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Research at Queen Margaret University (QMU) by Professor Ian Rivers identified issues facing LGBT young people and same-sex raised children in UK education. Rivers was the only academic member of a group formed by the Scottish Government to recommend ways of tackling negative and discriminatory attitudes towards LGBT people in Scotland. The Scottish Government implemented many of the group's recommendations. Rivers' research had an impact on (1) public policy and services in education, (2) schools and teachers as educational practitioners, (3) health and welfare of LGBT young people and same-sex raised children, and (4) society, culture, and creativity, and public policy and services, beyond Scotland.
Articulate Instruments Ltd. was founded in 2003 as a research, design, manufacturing and consulting company for users of phonetic instrumentation. It invents, designs, markets and supports instrumental technologies for normative and clinical speech science and for the diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders. Products include electronic systems, headsets, software, and methodologies, underpinned by QMU research. Clinical use of relevant products as medical devices requires "CE marking" to prove on-going safety and support, first achieved in 2004.
Impact relates primarily to the company's on-going financial health and its non-academic customer base. In its first 10 years, turnover averaged ~£120k, with over 200 customers internationally, of whom more than 50 were non-academic.
The impact is primarily in Public Health. It mainly concerns the adoption of and demand for a speech research technology, Electropalatography (EPG), for clinical diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders. Our continuing long-term and interdisciplinary research into EPG has increased our impact in this census period from the previous RAE2008, during which time the UOA had already been awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize (2002) for working towards the clinical application of speech science.
Financial Support from the charitable sector and the NHS for the training of classroom assistants and SLTs in EPG therapy is highlighted, along with user testimonials, unmet demand, and small-scale provision of the therapy.
The model of farmers' decision-making developed by Dr Joyce Willock in Psychology at Queen Margaret University (QMU) and co-researchers identified the influences of socio-economic, psychological, and farming variables on farmers' decisions. Understanding the influences on farmers' business-oriented and environmentally-oriented decisions is important for farmers themselves and environmental policy-makers. Findings from the research by Willock and colleagues have had an impact on (1) Scottish Government regulations designed to prevent nitrate pollution of the environment, (2) farmers via the guidance they receive from the Scottish Government, and (3) current Scottish Government policy towards agriculture and climate change.
Public financing of health services in low income countries was challenged by the World Bank's Agenda for Reform in 1987, which advocated increased roles for private sector, private insurance and user fees. This was followed by a wave of reforms implementing this approach. McPake has been involved in researching the implications of this shift since this period and has published a series of influential articles that have had a demonstrable impact on this debate. Removal of user fees for all, or selected, services or for selected population groups has occurred in many countries, including 28 of 50 countries with the highest maternal and child health mortality included in a recent survey (http://bit.ly/17FUiDM). Witter is the lead researcher who has examined country level experiences of removing fees and it is demonstrable that her work has been applied in specific countries to shape the details of policy and has also had a major influence on the global debate.
Over the past 15 years, research within the Nutrition and Metabolism in Health and Disease Theme has provided evidence to inform policy and practice in the nutritional care of older and nutritionally-vulnerable adults. This information has been referred to by other bodies when improving guidelines for nutritional management and care in residential or community settings. Theme members have identified key changes in nutritional status and dietary needs which occur with advancing age; these observations have contributed to the development of standards associated with nutritional, food and fluid provision for the care of vulnerable groups in hospitals and care homes in Scotland and beyond.
This case has generated a new model of communication practice to deal with sensitive issues and risk behaviours. A range of personal and policy community impacts were achieved through implementing peer-led dialogue workshops focused on young people's experiences and discussion around the issue of alcohol. This intervention programme provided evidence of self-realization, self-esteem and personal growth benefits among pupils in five secondary schools in Edinburgh. The programme had an impact on the thinking of the Scottish policy community in relation to public health communication approaches on the issue of young people and alcohol.
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) to the ankle dorsi-flexors is an assistive technology that aims to counter foot drop, a common symptom in people with neurological impairment. Our research has facilitated a better understanding of the clinical potential of FES as a means to enhance walking capability and ultimately the quality of life of people with gait abnormalities associated with "dropped foot". The production and dissemination of this research has directly had an impacted on local NHS clinical treatment practice and NHS clinical service evaluation/re-design in support of self-managed care of people with long-term conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, and Multiple Sclerosis.
Integration of refugees, asylum seekers and their host communities is a complex challenge but an important marker both of future health and psychosocial wellbeing and of social cohesion. The UK Home Office commissioned IIHD to undertake the Indicators of Integration (IOI) research programme (from 2001) to clarify the IOI concept and recommend IOI for refugee policy and practice. The Ager and Strang IOI Framework (Ager and Strang, 2004a; 2004b; 2008) has become a foundational framework for refugee integration policy, for the measurement of integration and for critiquing policy and practice. Strang was appointed to chair the Scottish Government Refugee Integration Strategy consultation process in 2012 and has contributed by invitation to a number of EU-commissioned policy consultations.
This case generated new ways of thinking among a self-selecting sample of `senior' PR practitioners and delivered personal autonomy and professional development. The term `senior' is commonly employed in PR practice and formed the basis for discussion on practitioner conceptualisation of professional expertise. Critical interventions extracted practitioner accounts of their work, methodologies and impacts, and changes in critical, conceptual thinking took place. The project created an awareness of subjectivity in everyday practice among a collective category of workers with regard to their information and knowledge expertise, with implications for the practice community and wider society.