Log in
Football has significant sporting, cultural and economic impact with reach around the globe. Despite this, football has long been resistant to evidence-based practice. Football-related research at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES) includes match and training analysis and various aspects of player preparation and recovery. This research has been translated into evidenced-based practice to produce impact within multiple layers of football in the UK and abroad. RISES research has provoked significant developments in match-analysis procedures underpinning the global uptake of this technology within elite football. RISES research has also changed practice associated with player preparation and recovery in elite clubs and the English National team. RISES research has underpinned scientific support throughout the games as well as the development of player and coach education programs in elite football clubs and a number of National Associations. The successful translation of RISES research has enabled practitioners within the modern game to use evidence-based models for their activity.
This well established research conducted by members of Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport (Loughborough University) is seen as an integral part of the support provided for Paralympic wheelchair athletes and has impact in 3 key areas:
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.
The main applied outcomes of this body of research have been: (i) the objective quantification of individual player demands during competitive match play to better understand the typical internal and external loads imposed on rugby players; (ii) identification of fatigue characteristics and pacing strategies of interchange and whole-game players to inform training practices and tactical strategies; (iii) the design of appropriate training practices to ensure players are conditioned to tolerate the most demanding passages of play during competitive matches; and, (iv) the development of match simulation protocols for the objective evaluation of player performance.
The outcomes of this research have directly influenced practices and policies for injury prevention and player health in both rugby league and rugby union. Besides giving a detailed analysis of injury profiles in rugby league, the research has served to raise the profile and awareness of two major issues, heat stress and concussion.
Presentations of research findings to members of the Rugby League Medical Association (RLMA) have enhanced CPD workshops, and resulted in bylaw changes in Rugby Football League medical standards. More recent work has highlighted the seriousness of concussion in both rugby league and union.
Recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have exposed military personnel to improvised explosive devices and anti-vehicle mines. These cause complex lower limb injuries that frequently lead to long-term disability. From 2008, the Centre for Blast Injury Studies and its forebear, the Imperial Blast Research Group, both led by Bioengineering, have conducted multidisciplinary studies into the effects of blast on physiological systems. The research has led to changes in the posture and placement of personnel in Army vehicles, with significant impact on casualties. It informed the policy of Dstl concerning floor mat design and the policy of a NATO Task Group concerning standards for accepting battlefield vehicles in 2013. Mitigating effects of different boots have been characterised on behalf of Army procurement. Research into treatment has, since 2012, altered assessment criteria for, and timing of, amputations following heel injury, with consequent reduction in pain and futile surgery. It has also changed clinical practice for pelvic injuries in Afghanistan and major trauma centres; the new procedures are taught on military trauma courses. Finally, the research is currently being used in the US$80M commercial development of military crash test dummies
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.
The impact of this research has been to improve the performance of elite athletes and safeguard the well-being of Paralympians. It has affected the management of athletes' dynamic physiological responses and advanced the regulatory frameworks of sporting bodies. This has changed the strategies of the USA Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the British Paralympic Association. The indirect impact of this primary research has been to change the routine training practices of recreational athletes and influence the advice on exercise given to military personnel and people with disabilities.
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.