Welcome to the PHR bulletin – Winter 2013/14 edition

In this edition:

Funding opportunities

Useful resources

Large scale evaluation studies

Vacancies with the PHR Programme

Tackling alcohol misuse

Projects recently started

Projects recently published
Latest news
Upcoming events
Complete the palliative & end of life care survey
NIHR School for Public Health Research scheme
Become a reviewer

Funding opportunities

Commissioned calls

We have two topics advertised in our commissioned workstream:

• 13/162 Improving oral health
• 13/163 Mass media for public health messages

The commissioning briefs, application deadlines and guidance notes can be found on our

website.

Researcher-led calls

The next deadline for applications to our researcher-led workstream is 1pm, 1 April.

In addition to applications under the normal remit, we are looking for applications under the following highlighted areas:

• Evaluating interventions for health improvement in homeless people
• Evaluating public health interventions by utilising pre-existing data
  

The commissioning briefs and guidance notes can be found on our website.

Useful resources

Join our webinar
To support applications to the PHR Programme, we will be running a webinar about the programme and commonly made mistakes at 10.30am, 12 February 2014.

We would encourage anyone planning to make an application for a PHR funding opportunity to register by 3 February. Please see our website for further details.

Tips for success in applying to the PHR Programme
The PHR Programme has produced a useful document summarising the main areas that our advisory board often provides feedback on. Find this, and other useful resources on our website.

Large scale evaluation studies

The PHR Programme wants to support more large scale public health evaluation studies of national importance. The researcher-led workstream offers the flexibility for ambitious evaluations of public health interventions. If a case can be made for public health importance, scientific quality and value for money, there is no upper limit to the amount of funding that can be applied for and applications can be made at any point, with three cut-off dates throughout the year. If you know of an intervention that requires a large scale evaluation in Wales, Scotland, England or Northern Ireland then contact us to talk it through. We are always happy to answer questions, discuss remit queries and consider timescales before you start an application. Email: info@phr.ac.uk or call 02380 599697.

An example of a large scale evaluation funded under the researcher-led workstream is 09/3001/06 – Health impacts of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway lead by Dr David Ogilvie.

Vacancies with the PHR Programme

The Director of Research and Development for the Department of Health wishes to contract with an institution for two part-time positions* (1 day per week):

• Programme Director of the NIHR PHR Programme
• Chair of the funding board for the NIHR PHR Programme

Further details about the individual roles and contact information can be found online.

Improving public health: tackling alcohol misuse

For many people in the UK, January is a time to detox, get healthy, and have an alcohol-free month. National campaigns such as Alcohol Concern’s ‘Dry January’ campaign and the British Liver Trust’s ‘Love Your Liver’ – a national awareness initiative about liver health – can help people do this and raise general awareness about the effects of alcohol misuse.

Alcohol misuse has become a serious and worsening public health problem in the UK and represents a major burden to the NHS and the wider health and social care systems.

The NIHR Public Health Research Programme has a broad portfolio of projects underway in the area of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related issues, aimed at both adults and children. Read more

Projects recently underway

12/153/19 The effects of positive youth development interventions on substance use, violence and inequalities: systematic review of theories of change, processes and outcomes

Please see the full list of projects on our website.

Project outputs

09/3010/06 A gender-sensitised weight loss and healthy living programme for overweight and obese men delivered by Scottish Premier League football clubs (FFIT): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial, The Lancet*

11/3050/01 Bristol girls dance project (BGDP): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an after-school dance programme to increase physical activity among 11–12 year old girls, BMC Public Health

09/3008/11 Community engagement to reduce inequalities in health: a systematic review, meta-analysis and economic analysis, Public Health Research

09/3005/12 Are trainee teachers being adequately prepared to promote the health and well-being of school children? A survey of current practice, Journal of Public Health

09/3006/02 Use of data linkage to measure the population health effect of non-health-care interventions, The Lancet *

*You may need to be subscribed to read the full articles

Latest news

Football fans fitness study publishes in The Lancet
An initiative that helps male football fans feel better and live a healthier lifestyle by losing weight, taking more exercise and improving their diet has been a resounding success, according to new research published in The Lancet and BMC Public Health. Read more

PHR teacher training project publishes in The Lancet
Health-related training for teachers is diverse and of variable quality, and further assessment is needed to identify the benefits to both teachers and pupils, concludes a PHR-funded study which has published in The Lancet. Read more.

Helping families tackle childhood behaviour problems
Antisocial behaviour in younger children is a growing public health concern. If left unmanaged, the risk of drug use, criminality, unemployment and poor health greatly increases later in life. A study assessing the effectiveness of parenting interventions for tackling this social problem has been funded by the PHR Programme. Read more.

Events

The PHR Programme will be represented at the following conferences:

The Homelessness, social exclusion and health inequalities conference, 5-6 March, Central London

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health annual conference, 8-10 April, ICC Birmingham

Cochrane UK & Ireland Annual Symposium 2014, 23-24 April, Manchester University

LARIA Annual Conference, 13-14 May, University of Warwick

LGA annual public health conference 2014, 8-10 July 2014, Birmingham

Come and see us to talk to a member of our team and find out about opportunities with the PHR Programme.

Helping shape the future of palliative and end of life care research – Palliative and end of life care James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) launches survey

In October, an important partnership launched to enable people who are likely to be in the last years of life, current and bereaved carers, their families, and frontline social and healthcare professionals – for the first time – to have their say in setting future research priorities for palliative and end of life care.

A survey, developed by the PSP and NOW OPEN, will enable people to highlight what research questions are important to them.

To take part in this survey, please visit the PSP’s website at www.palliativecarepsp.org.uk

You can follow the activity on Twitter @peolcPSP and #peolcPSP

NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) opens Round 2 of its innovative evaluation scheme

Round 2 of SPHR’s Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme (PHPES) is now open. PHPES aims to produce high quality evidence needed by public health practice to improve population health and help reduce health inequalities. PHPES enables public health practitioners to work in partnership with members of SPHR on robust evaluations of innovative local projects or initiatives they are delivering.

Further details including guidance, selection criteria and an application form are available to download from the SPHR website. Visit www.sphr.nihr.ac.uk/phpes to find out more.The deadline for applications is midday on 28 February 2014.

Are you interested in becoming a reviewer?

We are seeking people from a wide range of professional backgrounds to review proposals received in response to NIHR calls. If you could help our programmes in this way please see our becoming a reviewer page.

Please tell others about us

We would be grateful if you could forward this email on to others within the public health field that may be interested in the PHR Programme. Where possible, please post this bulletin on relevant websites and forums.

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