Summary of the impact

Long term conditions are leading causes of death and disability. Over 80% of care for people with long term conditions is self-management. In 2001, the Chief Medical Officer concluded, from evidence from the US and from Barlow and Turner's pioneering research in the UK, that the NHS should provide support for self-management through programmes such as the Expert Patient Programme. Turner and McHattie have developed self-management programmes (e.g. the Help to Overcome Problems Effectively: HOPE Programme) which have been taken up by local, national and international providers. These programmes have impacted positively on patient-reported outcome measures such as pain, fatigue and depression. They are cost-effective and produce a social return on investment.

Summary of the impact

Wood and Plester conducted the first empirical research into the impact of text messaging on children's literacy abilities, the results of which have impacted on:

• Public attitudes, by challenging media accounts of the alleged detrimental impact of texting on children's understanding of standard English;
• Public policy on literacy in England by informing Department for Education and National Literacy Trust reports and research regarding the value of informal language use to written language skills;
• Practitioners in the UK and worldwide, who now use text language as a way of teaching English to young people.

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the international impact of research undertaken by Professor Kenna and co-workers into the concept of critical mass in research groups. The main impact arising from the research is upon public policy and services. The research has influenced policy debate in the UK Parliament, in France and more generally. Beneficiaries of the research include policy makers in higher education, governments, think tanks, and public sector organisations and societies.

Summary of the impact

Research on combating interpersonal violence carried out by Dr Erica Bowen (Reader in the Psychology of Intimate Partner Violence) has resulted in:

• Impact on Public Policy and Services (UK): a literature review commissioned by the Ministry of Justice has been used to develop a new prison and community domestic violence offender rehabilitation policy. In addition, Wiltshire Probation Trust funded the development of an innovative sentencing framework incorporating assessment and intervention packages for violent offenders which are now being rolled out across Wiltshire and Dorset. Beneficiaries: Ministry of Justice, National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Wiltshire Probation Trust, offenders and associated staff, and victims.
• Impact on Public Policy and Services (Europe): a research-based serious-game intervention has changed attitudes towards both violence in adolescent relationships and the use of serious-game technology in education across Europe. Beneficiaries: Adolescents, Secondary School and College Teachers, Youth Services, Local Government Agencies, European and UN Policy Leaders, and Community Safety Organisations.

Summary of the impact

This case study presents the applied research work in systems modelling, control and machine vision led by Dr Haas and its impact on radiotherapy. The research is linked to a series of collaborative projects with industry and the NHS on control systems development for clinical equipment, and the evaluation of state of the art treatments. The main impacts are:

• Health impacts and impact on clinical technologies: i) the realisation of the Total Skin Electron Betatron Unit, which is a unique skin cancer treatment machine, ii) the development of methods and devices to evaluate the capabilities of medical equipment for adaptive and image-guided radiotherapy thereby contributing to its clinical deployment.
• Impact on practitioners and professional services: the initiation of a culture change by encouraging the use of computer simulation tools and increased application of control theory in industry and the NHS.

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the national and international impact of research undertaken by Professor Chao, as part of an EU funded Framework 7 project, Digital Environment Home Energy Management Systems (DEHEMS). The project has improved existing household energy monitoring, tackling the issues of global warming and CO₂ emission reduction in the domestic sector. The research has directly contributed to the development of a product called EnergyHive, subsequently marketed by Small to Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Hildebrand Ltd, who was the industrial partner in the DEHEMS consortium. The research has delivered the following:

• Economic impact — as a direct result of the research project, Hildebrand Ltd has diversified and entered into an entirely new market;
• Impact on the environment — home owners, local authorities and energy companies have installed EnergyHive meters which have shown significant energy and carbon dioxide reductions.

Beneficiaries of the research and the subsequent impact include: a commercial business, domestic energy consumers, UK and international energy companies and local authorities.

Summary of the impact

It is important that valid outcome measures are used to assess clinical services and interventions to demonstrate that services are effective. Additionally, outcomes of interventions need to be meaningful to the patients reporting them, as this adds value to the outcome of trials over and above the statistically significant difference derived mathematically. Singh and colleagues explored the minimum clinically important difference of the incremental shuttle walking test for individuals with chronic respiratory disease. As a result of Singh's research, this threshold is now included in international guidelines for pulmonary rehabilitation and has also been introduced into research and practice among people attending cardiac rehabilitation over the last 5 years.

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the international impact of research in the computer modelling and simulation of automotive and aerospace crashes, undertaken by Professor Blundell. The main impacts arising from the research can be summarised as:

Economic impact and impact on passenger safety: i) our research has led to improvements in the MADYMO software suite, the `industry standard' software for safety design and virtual crash testing, which is produced by TNO Automotive Safety Solutions (TASS) and sold to all the main equipment manufacturers in the automotive and aerospace sectors ii) our research has reduced the costs of these equipment manufacturers, who can simulate a crash rather than undertake expensive, physical, crash tests iii) by improving MADYMO, our research has had an impact on passengers who are now travelling in cars and aircraft which safer as a result of MADYNO's enhanced capabilities.

Impact on practitioners and professional services: through working with Blundell and his group, Autoflug GmbH has learned how to incorporate advanced simulation into its product development process. The work has also transferred practices from the automotive sector into aviation. Blundell's research has helped to introduce manufacturers and European regulators to new methods to design safety systems to helicopters, an area previously underdeveloped as an area in aviation occupant crash protection.

Beneficiaries include Autoflug GmbH, TASS and its customers, and European aviation regulators.

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on research into how sectors such as automotive and clothing are restructuring themselves, the consequences for communities, and the implications for industrial and regional policy responses. Impact has been achieved through: directly informing and shaping government policy and strategy; recommendations applied by government organisations and agencies; and through direct benefit to organisations and communities. Three linked areas where impact is evidenced are highlighted: industrial policy for traditional and emerging sectors; policy for funding and developing sub-regional economic development structures; and policy for dealing with economic shocks.

Summary of the impact

Research into `Food and Sustainable Communities' has become increasingly applied and impact- oriented during the current REF census period, reflecting a diversification in funding sources and a growing recognition of the significance, quality and international reach of the research undertaken.

This research has delivered national and international impact in the following key areas:

• Impact on practitioners and professional services, influencing and enabling the work of Non-Governmental Organisations working in support of the local food economy and community food growing sector in the United Kingdom;
• Impact on public policy and services, informing the development of new Common Agricultural Policy measures to promote sustainable agricultural livelihoods and farm product quality.