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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.
Research on health promotion in schools undertaken by UWE has demonstrated that vulnerable young people at the centre of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy can be reached via their involvement in interactive sexual health drama and further work has had direct influence on national policy in England. Following recommendations from research at UWE, Bristol, 12,000 Bristol school pupils have benefited from the introduction of sexual health clinics. UWE research demonstrated how school meal take-up and healthier eating behaviour has been increased by the work of the Food for Life Partnership. This research contributed directly into the development of the English National School Food Plan particularly into the business case for investing in increased school meal take-up.
The CAMHS team at the University of Northampton have built expertise in CAMHS research that have regional, national and international impact, which has had an influence on regional practice in CAMHS, and through our training initiatives, has had an international reach. A key national priority for mental health service development and delivery for children has been widening access to the service to enable better interaction between specialist and universal services — enabling ease of referral, preventative mental health work, and a smoother experience of service provision for young people entering CAMHS. Expertise at Northampton builds on research evaluating the use of Primary Mental Health Workers (PMHWs) in Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and with LAC (LAC), as well as research on professional training for mental health professionals more broadly. This research highlighted the importance of joined up working at the interface of primary and specialist services, to young people's access to mental health services, and to increase the responsiveness and appropriateness of these services in meeting young people's needs. Impact includes training of CAMHS workers, through both CPD initiatives and a Masters programme in CAMHS which has trained professionals from the UK and EU, as well as professionals from India and several African countries, who have used this expertise in CAMHS and primary care contexts around the world.
The research addressed the lack of insight from research, policy and practice in relation to adolescents who are neglected within families. Findings have informed policy development at a national level, and were the basis of a guide to good practice, published and circulated widely by the (then) Department for Children Schools and Families ((DCSF), now the Department for Education (DfE)), and a guide for young people to increase their awareness of neglect, published and circulated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). At a local level, researchers worked intensively over 18 months with the whole senior management tier from Children's Services in one local authority to enable understanding and refocusing so that adolescent neglect becomes a legitimate part of practice. Managers went on to enable the shift in practice with their teams, and adolescent neglect has been included in revised safeguarding screening tools approved by the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).
In November 2008, Professor Sir Michael Marmot and his team at UCL were asked by the Secretary of State for Health to chair an independent review to propose the most effective evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England. The Marmot Review, published in 2010, has fundamentally shifted discourse on health inequalities in the UK and internationally. It has shaped public health services across England and around the world, guided government and international policy, and has given rise to a new commitment from service providers and health professionals to reducing health inequalities and addressing the social determinants of health.
Research on the language of teenage health communication by staff from the School of English at the University of Nottingham has:
Policy-makers, professional and public audiences interested in young people's learning about sex and sexuality often approach discussions with strongly-held, sometimes conflicting views. Research at Sheffield Hallam University has contributed knowledge and understanding to discussions in national policy and practice development, and public debate, with impacts on education, service provision and support for young people. Findings have been used in Parliamentary debates, by national organisations lobbying for continued or improved provision in personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), and in discussions about bullying in both lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT)-specific, and also in mainstream, community contexts. This has led to increased understanding about homophobia and LGBT wellbeing.
This case study presents the impact of the Health and Temperature Research Group (HTRG) at Sheffield Hallam University, led by Professor Tod. The group generates novel, collaborative, translational, interdisciplinary (e.g. health, housing and environment, energy and welfare) research with a focus on cold related ill health. The research impact is illustrated here by The Keeping Warm in Later Life Project (KWILLT). KWILLT findings provide a unique understanding of the complex environment and multiple factors influencing older people keeping warm and well in winter. Beneficiaries include NHS, local and national policy makers, and practice organisations.
The University of Huddersfield's School of Education and Professional Development has produced an extensive body of research addressing the experiences and needs of educationally marginalised young people. This work has developed understanding of the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), learners in alternative education and those on low-level vocational programmes. Responding to stakeholder demands for a more nuanced insight into these problems and their possible solutions, research has been disseminated to practitioners, policymakers, voluntary organisations, local authorities and the wider public through conference presentations, keynote addresses and the media, benefiting user communities at local, regional and national levels.
Lancaster research has highlighted the pervasive health inequalities and inadequate services experienced by people with learning disabilities (LD). Our 2005 report commissioned by the Department of Health (DH) proposed the establishment of a specialist LD observatory for England. This proposal was taken up by a government-commissioned independent inquiry and accepted.
The same team is one of three partners who, through a competitive tender process, have since 2010 been operating the first specialist LD public health observatory in the world. The observatory collects, analyses and summarises health information to improve the data available to DH and other stakeholders thereby improving the health of people with LD.