NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Workforce engagement for safety
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: A lack of staff engagement is associated with negative outcomes such as burnout, absenteeism and bullying, issues that the NHS is struggling to address in the current climate (BMA, 2015). At the most basic level, staff need to work in organisations where they do not suffer psychological or physical harm. Therefore, the methods that will be used to do research within this theme (e.g. positive deviance, video reflexivity and behaviour change) have been chosen specifically because they are themselves designed to engage staff in identifying and developing solutions to problems. These interventions will be theoretically informed and co-designed with health professionals and patients and will initially target primary and/or secondary care or interfaces of care.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Digital innovations for patient safety
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: The overarching theme objective is to help the NHS adopt a more effective approach to developing successful digital innovations that lead to safer patient care by harnessing the power of IT to (a) reduce human error and (b) exploit the power of human sense making to continually identify threats and opportunities to elevate the patient safety climate in the NHS


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Health equity impacts: evaluating the impacts of organisations and interventions on social inequalities in health
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: This research programme will develop new research methods and generate evidence to improve our understanding of how organisations and interventions impact upon health inequalities. It comprises three inter-linked streams: (A) the health equity impacts of organisations, focusing on the English NHS at national and regional levels, (B) the health equity impacts of interventions, focusing on (i) health inequality support and (ii) bowel cancer screening, and (C) trade-offs between health equity impacts and other costs and benefits, developing new economic evaluation methods and applying them to one healthcare intervention (bowel cancer screening) and one non-healthcare intervention with health benefits (early education).

Lay abstract: This research programme will develop new research methods and generate evidence to improve our understanding of how organisations and interventions impact upon health inequalities. It comprises three inter-linked streams: (A) the health equity impacts of organisations, focusing on the English NHS at national and regional levels, (B) the health equity impacts of interventions, focusing on (i) health inequality support and (ii) bowel cancer screening, and (C) trade-offs between health equity impacts and other costs and benefits, developing new economic evaluation methods and applying them to one healthcare intervention (bowel cancer screening) and one non-healthcare intervention with health benefits (early education).

Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES;8.2 HEALTH AND WELFARE ECONOMICS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Analytical methods to improve the relevance of cost-effectiveness studies for decision-making
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Health policy-makers use studies on the value for money of alternative treatments. A major concern is that these studies may not provide accurate assessments of costs and health outcomes, because the patients who participate and the treatments provided in these studies are not typical, and the information patients provide is incomplete. We will develop new methods to address these problems, that make fuller use of pre-existing data. The research will provide decision-makers with more accurate assessments of which treatments are most worthwhile. This research will enable greater improvements in health to be made from existing NHS budgets.

Lay abstract: Health policy-makers use studies on the value for money of alternative treatments. A major concern is that these studies may not provide accurate assessments of costs and health outcomes, because the patients who participate and the treatments provided in these studies are not typical, and the information patients provide is incomplete. We will develop new methods to address these problems, that make fuller use of pre-existing data. The research will provide decision-makers with more accurate assessments of which treatments are most worthwhile. This research will enable greater improvements in health to be made from existing NHS budgets.

Research activity codes: 8.2 HEALTH AND WELFARE ECONOMICS;8.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Distinguishing realistic environmental risks of nanoplastics by investigating fate and toxicology in real-world scenarios
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

