Log in
This case study has improved the quality of life for patients suffering with visual field defects after brain injury such as hemianopia, which affects more than 4,000 people in the UK each year. Different types of rehabilitation, such as those aimed at enhancing exploration or reading, have been shown to have a direct positive impact on patients, improving their confidence, independence, self-esteem and general quality of life. Approximately 200 individuals have benefitted from Durham University's visual rehabilitation programmes to date, including some patients internationally, with a CD toolkit being provided to countries such as Belgium, Denmark, and Chile. This research therefore has direct impacts on health and wellbeing worldwide and has influenced the care offered by NHS practitioners.
Because of the arduous nature of recruit training, high wastage (due to failure or withdrawal) has always been a problem for the Armed Services. A ten year programme of research funded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) led to changes in the delivery of training across the three Armed Services (especially the Army), the formation of a new Army training establishment, a new tri-service monitoring and training body, better mental health in military recruits, and significant reductions in wastage rates (up to 15%). The model developed by this research has also informed training in the Canadian and United States Armed Services.
Research conducted by the Accident Research Unit (ARU) at the University of Nottingham since 1988 has influenced decision-making processes for government road safety executives across the globe. A series of studies commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), in addition to independent research, fed into research policy-making documentation, helping to frame national and international government policy on road safety in the UK, Europe, America, and Australasia. The work has informed publicity materials for professionals and the public with a particular focus on collisions involving young drivers, motorcycle safety, work-related traffic collisions and distractibility due to roadside advertising.
As a consequence of a research-based training programme developed at the University of Bristol, the rates of perinatal hypoxia and intrapartum fetal injury in Bristol and two pilot units in Australia and the US are now among the lowest in the world. The improvements achieved in Bristol, the US and Australia have also been successfully achieved in a low resource setting in Zimbabwe.
In response to demand from maternity units across the world, the Bristol team has developed PROMPT — a PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training package, which has been successfully implemented in over 20 countries worldwide. PROMPT has had a major health and welfare impact on more than a million mothers and their babies, as well as bringing substantial economic benefits and supporting international development.
Sport and exercise research at Southampton Solent University commenced in 2007 and comprises a young research team focussed on strength and conditioning within sport. The overarching methodological approach is defined in the work of Fisher et al (2011) as momentary muscular fatigue (MMF) whereby training is undertaken to maximal exertion. Using MMF the research team have published findings and their conclusions for public benefit, thus improving performance with a range of client groups in sport. The impact of this methodological approach is far reaching, improving performance in elite performers, whether they are able or disabled. The beneficiary groups include; two Paralympic squads in the build up to, and including, the London 2012 Paralympic Games and a premiership football team.
Within the UK Armed Forces, stress fractures during training in military recruits represent the single largest cause of lost duty days, resulting in substantial costs for the Ministry of Defence.
Research by the University of Surrey has established unique associations between physical characteristics, bone health and nutrition on stress fracture incidence during Royal Marine and Royal Air Force recruit training. This has led the MoD to change entry criteria and to update nutritional advice both in training and during deployment for military personnel. The resultant reduction in number of stress fractures has had both economic and health and wellbeing impacts.
Policymakers in the government departments responsible for health and education, Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) and many thousands of professionals with child-protection roles have benefited from Bristol's research into inter-agency training. The research provided crucial information on efficient organisational partnerships for training and strong evidence of the effectiveness of inter-agency training in promoting mutual understanding, changing attitudes and developing confidence. Bristol's findings underpinned statutory guidance in the Government's Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010) [b], which required LSCBs to provide such training. The research ended a 30-year period during which inquiries into the deaths of children at the hands of their parents consistently criticised the failure of professionals to communicate and work together effectively and advocated inter-agency training as a solution, but had little or no supporting evidence.
Specific impacts are evidenced in: the citation of the research findings in support of LSCBs' training strategies; the increased provision of training programmes in the three years since publication, in spite of budget restrictions; the successful targeting of previously disengaged groups, particularly GPs; and the use of an NSPCC-sponsored bespoke evaluation toolkit developed by the research team.
Fallowfield designed, ran and demonstrated the long-term effectiveness of a comprehensive three-day training programme that significantly improved cancer doctors' communication skills. Publications from a major randomised trial showed that improvements transferred into the clinical setting and were enduring. These findings were pivotal and led to key components of courses being embedded in a Department of Health initiative called Connected; this trained facilitators, and provided materials for training all health-care professionals (HCPs). Attendance at Connected courses became mandatory for all consultant staff. Over 16,000 UK HCPs have participated since 2008.
In a series of training studies on children between the ages of 5 and 12 years, a research team at the Department of Psychology successfully demonstrated that substantial improvements in roadside decision-making and behaviour can be achieved in children as young as 5 years. Based on their findings, the team developed and evaluated a training intervention (Kerbcraft) aimed at improving children's pedestrian skills through practical roadside activities which was formally adopted by the UK government. Since 2008, the majority of 5-7 year old children in the UK have received formal pedestrian skills training using Kerbcraft either in its full or adapted form. Kerbcraft now plays a key role in the UK Government's road safety strategy and has been cited as an example of best practice by the World Health Organisation and safety agencies across Europe, the US, Australia and in developing countries such as Ethiopia and Bangladesh.