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As a result of University of Sheffield research in 1995-2002, a new gold standard treatment for major bleeding on warfarin has been established, ensuring the more effective treatment of tens of thousands of patients requiring emergency anticoagulation reversal each year in the UK alone. The treatment, using prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) was demonstrated to be superior to fresh frozen plasma (FFP), the standard alternative at the time, and two PCCs have now been licensed for this indication in the UK.
UK and international guidelines now recommend PCC over FFP.
A professional framework, establishing core competencies for healthcare chaplains, has been shaped by the expertise of Glasgow-based researchers in practical theology and reflective practice. The framework provides clear bench marks for the training, work and supervision of approximately 4,000 full- and part-time healthcare chaplains working in NHS hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the UK. Reflective practice — as championed by the research findings of Walton — is one of the four key competency domains identified in the framework. This framework was adopted by the NHS Scotland in 2008, by the NHS in England in 2009 and by the Welsh Assembly in 2010.
Despite the great public appetite for knowledge about life in Tudor England, until Steve Gunn undertook a huge study of coroners' records, we knew very little about how people lived — and died. Some of his findings shine new light on famous figures, such as the family of William Shakespeare. Others show how ordinary people lived — at work, at home, travelling or relaxing. They reveal the similarities and contrasts between dangers faced by our ancestors and those in modern life. The research has inspired enormous public interest, and it has also provided a historical perspective for organisations concerned with the implementation of health and safety policy.
Professor Adrian Taylor and colleagues in Exeter Sport and Health Sciences (SHS) have conducted: (1) laboratory studies to identify the dose of exercise that is sufficient to acutely impact on affect, mood and smoking-related outcomes; (2) rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate chronic interventions to increase physical activity among depressed patients, and smokers wishing to reduce or quit; and (3) rigorous systematic reviews and meta-analyses to inform guidance for health care practitioners and policy makers. This work has significantly contributed to the evidence-base underpinning global health care policy guidelines (including those produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)), as well as raising global media interest, informing public debate and clinically supporting patients and practitioners on best practice. Commissioned reviews have also identified gaps in the evidence-base for the effects of physical activity on mental health and nicotine addiction which has led to the prioritisation of funding for further research to resolve uncertainty in clinical guidelines.
The development of a high average power, all-fibre integrated, supercontinuum (or "white light") source, has led to a completely new product that has had significant commercial impact on the fibre laser and applications market place. The basic science, the technologically important power scaling and all-fibre integration were undertaken and first demonstrated by Imperial College staff. This device is currently sold as a compact free standing device by companies such as Fianium, NKT Photonics and IPG Photonics. Sales of supercontinuum lasers at Fianium alone have greatly exceeded £10M. The device has also been successfully incorporated into spectroscopic and medical imaging instrumentation generating new business activity through this disruptive technological change.
It is widely acknowledged that increasing physical activity (PA) levels within `hard-to-reach' groups is challenging. Researchers in the School have addressed these challenges resulting in impacts in two recognized `hard-to-reach' groups: ethnic minority communities and patients who are at risk of disease onset and/or are suffering from diminished quality of life/disability due to chronic disease. In the former, our research has demonstrated how to make PA accessible and appropriate; in the latter, in addition, we have increased physical activity levels. In both examples, our research has changed professional training and/or standards.
This case study illustrates the development of novel research materials designed to improve quality of life and performance in different populations. Impact has been achieved through the use of research findings in professional practice, formulation of health-related policies and in the development of new indicators of health and well-being. RCSEP research has been used by international and national health-service organisations (e.g., European League Against Rheumatism, Evidence NHS), industrial establishments (e.g., ArtEZ Conservatoire, Netherlands; Royal Ballet), national governing bodies (British Heart Foundation), and professional bodies (e.g., Dance UK, International Association of Dance Medicine & Science).
National and international research findings were utilised to raise professional, political and faith-based awareness of the impact of abuse and exploitation on the educational, social and emotional development of children and young people considered to be `at risk'. The impact of the case study lies in its ability to portray, through the use of participatory research methodologies, the experiences of young people who have been the victims of abuse, neglect and human trafficking. Evidence collated indicates that the work has significantly increased national and local awareness and understanding, and led to specific organisational changes in policy and practice.
Insufficient levels of physical activity are a major public health challenge. In the 1990s, approaches to meeting the challenge of increasing physical activity (PA) shifted to a focus on the accumulation of activity during daily living and interest in the potential effects of the built environment on lifestyle physical activity. Researchers from the University of Birmingham tested methods to encourage the increased use of stairs, rather than escalators and lifts, with the aim of increasing calorific expenditure during daily life. This research made a major contribution to the evidence base for NICE (UK), as well as CDC (USA), leading to recommendations to use signage as a public health message to increase stair use. Campaigns prepared for the Department of Health (Cataluyna, Spain) were rolled out nationally, with advice currently being extended to worksite campaigns. At a regional level, councils throughout the Midlands have employed the stair use campaigns, as have the police and commercial firms, with Unilever requesting them for use nationally and internationally and an improved campaign rolled out by National Car Parks Ltd.
The research project had an enduring impact on the way the health authorities in Walsall and Dudley view using the arts to develop better sexual health services for young people and children. In Walsall an officer specifically dedicated to arts in health was installed, a position still in place in 2013. The research led to an awareness, still evident today, of the value of involving the arts in health. Our research is now used in training health professionals in Walsall and community arts work remains at the centre of many strategies to improve the quality of life in Walsall.