Current research projects.
Projects
Current research
Peninsula Cerebra Research Unit (PenCRU)
PenCRU carries out a broad programme of applied research that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of disabled children and their families.
Fundamental to the ethos of the unit is the meaningful involvement of families affected by childhood disability in all aspects of our research and related activities. This includes setting our research agenda and deciding how to carry out specific research projects. We achieve this involvement through our Family Faculty.
Ongoing research:
- What are the benefits and costs of providing peer support to parents of disabled children?
- Informing the NHS Outcome Framework: what outcomes of NHS care should be measured for children with neurodisability?
- Evaluating a Lycra-based sleeve/glove orthosis to improve the bimanual ability of children with spastic hemiplegia: an exploratory randomized controlled trial
- Cochrane Review - Sleep Positioning for Children with Cerebral Palsy
- Improving communication with disabled children when they have to spend time in hospital
- Development of a functional classification system of eating and drinking for children and young people with cerebral palsy
- Safety and efficacy of complimentary therapies for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder with hyperactivity: A scoping review of the literature
Helping children achieve
This is a randomised controlled trial led by Professor Stephen Scott from the Institute of Psychiatry (Kings College London) and the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners. It is four arm randomised controlled trial of the Incredible Years basical parenting programme, and / or an intervention to help parents support children learning to read with sign posting to sources of help for the control group. One arm of the trial is taking place in Plymouth with the Plymouth parenting partnership providing the interventions, while the other arm is taking place in Hackney. Source of funding National Academy of Parenting Practitioners.
http://www.parentingacademy.org/default.aspx
We are also carrying out a study of genetic determinants of response to parenting and literacy support interventions given the previous work demonstrating gene-environment interaction in relation to exposure to maltreatment and antisocial behaviour and maltreatment and depression.
Update 2013: We are now completing the follow ups with the last cohort (8) and will shortly be entering into the data cleaning and analysis phase.
Supporting Teachers And childRen in Schools (STARS)
Supporting Teachers And childRen in Schools (STARS)is studying the impact of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Course on teacher’s and children’s well-being. We are undertaking piloting work. Eighteen educational psychologists and behavioural support staff from across the peninsula have been trained to deliver the course, which runs over six whole days spaced across six months. Seven of them have been involved in the delivery of two courses this academic year and we plan to run two more next year. This work is providing pilot data to support an application to run a cluster randomised controlled trial, which we plan to go into the field in September 2012.
The Feasibility and Utility of the Development and Well-Being Assessment as an Adjunct to Cinical Assessment of Childhood Psychiatric Disorder
This work is being carried out as a PhD studentship and involves establishing the feasibility and validity of the Early Years DAWBA (for 2-4 years olds), qualitative interviews with parents, carers and professionals about how it feels to use the DAWBA and pilot work aiming towards a cluster randomised controlled trial of the DAWBA as a referral / clinical assessment tool.
The Role of Psychiatric Disorder in Exclusion / Managed Move from School
This work is being carried out as a PhD studentship and involves systematic reviews of the existing literature, the secondary analysis of existing epidemiological datasets to explore the relationship between exclusion and psychiatric disorder and a case control study of children excluded, managed moved or at very high risk of this outcome to look for undetected psychiatric disorder and learning disability.
Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP)
This is a school-based intervention to prevent and reduce obesity in primary school children
In September 2005, the Institute for Health Service Research at the Peninsula Medical School received a £100,000 grant from the Greenwood Foundation to enable us to devise and assess the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based intervention to prevent obesity in 8-11 year olds. Pilot work was carried out in two phases:
Phase 1 (Sept 2005-Sept 2006) COMPLETED
The initial phase involved working with one city primary school to develop and assess the feasibility of a school-based intervention to deliver healthy lifestyle messages based on nutrition and sedentary/physical activity behaviours. We aimed to engage parents as fully as possible. The results from this phase (focus groups with children, interviews with teachers and questionnaire responses from parents) informed the way the messages were delivered in Phase 2.
Phase 2 (Sept 2006-Sept 2007) COMPLETED
Phase 2 aimed to assess ‘proof of concept’ (i.e. that what we had developed showed potential in changing specific lifestyle behaviours relating to obesity). Another city primary school kindly agreed to participate in this phase. We focussed on delivering the intervention to year 5 only as Phase 1 showed that this year group were more responsive to the activities and more able to understand the concepts than the younger year groups.
Results from this phase showed that the intervention had potential in changing specific lifestyles behaviours of children.
Phase 3 (July 2008-October 2010) COMPLETED
In July 2008, we received funding from the Research for Patient Benefit Programme to out carry an exploratory randomised controlled trial and process evaluation of the Healthy Lifestyles Programme with 4 city primary schools (2 were randomly selected to receive the Programme and 2 acted as controls). We worked with all the year 5 classes in each of the schools (n=202). Behavioural and anthropometric measures were taken at baseline (year 5), 18 months (year 6) and 24 months (year 7) when the children had moved onto secondary school.
Aims of Phase 3:
- To assess recruitment and uptake of schools, teachers, children and families in control and intervention schools
- To assess retention of children in control and intervention schools
- To assess the feasibility and acceptability of the HeLP intervention (focus groups with children, interviews with staff and head teachers and questionnaires to the families)
- To assess the feasibility and acceptability of outcome measures in control and intervention schools (baseline and post intervention anthropometric and behavioural measures taken in control and intervention schools).
- To investigate facilitators and barriers to uptake of HeLP by schools, children and families, to aid trial development and future implementation of the Programme (focus groups with children, interviews with staff and head teachers and questionnaires to the families).
We recruited, retained and obtained outcome measurements from 92% of eligible children, including measurements taken after transition to secondary school.
We are now seeking funding to run a large-scale trial to assess effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the programme.
A longitudinal study of enzyme replacement therapy for lysosomal storage disorders:
A three year study funded by the HTA which aims to determine natural history and estimate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of current and potential treatment strategies.
http://www.ncchta.org/index.shtml
Funded by the HTA.
Folk.us
A research programme to develop and support the meaningful of involvement of service users, patients and carers in research and development in Devon.
Effects of socio-economic status on child health.
Systematic reviews:
The group is currently undertaking several systematic reviews:
- Effectiveness of massage therapy on patients with Parkinson's Disease.
- Occupational therapy for Developmental Co-ordination Disorder.
