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The University of Aberdeen has played a key role in designing and analysing surveys for European institutions to monitor and evaluate quality of life — a concept adopted as a key measure of economic growth in Europe in 2000. The research findings (including insights into particular aspects of quality of life, such as working life) have been used by the commissioning institutions to stimulate debate and shape policy. They have also been used by individual countries both within the European Union and further afield, notably in China and Rwanda. Interactive web resources have opened up the findings to policy makers and the general public.
A body of research on migrant workers and trade unions, undertaken by the university's Global Economy and Business Research Unit from 2006 onwards, contributed to improving workplace equity, inclusion and societal cohesion following the mass and super-mobile migration to the United Kingdom from the European Union's New Member States, and Poland in particular. The impact occurred at regional, national and European level through influencing policy-making processes and forums. A range of stakeholders and practitioners benefited, principally large trade union organisations and their clients, including the Communication Workers Union, European Public Service Unions, and the Polish trade union bodies Solidarnosc and OPZZ.
This research into the experiences of Polish and European migrant workers has enabled impact in four main areas: i) Through contributing to the organisational strategic decision-making of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), helping Polish workers in the UK; ii) By enabling the Polish Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność to collaborate more closely with major UK unions, such as GMB, TUC and Unison, and contribute more effectively to joint trade union strategies to represent migrant workers in the UK; iii) By influencing policy at European, national and regional levels, for example contributing to the posted workers draft enforcement Directive; and iv) By supporting individual Polish workers to access training, support and legal advice, helping workers integrate more effectively into their local community.
The importance of person-centred social support has been recognised by successive governments as central to the development of effective and supportive social care services. The research led by Brunel and funded by the DoH and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, made a substantial contribution to the enhancement of UK social care policy and practice in relation to the personalisation agenda. Parliamentary committees and policy consultation used the research to develop new social care policy. Standards of service care delivery were developed and implemented in partnership with service users; these were adopted at a policy and practice level. The development and use of evidence based practice guides, training programmes and web resources facilitated the successful adoption and implementation of person-centred support nationwide. In summary, public debate was influenced, equality and empowerment for service users was advanced, national policy and practice enhanced, health and welfare improved and economic impacts achieved.
The research has explored the impact of welfare transformations on the activities of social workers on the frontline. A key concern has been to explore the gap between, on the one hand, social work ethical statements and the commitments of practitioners on entering the field and, on the other, the workplace reality of marketization, austerity driven cuts and a range of restrictions placed on workers by new regulatory regimes. The research explores the potential, internationally, for a new `engaged' social work practice that draws service users, carers, academics, and practitioners together in defence of good quality, value driven social work.
Research conducted in 2006-13 on the role of third sector organisations (TSOs) in delivering public services in Scotland has shaped public policy, improved the management/impact of TSOs in delivering public services, and influenced public opinion on the role of TSOs. This has been achieved through research for the Scottish Government and the ESRC, input into the Christie Commission on public services reform, and by affecting the management of TSOs in Scotland through training events and through Osborne's role as Vice-Chair of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). It has also had an international impact, including in Denmark and Australia.
This research improved policy-makers' and practitioners' understanding of well-being among residents of social care facilities by identifying the factors contributing to residents' quality of life. This research resulted in the development of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT), whose use is rapidly increasing both in the UK and internationally. Evidence from beneficiaries including policy-makers, experts and service practitioners, as well as interviews with service users, indicates that ASCOT captures aspects of well-being that are highly valued by service users and policy-makers alike.
Because corruption involves illegal activities of public officials, data about the scale and objects of bribery is not readily available. Without such evidence, policymakers are handicapped in identifying points for effective intervention. Rose's survey research on post-Communist countries developed innovative measures to monitor the payment of bribes by citizens for public services. Transparency International (TI) is the world's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning against corruption, and it has incorporated the survey methodology in its key research tool, the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB). From 2008 to 2013 Transparency International has conducted three major rounds of Global Corruption Barometer surveys that interviewed upwards of 450,000 people in more than 110 countries on every continent. Results have been disseminated worldwide through the 90 national chapters of Transparency International. Rose's expertise in sampling has also been used to improve value-for-money expenditure on GCB surveys in the many developing countries it covers.
A model for organisational change in the world's ports has been developed for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the only tripartite agency of the United Nations. The model, based on Cardiff Business School (CBS) research on social dialogue, has been used to guide the social partners (employers, trade unions and the state) through the processes of structural adjustment and private sector participation in ports in several countries around the world. It has also been used to bring national and international organisations together alongside Cardiff researchers, to develop guidelines for port-worker training, designed to promote competency-based training systems and improve efficiency, safety and health in the world's ports. These Guidelines were recently approved by all 185 member States of the ILO and adopted by the European Commission (EC) as a framework to promote mutual recognition of port-worker qualifications across the EU.
A major element of modernising English adult social care is the introduction of individual, user-directed budgets. The Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) led a major, multi-method and multi-centre research programme evaluating the Individual Budget (IB) pilot projects in England; and a linked study of the impact of IBs on family carers. Through this, SPRU has influenced: the content of the Department of Health's (DH) good practice guidance for personal budgets; the DH's approach to piloting and evaluating NHS Personal Health Budgets; the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) piloting and evaluation of `Right to Control' trailblazer projects; and, the agenda for an Audit Commission investigation into financial management of personal budgets. Most importantly, it has helped shape the agenda for national and local organisations striving to successfully implement personal budgets, particularly for older people.