Abstract: Distinguishing realistic environmental risks of nanoplastics by investigating fate and toxicology in real-world scenarios Contamination of marine environments by plastic debris is a visually obvious and undesirable consequence of dramatic increases in production and use of plastics in consumer products over the last 50 years. Pieces of plastic have been found in marine environments worldwide and the need to establish levels of contamination and consequences of plastic debris has become a high priority to inform policy. Nanoplastics are manufactured (primary particles) for use in products or form by fragmentation of larger pieces (secondary particles); however, their appearance and properties appear to be indistinguishable after release to the environment. The abundance and persistence of nanoplastics presents a chronic and increasing human-induced change of marine environments on a massive scale for which assessment of risk is an urgent priority. Nanomaterials have unique properties because of their size and there is concern for unexpected toxicity in organisms because nanoplastics may be transported across cell membranes and may persist within the gut and interfere with processes of the digestive system. Investigations of nanomaterial toxicology have been conducted for over ten years, but many of these early studies do not provide the information needed for environmental scientists to assess the risks nanomaterials pose to the environment. This project is focused on providing critical information to enhance the environmental risk assessment of nanoplastics, and is based on real-world exposure scenarios. In particular, we will investigate interactions with microorganisms present in natural seawater on the formation of microorg-agglomerates of nanoplastics and how these microorg-agglomerates have different properties and therefore different environmental effects compared to nanoplastic particles. We will investigate how toxic substances associate with microorg-agglomerates and influence where nanoplastics accumulate within test marine environments (mesocosms) and whether the toxic substances are released to fish. Toxicology and effects of nanoplastics in fish and marine invertebrates after ingestion will be studied considering a variety of endpoints with a design that will enable effects to be modelled across concentrations and sizes of nanoplastics. The outcome of this project (RealRiskNano) will be to provide risk assessors with urgently needed information to evaluate the realistic risk that nanoplastics pose in marine ecosystems.


Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Dynamic Insights for Health and Care
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

Abstract: Dynamic Insights for Health and Care The project address the 'urban challenge' of delivering better, more cost effective healthcare in cities by enabling better resource planning based on data. It will develop a 'proof of concept' (POC) planning support solution for hospitals and health facilities using anonymised, aggregated mobile network data (extrapolated to provide insights representative of the total and segmented population in an area, including demographics, footfall and movement), together with health sector data (e.g. types of condition linked to demographics, environmental factors) and environmental data that can impact on health (weather, air pollution forecasts etc). The project will be led by O2, building on their Dynamic Insights platform, with Cambridge city and Addenbrooke's hospital providing the use case. This approach has been successfully applied in other sectors, such as retail and transport where it has enabled improvements in the nature and location of offerings based on detailed knowledge of the customer demographic. This will be the first time it has been used in the health sector. Successful demonstration of the POC (and supporting business models) will lead to commercial roll-out across the UK.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: High Impact Weather Events in Eurasia: Selected, Simulated and Storified
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

Abstract: High Impact Weather Events in Eurasia: Selected, Simulated and Storified HIWAVES3 facilitates a dialogue between climate modelers, impact modelers and partners in different geographical regions with knowledge of local societal relevant meteorological events to construct stories of selected high-impact extreme events, simulated for present-day and future climate conditions. The story includes the origin of the extreme event from a meteorological perspective, its inter-regional linkages, its predictability, its societal impact and how climate change affects its magnitude and probability. Such stories, made available for schools, the general public and governments, are effective communication means, more so than bare numbers about the expected mean temperature increase, precipitation changes in percentages and such. Based on surveys, extreme summer events with large societal impacts, like droughts and floods, will be selected from the recent past for China, India and Europe. Similar events will be identified in large ensembles of global climate simulations. The size of the ensembles allows an analysis of the inter-regional linkages between the Arctic, the Midlatitudes and the Indian Monsoon region through large-scale Rossby waves and other meteorological factors leading to the extreme, like soil-moisture and sea-surface temperature conditions. In addition, a one in a thousand year event in China, India and Europe, although not witnessed in the recent past, will be analysed. The predictability of the event, weeks to months in advance will be assessed through additional simulations. Using empirical methods and process-based models, the impact on crop yields and economy will be estimated as well as the number of premature deaths. Using large ensembles under projected 2050 conditions the effect of climate change on these extremes and their impacts will be analysed. This research material is translated into powerful stories about concrete events that illustrate how climate affects man, man affects climate, how different geographical regions are connected and how extreme the weather might get. The meteorological data of these events will be made available for further impact studies.


Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: The pathways of Incarcerated Children in Care: Implications for Policy and Professional Practice
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: With looked after children disproportionately represented in among the population of young people in youth justice system, this study focuses on the experiences of looked after children in custody. It aims to identify the particular pathways of children in local authority (LA) care who enter the ‘secure estate’ as offenders in order to inform policymakers and practitioners about ways to improve support to these young people. Collecting data via qualitative interviews with and case file analysis of children and young people in connection with the young justice system, the study will compare the pathways of those with and without experience of care. Professionals’ perspectives will be captured via interviews and focus groups.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Development of an assent-based process for the inclusion of adults with impairments of capacity and/or communication in ethically-sound research
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: Research involving human beings is essential for developing new knowledge and gaining informed consent is one of the prerequisites of such research. Yet, as people live longer, so too do the number of people who have had dementia or who have had a stroke. While, advances in neonatal care mean that premature babies are also surviving in greater numbers, with the associated risk of developmental disability this entails. As a result, the proportion of vulnerable people who require some kind of support in decision-making is increasing. There are ethical questions about whether it is appropriate to include such people in research. The aim of this project is to develop an ethically sound, legally robust strategy for including adults with impairments of capacity and/or communication in research within the context of existing legislation.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Identifying and understanding the link between system conditions and welfare inequalities in statutory children's social care services
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: This project will examine how the organisational and institutional context of statutory children’s social care (CSC) in England contributes to patterns of inequality in the delivery of services. It will build on two previous Nuffield-funded studies which found strong evidence of welfare inequalities in CSC services, with levels of local deprivation influencing a child’s chances of being subject of a child protection plan or being placed in public care. The current study will track the pathways of children through the CSC system in six local authorities (LAs) over a three year period. It will triangulate these findings with analysis of national administrative data and interviews with practitioners to demonstrate how system changes could reduce welfare inequalities.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: Since September 2014 all children in state-funded English infant schools have been eligible to receive a free school meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. The policy aims to improve the children’s educational attainment, social skills and behaviour; ensure children have access to a healthy meal each day and develop long-term healthy eating habits; help families with the cost of living, and remove disincentives to work. This project will use administrative data to provide evidence on the impact of UIFSM implemented in England on take-up of meals, educational performance, social development and measures of health. To ascertain causal estimates, the project team will compare changes over time in outcomes of children always eligible and newly eligible for free school meals, and the outcomes of children exposed to UIFSM for different lengths of time.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Feasibility study for a scalable and sustainable home-visiting programme for disadvantaged young children in England
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: This project aims to develop and evaluate an innovative early intervention for disadvantaged families. During the earliest years of a child’s life, parents play a crucial role in supporting the development of their child. Yet some children, particularly those living in poverty, fail to receive such support and face risks that can prevent them from fulfilling their potential. This project will adapt the Reach Up Early Childhood Parenting Programme, a home-visiting programme targeted at children aged 6 months to 3 years, which has been shown to improve children’s outcomes in several developing countries. The adapted programme will be piloted and the project will assess the feasibility of evaluating the programme through a future RCT.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: The wealth of families: long-lasting consequences of family wealth for adult socio-economic attainment and wellbeing
Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Abstract: This project seeks to investigate the direct transmission of wealth (in the form of gifts and inheritances) across generations and the role this plays in wealth accumulation over the life-cycle. It will exploit newly available data for the UK and for other rich countries from the Luxembourg Wealth Study in a comparative framework (paying particular attention to data coverage and reliability), and re-assessing the role inherited wealth plays in the accumulation of wealth and wealth inequality. This project complements a number of Nuffield funded projects focusing on wealth and wealth inequality from different perspectives.


Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: The development of a peer support intervention to address the challenges faced by novice community pharmacists at transition to practice
Funder: Pharmacy Research UK

Abstract: The overall aim of the PhD is to develop a peer support intervention for novice community pharmacists at transition to practice. The first and second years provided the theoretical evidence base for challenges that novice community pharmacists face and the use of peer support in transition support programmes. The focus of this application is the third and final year of the PhD. This aims to feasibility test and refine an evidence-based peer support intervention for newly qualified (novice) community pharmacists (NCPs). The objectives of the project are to:- 1. Test the feasibility and acceptability of a peer support intervention 2. Clarify the suitability of outcomes and their measures 3. Identify the variance of outcome measures 4. Consult with stakeholders to sense check the findings of the feasibility study and discuss the transferability of the intervention into practice 5. Inform iterative changes and refinements for the final intervention framework and make recommendations for wider roll-out and evaluation/testing


Research activity codes: 7.3 MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Maximising access to medicines for children: Setting up “Pill School" in NHS settings to train and support young patients to take tablets and capsules
Funder: Pharmacy Research UK

Abstract: Our hypothesis Solid dosage forms are generally safer, more palatable and cheaper to use than liquid medicines. Many children over the age of 2 years are able to swallow solid dosage forms. In paediatric practice, it is clinically appropriate to round prescribed dose for many medicines such that the patient will be able to take whole, half or quarter solid dose forms. We believe that, if taught appropriately, many children currently being given oral liquid medicines could be safely swapped to solid dose forms to enhance safety and decrease expenditure. This project will address the following research question: Is it feasible to provide swallowing training sessions in a Pill School within NHS settings, to help children with long-term conditions to take solid dosage form (tablet/capsules) instead of oral liquid forms? Aims This project aims; to test the feasibility of establishing a Pill School (PS) providing swallowing training sessions to children within NHS settings; to determine number of children who can, with training, swapped from liquid medicines to tablets/capsules; and investigate child and their parent/carer’s opinions of the service. This project will be conducted with a view to carrying out a larger randomised controlled trial in the future. Objectives 1. Determine proportion of children (3-18 years) taking long-term medicines who could be swapped to a tablet/capsule at a clinically justifiable dose, based on the assumption that tablets have to be swallowed by children, whole, halved or quartered, and there is an available and acceptable solid form. 2. Determine proportion of children who are: happy to participate; happy to be randomised, happy take part in swallowing training session; and who can actually swap to tablets/capsules after receiving training session in PS. 3. Assess the acceptability of PS to children and their parents/carers by measuring their satisfactions and opinions regarding the provided training and the children’s ability to maintain gained skills after they go home - essential for ensuring training provide long-term success.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS;8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: EITP Work Stream 1: The APPLE Project: A Parenting and Professional Learning Evaluation
Funder: Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (HSC R&D) of Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland

Abstract: Background: Current evidence suggests that all facets of child development (physical, intellectual and emotional) are influenced significantly by the foundations laid in early childhood. This begins during pregnancy, continuing through the early years and is reflected in children’s readiness for school and subsequent educational outcomes. In NI significant changes following the introduction of policies including Families Matter (DHSSPSNI 2009) and Healthy Child Healthy Future (DHSSPSNI 2010) have paved the way for the transformation of services which integrate health and education in the early years. The implementation of new initiatives under the Early Intervention Transformation Programme requires evaluation to ensure services are evidence based and impact on the desired outcomes. Methods: The study consists of 4 phases aligning with the planned introduction of interventions within Work Stream 1. Mixed research methods will be used involving qualitative and quantitative approaches such as pre/post questionnaires and interviews. Phase 4 will involve the integration of all data combined with a review of the literature to identify critical success factors. Sample: Populations involved in the implementation of initiatives including parents, pregnant women and health professionals (midwives and health visitors) and early years practitioners will be included. Setting: HSC Trusts and Early Years Settings in NI. Data Analysis: qualitative data will be transcribed and analysed using a broad interpretive qualitative approach based on principles of thematic analysis. Quantitative data analysis will provide descriptive statistics, including means and proportions with 95% confidence intervals. Proportions will be compared using analysis of variance or Chi-squared tests as appropriate.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE