Completed projects

PIRU evaluated the impacts of COVID-19 on autistic people of all ages and to identify ways to manage or mitigate any adverse consequences of COVID-19 on this group and their families.

The UK Five Year Anti-Microbial Resistance Strategy, 2013-2018, aims to slow the development and spread of anti-microbial resistance (AMR). PIRU carried out an evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy and the key mechanisms of change identified in the Strategy.

England is experiencing higher summer temperatures due to global warming, and high temperatures can lead to increases in mortality and morbidity. In 2004, the Government introduced the Heatwave Plan for England (HWP) which aims to prevent the avoidable effects on health of severe heat. PIRU was asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the HWP and how it is implemented at local level.

The 100,000 Genome Project will collect genetic data from people with rare diseases and with common cancers in order to help us learn more about the causes of different diseases and develop new treatments. The aim is to include 100,000 people. PRIU has been asked to undertake a qualitative project to understand more fully why patients and health care staff agree to take part in genomics research.

Terrorist attacks are increasingly frequent global phenomena with wide-reaching behavioural, health and economic consequences, affecting both directly and indirectly exposed individuals and their families, as well as society as a whole. PIRU and PSSRU were asked to evaluate the Screen and Treat Programme set up by DH to support UK citizens affected by recent terrorist attacks.

This project examines the motivations of local authorities for participating in national pilot schemes and the effects of participating on local policy development and service provision, using the example of adult social care.

In order to inform the final year of the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia, PIRU undertook a rapid evidence synthesis to assess progress in dementia care since 2009 and to identify remaining gaps and obstacles in delivering the commitments in the PM's Challenge.

The growing number of people with dementia is increasing pressure on the health and care system. The use of technology may improve their outcomes and contain costs. PIRU looked at the evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of technology for supporting people with dementia, and examined the economic case for investing in such technology.

The Department of Health invited local councils to become Trailblazers for direct payments (DPs) for people in residential care. DPs are cash payments with which people can buy care, intended to enable care home residents to exercise more choice. The overall aim of this study is to evaluate the introduction of DPs for residential care in the Trailblazers.

There are over 5000 rare diseases (that is, diseases that affect five or fewer people in 10,000), estimated to affect around 3 million people in the UK. There are often long delays before reaching a diagnosis, which can have serious consequences for the health of patients. PIRU was asked to determine whether a system can be developed for monitoring the time taken for the diagnoses of rare diseases.

The Integrated Personal Commissioning (IPC) programme enables people with long term needs to bring together their health and social care funding, and gives them greater control over how this is spent. The programme is being developed in several areas in England, and PIRU carried out some early stage research of the programme.

This project examined how and why policy pilots are initiated, and how decisions about the organisation of pilots influence opportunities for evaluation.

Patient choice of an out-of-area practice was piloted in four PCT areas in England in 2012/13. Patients were able to access a GP practice away from the area in which they lived. PIRU carried out an independent evaluation of the choice pilots.

PIRU supported a Department of Health project team highlighting the key technology factors driving health expenditure and helping to develop alternative scenarios of how the health and social care landscape will look in 20 years.

PIRU evaluated whether Healthy Outlook reduced hospital admissions and mortality for COPD patients receiving telephone alerts about adverse weather conditions.

Eight pilot sites are testing new approaches to the commissioning and delivery of drugs and alcohol recovery systems that will reward achievement of outcomes, or payment by results (PbR). PIRU provided advice on the outcome measures to be used for incentivising providers, and how the pilots could be evaluated.

PIRU looked at how national datasets had been used for influencing and evaluating policy.

We reviewed the effectiveness of alternative interventions to the use of antipsychotic medication for managing neuropsychiatric symptoms and challenging behaviours in patients with dementia.