School for Policy Studies

• Innovative physical activity interventions for at risk and disadvantaged children and adults
  Globally physical activity in adults and children is very low despite compelling evidence regarding the increased risk of disease and death from insufficient physical activity (PA).
• Development and adoption of national and international physical activity guidelines
  We all know that exercise is good for us and that a lack of it contributes towards a range of mental and physical health problems. Globally, one in four adults and three in four adolescents do not currently meet the global recommendations for physical activity set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• Achieving justice and improving support and protection for victims-survivors of gender-based violence
  Gender-based violence (GBV) is recognised globally as a violation of human rights which disproportionately damages the health and wellbeing of women.
• FGM-safeguarding and race inequality
  Improving policy responses to FGM-safeguarding and race inequality through co-produced knowledge.
• Delivering equality of support for parents with learning difficulties
  Without early and on-going support these families often face extremely complex difficulties resulting in concerns about neglect by omission – not knowing how to look after their children, rather than deliberate abuse.
• Taking action on mortality reviews of people with learning disabilities
  Bristol is now a leading institution for the study of mortality of people with learning disabilities, not only nationally but also internationally.
• Creating inclusive care home environments for older LGBT+ people
  Sexual orientation as a social and cultural dimension to older people's lives is often obscured within health and social care policy and practice settings. This situation is even more problematic for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) individuals.
• Generation Snowstorm – a Social Change Summer School as a mental health intervention
  Off The Record (OTR) Bristol is an innovative young people's mental health charity with a focus on engaging young people in service design and delivery. Over 2017-18 Dr Nathan Eisenstadt collaborated with OTR on a Knowledge Exchange project funded by Bristol's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.
• Improving responses to violence against refugee and asylum-seeking women
  Sexual violence against refugee and asylum-seeking (RAS) women is occurring across Europe and the Mediterranean countries. International agencies and institutions including the UN, UNHCR, Council of Europe, and European Parliament have highlighted the urgent need for action to be taken.
• Research leads to licensed training on assessing parents' capacity to change in child welfare cases
  C-Change was designed by researchers in Bristol's Children and Families Research Centre and successfully licensed to partner Interface Enterprises to deliver national training.
• How academia informs migration policy and data development
  The need to improve knowledge and understanding of migration data is now acknowledged globally to be essential for informing and challenging policies on migration and asylum and to encourage balanced debate.
• Street-play model copied nationwide
  Bristol has more street-play schemes than any other city in the UK, due in part to University research.
• Understanding and promoting the educational progress of children in care
  Research led by Bristol and Oxford Universities has concluded that, contrary to popular belief, children in care make better educational progress than children living at home receiving social work support (‘children in need’): the care system, therefore, operates as an educational protective factor
• Multi-dimensional approach to tackling poverty takes off worldwide
  Countries as far afield as the Solomon Islands, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa and Uganda are turning to research carried out by Bristol experts to change how they define and tackle poverty.
• Changing the way domestic abuse is policed and tracked
  In March 2014 the new Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, more commonly known as ’Clare’s law’, was rolled out by police forces across England and Wales.
• Defining poverty in the 21st century
  The Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE:UK) project provides policy makers with impartial, accurate and reliable evidence with which to measure poverty.
• Increasing active travel to school
  Research proving that walking or cycling to school results in health benefits has informed national and international policy.
• Gold standard for measuring child poverty
  UNICEF is among several key organizations to adopt the scientific estimates of child poverty developed at Bristol’s Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research.
• Influencing legislation on care of children
  More children in the UK are now cared for by relatives or friends (kin) than unrelated foster carers since a ground-breaking study revealed how successful it can be for all concerned.
• Tackling teen relationship violence on TV
  Research into violence within teenage intimate relationships has highlighted the importance of challenging the attitudes and behaviours that foster an acceptance of abusive relationships as early as possible.