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Young Lives is identifying major influences on children's development, from infancy to adulthood, by carrying out a pioneering longitudinal study across four developing countries over 15 years. Young Lives gathers and analyses data on how childhood is changing in diverse communities, especially through the impact of economic, cultural and policy shifts, by studying two age cohorts in each country. UNICEF, the World Bank, Plan International, and Save the Children International, among others, are using Young Lives research to design childhood poverty-reduction policies in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The research also underpins the re-visioning of global child protection work by UNICEF, Save the Children Canada, and World Vision UK.
In response to a new NHS policy initiative to create child-friendly hospitals, an ESRC funded research project (Space to Care, 2004-7) explored children's own perceptions and experiences of hospital space by seeking out the views of children aged 4-16 who were hospital patients. Through revealing the importance of age as a key differentiating factor in children and young people's views about hospital space, the result of adopting this child-centred approach was to demonstrate that the government's concept of a `child-friendly hospital' was failing to address the different needs of all children up to the age of 16. The findings from the study were therefore used to develop a set of key design principles and evaluation toolkits for healthcare professionals, architects and healthcare planners to help make hospitals more child-centred. These have: (1) informed the health-care design practices of architects, nationally and internationally; and (2) assisted health-care professionals in the UK and Australia to improve their existing facilities.
Research conducted by Peter Elfer has shown the significance of attention to babies and under threes' emotional well-being in nursery if early learning is to be effective. Children who are continually anxious or distressed do not learn well. A sensitive, responsive and consistent relationship with mainly one or two members of nursery staff (now known as the child's `key-person') has been shown to promote in young children feelings of safety and security. The research has underpinned the development of the key-person role in nurseries, as the means for enabling individual attention to children. This research has had a significant impact in the following areas:
1) UK Government curriculum guidance and requirements
2) Training of the early years workforce and continuing professional development
3) The evolution of UK Coalition Government policy and public discourse
The reach of the research is extensive, providing the underpinning for attachment practice in English nurseries. The above developments have strengthened the expectation in national standards of greater attention to the emotions of babies and young children in nursery and have provided the detailed guidance on how this can be achieved in practice.
Cardiff University has established the world's largest single cohort of children and young adults with Down's syndrome in which visual deficits have been characterised. Cardiff research studies over 20 years have informed evidence-based guidelines published by the Department of Health and national practitioner bodies for the recognition and practical management of common visual problems in children with Down's syndrome. Consequently, eye care specialists now recommend bifocals for these children. The Cardiff research has also supported changes to teaching methods and resources for children with Down's syndrome. Collectively these children are now benefiting from better eye care and improved learning and educational opportunities.
Professor Dieter Wolke has led several research programmes that delineate the long-term health effects of prenatal exposure to stress and moderate/late preterm, very preterm, and extremely preterm birth. His research has had a direct impact on international medical guidelines and educational recommendations for babies born preterm. The research has also informed European political debate (via a White Paper for the European parliament) on healthcare policy related to after care for preterm or sick children; has influenced UK policy regarding the education of children born preterm; and has contributed to public and practitioner understanding through media items issued, for example, by the NHS and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Loughborough University's Improving Outcomes of Services for Children in Need research is a programme of interlinked studies that has had a substantial impact on the development of national and international policy and professional practice for the most vulnerable children. It has influenced the development of government policy on safeguarding children from abuse and neglect, placement in out-of-home care, and adoption throughout the United Kingdom and in Australia, Canada and countries in Western and Eastern Europe. The researchers have translated a number of findings into tools designed to shape professional practice: these include a computer application that introduces transparency into the comparison of costs and outcomes of services.
Research led by Professor Shields and colleagues at Queen's University Belfast has resulted in changes in the treatment of children with cough and wheezing disorders and has been a major contributor to International Asthma and Cough Guideline statements.
Wheezing affects up to one third of children. Research studies that demonstrated that viral induced wheezing (VIW) or isolated cough were not associated with persistent airway inflammation led to a change in recommendations for anti-asthma therapy, such that the use of high dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) was no longer recommended in such cases. Furthermore, the dangers of very high dose ICS were better recognized and the upper recommended dose of steroids for use in treatment of classical childhood asthma was reduced accordingly.
Cancer treatment for children is one of the success stories of medical care in the twentieth century. Survival increased from almost zero in the 1950s to today, when treatment for some child cancers results in over 90% survival. These improved survival rates have, however, been achieved through use of highly aggressive treatment protocols, with adverse implications for the child's cognitive, emotional and social development and the burden of care on families. Nationally, researchers at Sheffield were among the first to identify the extent to which children continued to show psychological and behavioural problems, even long after the end of treatment. As such, they contributed significantly to discussions about how to balance medical treatment to control the cancer while taking into account the immediate and longer-term impacts on child quality of life and parents' psychological well-being. The work has had direct implications for both national and international clinical guidelines, and assessment of quality of life in national clinical trials. It has also resulted in user-friendly information for schools and families.
We have carried out research into children's perception and behaviour around dogs, which has led to the development of an effective safety training programme, as well as improving public understanding of child-dog interactions and risk contexts for dog bite injury in children. The `Blue Dog' (BD — www.thebluedog.org) project has led to changed educational and veterinary practice, public policy change and animal welfare benefits internationally. A key part of the project was the development and validation of an interactive DVD, with training tools that teach children how to be safe around dogs. The results of the research were integrated into the injury prevention messages disseminated by the BD project. The research programme has received publicity worldwide, and over 80,000 copies of the BD DVD have been distributed to 21 different countries, with the accompanying BD booklet translated into 17 different languages. The research was carried out from 2005 onwards, with the impact of the research accruing from 2008 to date.
Research conducted at UEL on the protection, participation and welfare of children living in difficult circumstances in the aftermath of conflict and in contexts of urban and rural poverty has had wide-ranging impacts on international policy and practice. Benefits have arisen particularly from its influence on national policies for orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda; on international professional standards and `best practice'; and on legal asylum in the USA. It has been used directly by governmental policymakers in Rwanda and Bangladesh and aid organisations in Africa and Asia, and has formed the basis for the development of new learning and advocacy resources used to improve the services offered by social work professionals in Africa, Asia and the UK. Through its direct impact on these individuals and organisations, the research has delivered indirect benefits to millions of children and adults around the world.