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Research into participative practice and well-being with older people has contributed directly to the development and application of an ethic of care in policy and service delivery, as well as to practices in older people's participation, locally, nationally and internationally. The research has directly impacted on practitioners and practice developments in services for older people, with learning resources (co-designed with practitioners and older people) being used in professional education and training across the UK and in New Zealand. An innovative participatory methodology has both enhanced older people's participation locally and been adopted more widely by university community research collaborators working to enhance older people's citizenship and well-being (eg in Netherlands). Research has directly informed policy concerning older people's needs assessments by recognising the centrality of relationships to well-being in older age. The well-being research involving collaboration with service users and providers has been described as `exemplary' by the leading national charity Age UK.
Research undertaken at Keele has made the social exclusion of older people visible to opinion- leaders and policy makers, helping to shape their perceptions of ageing. These changes in attitude have contributed to transforming provision for older people and promoting inter-generational interaction within local communities through both policy and practice, in both national and local government. The research has had a direct impact on national government policies, and has also coalesced into national campaigns to improve older people's lives. Regional impacts initially focussed on making Manchester an `age-friendly city' which has subsequently been used as a model for other local councils across the country.
Social pensions targeting poor households have emerged as a major anti-poverty policy for developing countries. Since 2008, programmes have been established or extended in Bangladesh, Mexico, Peru, Uganda and the Philippines. Collectively, these programmes provide regular cash payments to at least six million households not previously covered by formal social protection. DEV research significantly contributed to this by (i) raising awareness of social pensions among NGOs, UN agencies and key policy makers; (ii) providing robust evidence of the effects of existing social pension programmes; and (iii) more recently, identifying limitations of existing schemes and the need for complementary interventions.
Research on telehealthcare at the University of Stirling has guided the delivery of telehealthcare at home in West Lothian Scotland in the first instance, subsequently influencing decisions to adopt and implement telehealthcare in communities in Norway, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, the Western Isles and Shetland. Research was translated into the MAST (Methodology for the ASessment of Telemedicine) manual, a practical tool which has been used across Europe by decision makers considering telehealthcare implementation. Through the DSDC (Dementia Services Development Centre) at the University, telehealthcare information and guidance has been provided to thousands of service providers and family care givers.
Dr Penny Vera-Sanso's two research projects, Ageing, Poverty and Neoliberalism in Urban South India (2007-10) and Ageing and Poverty: the working lives of older people in India (2012-13), have had significant impacts on public debate and public policy in relation to the rights and well-being of people aged 60 and over. The research raised awareness and understanding, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and in India more widely, of older people's poverty and their contribution to the economy through their paid and unpaid work. This led directly to changes in state policy on pensions in Tamil Nadu, and influenced campaigns for older people's pensions, livelihoods and rights within India and internationally.
Bradford academics developed a research framework to understand equality, diversity and inclusion which health organisations used in formulating policy and practice. This led to more effective engagement in these issues thereby improving community wellbeing and addressing health inequalities. The framework informed changes in the commissioning and delivery of local community health services and in national level human resources rationale. A service provider redesigned their preventive services, incorporated novel employment and peer adviser opportunities and achieved higher levels of engagement and service use within their diverse community. The framework has been used by a range of organisations including Brap and Gateway Family Services, to underpin their participation-based, voice-centred research. Notably McMillan Cancer Support has used the voice-centred approach, developed by Brap using the Bradford framework, to develop their policy and practice.
The case described shows that work reported in the 2008 RAE exploring the information seeking strategies of older users is currently having a direct and significant impact on government policy in respect of the broad area of digital inclusion. Impact has been influential in two primary areas: advice and guidance to policy making bodies and training needs for organisations so that design can accommodate industrial needs. Specifically there have been invited contributions and provision of expert advice to Government policy making forums and to lead on training for designing for all especially in the area of standardisation in Europe and worldwide, including under EU Mandate 376, which is in the process of establishing EU wide rules to ensure accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICT) products and services. The visible impact of these activities is the publication of several important reports and the use of the research to support the call for European Directive on the accessibility of public sector bodies' websites and the selection to work with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This case study presents the impact of the Health and Temperature Research Group (HTRG) at Sheffield Hallam University, led by Professor Tod. The group generates novel, collaborative, translational, interdisciplinary (e.g. health, housing and environment, energy and welfare) research with a focus on cold related ill health. The research impact is illustrated here by The Keeping Warm in Later Life Project (KWILLT). KWILLT findings provide a unique understanding of the complex environment and multiple factors influencing older people keeping warm and well in winter. Beneficiaries include NHS, local and national policy makers, and practice organisations.
By 2050, there will be 2 billion people in the world aged 60 or over. Award-winning research has provided new evidence that maintaining health and mobility in this ageing population is related to easy and enjoyable access to outdoor environments. This is crucial for combatting social isolation and physical inactivity, the latter being the fourth greatest risk to global mortality. Described by [text removed for publication] the All-Party Group on Intergenerational Futures as "phenomenally exciting", the research has stimulated better planning for healthy environments, using a network of c.40 non-academic partners to influence policy within the Scottish, UK and Japanese governments and in the European parliament. It has been used in training for over 1,000 industry professionals, in campaigns by major charities and in guidance by the World Health Organization.