution to health and healthcare in Wales.”
