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In May 2012 the UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) convened a specialist group of 20 academics to discuss a solution to the "population-level lack of physical activity". The group, including Professor Ashley Cooper, concluded that increasing active travel (walking or cycling) to destinations such as work or school is the best option for achieving this aim and encouraged the CMO to embed this is future policy initiatives. Children are a major focus of such initiatives, since the majority of UK children are not sufficiently active to meet current health guidelines, and over the past decade active travel to school has been recognised as a major opportunity for children to achieve healthy levels of physical activity. This case study describes a programme of funded [6,7] research work which has directly informed and underpinned understanding of the importance of active travel to school by policy makers and public health practitioners. The research is heavily cited in policy and planning documents from 2009 to the present date, both in the UK and internationally, and is used by organisations which implement interventions to increase active travel in the UK and internationally. Via these routes this work has benefitted children in many countries through increased physical activity, higher fitness and improved health.
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.
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.
Public understanding and debate at the national level have been impacted upon by the research work of psychologists at the University. Furthermore, through bespoke knowledge exchange workshops understanding, intentions and practices of education and care professionals have changed. The impact draws on the work of Burkitt and Greenlees, both chartered psychologists and Readers at the University undertaking applied psychological research in the area of colour. Burkitt has published on the use and meaning of colour in children's drawings and Greenlees on its effect on sporting performance particularly in football.
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.
The case study addresses the impact of the project `Children Decide: power, participation and purpose in the primary classroom' (2004-6) regarding its two aims: developing collaborative approaches to decision-making in schools, and advancing methodological understanding of children as action researchers. The project made a subsequent methodological contribution (children as researchers) to educational evaluation and policy in two international organisations. Since 2008, the project has had a direct and significant impact on children's participation in decision-making in Norfolk schools, as reported by the teachers and those who attended dissemination conferences and professional development initiatives, and nationally by educators who used the published report.
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.
Butler's work has three strands, each of which has made a substantial impact on readerships and audiences beyond the academy. She has actively promoted children's literature pedagogy through her publications and her activities in promoting teaching aids arising from her research in the Learning and Teaching of Children's Literature. Her work on place, history and landscape in children's literature has been hailed as a practical benefit to working writers, and her research-as-practice has resulted in six novels for children and teenagers, as well as works commissioned and written in order to encourage reluctant teenaged readers, She has actively promoted children's literature in schools, online and in society generally.
The impact relating to this case study is situated in three domains. The first domain focuses on impacting policy on spiritual development in the primary curriculum, achieved via membership of a Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) working party. The second element is lay engagement with understandings of spirituality and its contextualisation in primary schools, achieved primarily through media coverage of research findings. The third area relates to informing understanding about the processes and meaning making of dreaming (as a specific area of spirituality) through expert comments in mass media outlets and the hosting of events attended by the general public and practitioners as well as academics. These achievements are complemented by high profile roles in international professional associations.
Over 3 million UK children live in poverty. Ridge's research has shown that understanding the impact and experience of poverty from the child's perspective is essential for developing effective policies and services to improve children's lives. Through strong, close and enduring relations with policy makers and advocacy groups, her research and knowledge exchange have directly influenced national and local government policies for low-income children. Policy-makers now listen to children's perspectives as they develop policy, incorporating statutory consultation with children into key initiatives such as the Child Poverty Strategy. This has significantly improved the quality of life of children and families in poverty.