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Researchers at the University of Oxford instituted a rapid study of pregnant women hospitalised across the UK with 2009/H1N1 infection, which demonstrated that early antiviral treatment improved maternal outcomes of infection and led to actions by the Department of Health to ensure rapid availability of antivirals specifically for pregnant women. The poor maternal and perinatal outcomes identified by this study also led to an on-going policy change, so that all pregnant women in the UK are now recommended to receive annual immunisation against seasonal influenza.
Research conducted by LSHTM put the physical and mental health of women trafficked for sexual exploitation firmly on the international agenda. The research generated the first-ever guidance for health providers caring for trafficking victims and internationally recognised ethical and safety recommendations from WHO. The research resulted in the UK giving trafficked women a longer period to decide whether to cooperate with any criminal investigation against their traffickers, and police training on victim symptoms and interview timing to support recovery. Findings and health care recommendations have been incorporated into guidance materials globally.
Edinburgh Napier University led on a large quasi-experimental study which evaluated a National Health Service (NHS) Demonstration Project called Healthy Respect. Healthy Respect was a complex public health intervention based on the latest evidence and theory, which combined school sex education with sexual health drop-in clinics in or near to schools, and was supported by large media and branding campaigns. The research was commissioned by the Scottish Government (2006-2010). Our findings were reported directly to Government and the NHS and were synchronized to fit their policy-making cycles. It shaped Government policy and steered service provision in the NHS.
A series of projects focusing on the medical, social, and emotional experience of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and early motherhood have been undertaken since 2006 at Plymouth University. The impact of these projects is wide ranging covering both policy and practice. The research has: changed the physical environment of the antenatal clinic specifically to suit the needs of pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes; developed an online leaflet for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS); developed training programmes for health and social care professionals; provided baseline information to inform practitioners and patients involved in UK screening programmes; and, informed screening strategies for Downs Syndrome.
The findings of empirical research conducted by Professor Jim Barry and Dr Trudie Honour of UEL were shared at two focused capacity building sessions held in 2008 and 2009 for women leaders in middle and senior positions of responsibility and decision-making in the public and third sectors of a number of developing countries. Workshops were attended by women from Albania, Bahrain, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Participants considered the relevance and application of the research findings for their own countries, and worked together and with the researchers to formulate potential capacity development implementation strategies for women in positions of responsibility in those countries.
Allwood's research into Women and Politics has looked at women's participation in mainstream and alternative forms of political activity; gender and policy, focusing on prostitution, violence and abortion policy; and the political participation of refugee women. The research has informed government advisory panels, think-tanks, and NGOs, in particular in debates around gender quotas and the relationship between gender and democracy. External voices and actors have helped shape the research process, and the audience of this research has made material and distinct decisions based on new insights effectively shared, as demonstrated by citations of research outputs in policy documents and discussion papers.
The National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) have made major contributions to sexual health policy in Britain, and are widely regarded as among the most reliable sources of scientific data in the field, not replicated with such frequency, detail or sample size in a single country anywhere in the world. Since 2008 they have influenced (amongst other things) HIV services, HPV vaccination policy, the national chlamydia screening programme, teenage pregnancy strategy and health education campaigns for young people and gay men. Our data are widely used in the NHS and third sector. We have disseminated the results of our research through public engagement activities including extensive media work, podcasts, and science festivals.
Between 25% and 33% of all perpetrators of sexual abuse in the UK are children or young people. Policy and practice in relation to this group has been under-developed. The research detailed in this case study constitutes a body of work that has identified gaps in service delivery and has significantly advanced policy, training, treatment services, and assessment and intervention practices for this group of children and their families. The research findings have led to a shift across key service providers, including Barnardo's and NSPCC, away from adult sex offender approaches towards more child-centred and holistic interventions.
The criminology research team at the John Grieve Centre (JGC) provides a critical perspective on a series of social problems, evaluating our understanding of their definition and threat as well as providing novel empirical research into understanding their threat. Since 2008, the submitting team have made a significant contribution academically, with series of highly rated traditional academic publications and important empirical studies for a range of funders. Our key theme is the contextualising and redefining the key threats from `gangs', `organised crime', `terrorists' in order to inform and challenge professionals involved in their policing. The second argument for the inclusion of `gangs' through to `organised crime' and `terrorism' is justified by the way the identities of those involved can overlap and their offending careers can span all three types of crime.
Our key impacts are:
The focus of the case is Social Network Analysis (SNA) which allows patterns of relations between actors (human and other entities) to be modelled and combined with actors' attributes. Edinburgh Napier University has applied these methods across a wide range of fields, achieving impacts both in the UK and internationally to make improvements in areas of health, commerce and policy. Methods have been applied to improve: the well-being of women and substance abusers in Bangladesh; the performance of supply chains; to demonstrate the effectiveness of prisoner management in reducing recidivism; and, to assess the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives.