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Professor Dieter Wolke has led several research programmes that delineate the long-term health effects of prenatal exposure to stress and moderate/late preterm, very preterm, and extremely preterm birth. His research has had a direct impact on international medical guidelines and educational recommendations for babies born preterm. The research has also informed European political debate (via a White Paper for the European parliament) on healthcare policy related to after care for preterm or sick children; has influenced UK policy regarding the education of children born preterm; and has contributed to public and practitioner understanding through media items issued, for example, by the NHS and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
UK and international comparative research on socioeconomic inequality in early childhood, conducted by University of Bristol in conjunction with international colleagues, has profoundly influenced a variety of UK policy initiatives since 2010. Reliable evidence on the extent of learning deficits among recent cohorts of socio-economically disadvantaged children in early childhood has led to widespread acceptance in government that policy to promote equality of opportunity must begin in the preschool period. Analysis of the factors underpinning the disparities has led to and informed the development of official UK indicators to monitor progress in this area and specific policies to support parents, with outstanding potential to impact positively on the life chances of disadvantaged children. These include, for example, free childcare places for disadvantaged two-year-olds, an increased number of health visitors and the launch of telephone and online services for parents.
EPPSE is a Government-funded, high profile, longitudinal study with a multi-disciplinary design and numerous outputs, almost unprecedented in the UK in terms of its scale and scope. It has become a seminal study of the influence of early education on children's later development. Findings have been used in the UK and internationally for:
The two Principal Investigators at the IOE have taken lead roles in all of the above.
The research of the Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE) has reshaped the discourse on access to education in low-income countries. It has influenced directly the education programmes of DFID, AusAid, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNICEF, UNESCO, and Education International. The research was key to securing £80 million from DFID for the flagship RMSA programme of the Government of India, to contributing to the design of the £250 million DFID programme in Ethiopia, to writing the Commonwealth Ministers' Post-2015 Framework for Development, and to theorising the UNICEF 25-country studies on Out-of-School Children.
Young Lives is identifying major influences on children's development, from infancy to adulthood, by carrying out a pioneering longitudinal study across four developing countries over 15 years. Young Lives gathers and analyses data on how childhood is changing in diverse communities, especially through the impact of economic, cultural and policy shifts, by studying two age cohorts in each country. UNICEF, the World Bank, Plan International, and Save the Children International, among others, are using Young Lives research to design childhood poverty-reduction policies in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The research also underpins the re-visioning of global child protection work by UNICEF, Save the Children Canada, and World Vision UK.
Essex research, conducted between 2009 and 2012, has used cohort studies to investigate the sources of intergenerational social mobility in the UK. The results show that two variables have highly significant effects on children's social mobility patterns: the educational level of parents and the prevalence of maternal breastfeeding. The cohort analysis conducted by Professor John Ermisch and Dr Emilia Del Bono shows that there are strong intergenerational correlations in educational attainment across different cohorts of UK individuals. The findings have informed UK Government policy and influenced the work of a major US charitable foundation. Analysis conducted by a team of researchers led by Del Bono has demonstrated the cognitive and socio-emotional benefits of maternal breastfeeding, and shown that its uptake can be used to foster social mobility. These findings have been vital to UNICEF UK's Baby Friendly Initiative and have provided evidence to demonstrate its efficacy and to justify its continuation.
Clinical Trials undertaken by the Oxford Vaccine Group led to the recommended immunisation of three million UK children during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. This research was also used to inform World Health Organization (WHO) global policy. The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, or "Swine Flu", was first identified in April 2009 and declared a pandemic by the WHO in June 2009. After acquiring two novel flu vaccines for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, the UK government approached the Oxford Vaccine Group to provide paediatric data on the safety of each vaccine. Rapidly recruiting 943 children to the study, the Group delivered essential data to the Department of Health prior to the onset of the winter influenza season. In August 2010, the WHO declared the H1N1 pandemic over.
Some 480,000 UK children show persistent antisocial behaviour (Conduct Disorder), a major mental health problem in childhood with strong continuity to adult substance misuse, violence and criminality. Research at King's College London (KCL) showed that these children cost the public ten times more than individuals without Conduct Disorder by age 28. To tackle the problem, KCL researchers were the first to demonstrate that a rigorous parenting programme is a highly effective treatment, even for severe cases. KCL leads the National Academy for Parenting Research which has trained 3,192 practitioners in these approaches, who are estimated to have treated 192,000 troubled children. This success has contributed to the programmes being recommended in NICE guidance and incorporated in a new nation-wide Department of Health-funded rollout reaching 54% of 0-19 year olds in England. The training has also been disseminated internationally.
Around 1,000 children are born each year in the UK with cleft lip and/or palate. They need treatment from a range of clinical specialties. Bristol co-led a research survey commissioned by the Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) which was published in 1998. This informed a process of centralisation which by 2008 had reduced the number of centres from 57 to 11. The process of centralisation and service configuration has continued through 2008-13 leading to closer multi-disciplinary working, increased cases operated on per surgeon, less variation in surgical techniques and shorter stays in hospital. The impact for the individual is improved facial appearance, speech and psychological adjustment. This centralisation of care has resulted in care quality similar to the better cleft centres in Europe. Bone repairs to the palate were 85% successful in 2010 compared to only 58% in 1998 and there was poor jaw growth (linked to quality of surgery) in only 18% of cases in 2013 compared to 37% in 1998. The reach of this study has extended to several European countries and America.
Prior to King's College London (KCL) research, social workers did not regularly assess mental health needs of Looked After Children (i.e. those in the care of their Local Authority). KCL investigations showed that 45% of British Looked After Children have mental health disorders, considerably pushing this issue up the policy agenda. KCL developed assessments that are now the statutory annual measures used by all Local Authority children's services in England. The assessments enable Local Authorities to identify the treatment needs of Looked After Children and plan accordingly. The Department for Education requires Local Authorities to complete the measures. The measures are used worldwide and are now key elements of treatment trials of social and psychological interventions to reduce the level of difficulties in Looked After Children.