Leicester health scientists contribute to report on childrens safety

Health scientists from our University have contributed to major research on children’s safety.

Stephanie Hubbard, Professor Alex Sutton and Professor Nicola Cooper from the University’s Department of Health Sciences provided a major contribution to the research in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nottingham and several other institutions across the UK.

Their research has been summarised in an NIHR Signal. Signals are accessible, actionable summaries of recent, important health research that aim to put good research evidence at the heart of decision making in the NHS, public health and social care.

The research was funded by a 5-year National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme grant and focused on the prevention of unintentional injuries in the home in the under-fives. In the study, parental behaviours, use of safety equipment and home hazards were compared amongst similar children under five years who either had or hadn’t been injured at home and attended hospital.

Professor Cooper said: “This collaborative project has proved to be very impactful. As well as being promoted as an NIHR Signal and informing NICE guidance on strategies to prevent unintentional injuries among children, important methodological developments for evaluation were realised among the 37 papers published from this 5-year research project”.

The researchers have produced a NICE-endorsed Injury Prevention Briefing, a commissioning guide, and online content for GPs and parents.

Press release