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Management science research that has evolved over two decades at Southampton Management School has provided the Sri Lankan government with the means to revolutionise its dental care system, and to devise new strategies for the more effective recruitment of health care professionals. A computer simulation model, based on Southampton's research, underpinned a government decision to limit dental student intake, create 400 new posts in under-resourced rural areas and grant access to dental care to an additional 1.5 million people. This in turn led to better use of taxpayers' money and improved career prospects for Sri Lankan dentists.
Aston University researchers developed and maintain the Uncertainty Markup Language (UncertML) for quantitative specification and interoperable communication of uncertainty measures in the Web. It is the only complete mechanism for representation of uncertainty in a web context. UncertML has been:
- Used in policy and decision making by UK (Food and Environment Research Agency) and international (European Commission) government agencies, and many research / industrial institutes;
- Presented at industrial /technical workshops, leading to ongoing international collaborations with bodies such as national space agencies (ESA and NASA) and government data providers;
- Accepted as a discussion paper for formal standardisation by the Open Geospatial Consortium;
- Chosen by independent data providers for efficient sharing of complex information and rigorous risk analysis across scientific domains such as pharmacy, global soil mapping and air quality.
Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a debilitating disease of major public health importance in the wet tropics. The African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) seeks to control or eliminate the disease in 19 countries. Accurate mapping of Loiasis (eye-worm) was a requirement for implementation of APOC's mass-treatment prophylactic medication programme in order to mitigate against serious adverse reactions to the Onchocerciasis medication in areas also highly endemic for Loiasis. Model-based geostatistical methods developed at Lancaster were used to obtain the required maps and contributed to a change in practice of APOC in a major health programme in Africa. Our maps are used to plan the delivery of the mass-treatment programme to rural communities throughout the APOC countries, an estimated total population of 115 million.
The Cambridge-led Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration (ERFC) is a global consortium involving individual-participant data on 2.5 million participants from 130 cohort studies. The ERFC has helped optimise approaches to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment by: 1) quantifying the incremental predictive value provided by assessment of risk factors 2) evaluating the independence of associations between risk factors and CVD and 3) addressing uncertainties related to the implementation of screening. ERFC publications on lipids, lipoproteins, and inflammation biomarkers have been cited by 9 guidelines published since 2010, including those of the European Society of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
Re-use of wastewater for irrigation is essential to secure global food security, but it poses serious health risks. Research at the University of Leeds into the effectiveness of wastewater treatment in pathogen removal and the subsequent development of quantitative microbial risk analysis (QMRA) methods now enable governments, regulators and NGOs to assess risks and identify cost-effective re-use strategies. World Bank policy documents and country-level analysis strongly recommend the QMRA approach developed at Leeds. These policy guidelines and analyses have subsequently impacted on many countries' ability to reduce the costs of wastewater treatment and grow more food safely. This impacts food grown for local consumption and export.
RVC's Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health team (VEEPH) has been at the forefront of applying and evaluating new techniques for modelling disease risk, for policy and decision makers to use in surveillance and control of animal and zoonotic infections. Application of their recommendations, including European `Commission Decision' legislation, is contributing to ensuring that Europe remains free from African swine fever (ASF). The status of FAO Reference Centre in Veterinary Epidemiology, awarded by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2012, recognises the RVC as a centre of excellence in this field and reinforces its role in guiding policies relating to animal health.
Research by Bhui 1996-2013 showed striking differences by ethnic group in diagnosis and management of mental health disorders due to a complex interplay of socio-cultural factors and different perspectives of patients and professionals. Impacts included: [a] the development and implementation of a UK-wide mental health policy 'Delivering Race Equality'; [b] a national training and workforce development programme that shifted the conceptual paradigm from the cultural competencies of individuals to system-wide intervention (called `cultural consultation'); [c] service development research `Enhancing Pathways into Care' (EPIC) to implement findings and draw lessons across four NHS Trusts; [d] incorporation of research findings into national and international guidelines, and influence on mental health legislation and policy; and [e] a new phase of research on implementing findings.
New health-evidence-based water quality criteria affecting over 24,000 EU bathing waters were implemented throughout the EU in 2012. These quantitative standards for microbial concentrations in sea water were based on WHO guidelines that were developed by Aberystwyth University's Centre for Research into Environment and Health (CREH) and founded on CREH's world-leading research. These standards (i) shape public policy by providing more rigorously-defined, quantitative health-based criteria, and (ii) improve implementation of environmental policy by facilitating the incorporation of real-time prediction of water quality, designed to provide `informed-choice' to bathers. Application of the standards on their own, i.e., without the prediction element, will result in the loss of 50% of UK's `Blue Flag' beach awards. With CREH's predictive element, however, the UK will both keep its blue flags and have higher standards of health protection. This prediction element is estimated by Defra to be worth between £1.4 and £5.3 billion to the UK economy over a period of 25 years following its initial implementation in 2012.
Research by the University of Nottingham has played a leading role in developing national, international and industry guidance on practical approaches to tackling the problem of psychosocial risks in the workplace. The European Commission, the World Health Organisation, the Health and Safety Executive, major global corporations and small and medium-sized businesses have supported and adopted the frameworks and recommendations resulting from this work. In the UK alone the guidance is estimated to have contributed to a saving of almost £2bn over 10 years by helping to improve employees' health and so reducing the costs associated with work-related illness.
Dr Lina Gega's research has been instrumental to the development and take-up of computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) and other technology-mediated interventions for common mental health problems in the UK and internationally. Gega's adjunct on-line methods form a key foundation for the training of professionals to support cCBT, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines now include cCBT for first line intervention for common mental health problems. These developments have resulted in a greater patient reach for cCBT internationally, with resultant decreases in waiting time for patients (with associated economic benefit) and improved outcomes.