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Research grant success at Norah Fry Research Centre

24 March 2010

February and March 2010 have seen the Norah Fry Research Centre (NFRC) win research grants totalling over £1.9 million.

New projects are as follows: 

  • a Confidential Inquiry into the Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities, a partnership led by NFRC involving the University of Bristol Department of Community-Based Medicine, NHS Bristol, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Department of Health. The total grant award is £1.6 million (contact pauline.heslop@bristol.ac.uk);
  • a national research study about ‘Best Interest Decisions’ under the 2005 Mental Capacity Act. The £212,000 NFRC-led grant is from the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the study will be carried out in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation, the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities and Bradford University (contact val.williams@bristol.ac.uk);
  • research into Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy services, commissioned by the Social Care Institute for Excellence in a grant worth £60,000 (contact r.townsley@bristol.ac.uk);
  • an £18,000 project with Professor Chris Jarrold from the Department of Experimental Psychology to evaluate the National Autistic Society/NHS Bristol's new parenting programme for parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders (contact r.townsley@bristol.ac.uk);
  • a £16,500 evaluation of the community-based support offered by Medway County Council to parents with learning disabilities (contact sue.porter@bristol.ac.uk).

Over the past two months, staff at NFRC have also had news of successful partnership applications in three other research studies:

  • Val Williams (val.williams@bristol.ac.uk) will work with Cornwall People First on a successful Big Lottery research grant looking at creative approaches to improving employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities.
  • Linda Ward (l.ward@bristol.ac.uk) is a co-applicant on a new grant (secured with colleagues in the School for Policy Studies) from the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The study will explore the impact of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards on social care practice.
  • David Abbott (d.abbott@bristol.ac.uk) will collaborate with colleagues at the University of Toronto and University of Loughborough on a new Canadian Institute of Health Research grant which is developing methodological frameworks for understanding the intersection of gender and disability for young disabled men.

Norah Fry Research Centre was established in 1988 and its principal interests are in the area of social and policy-related research. It aims to make a positive difference to the lives of disabled children, young people and adults with a particular emphasis on issues for people with learning disabilities and their families.

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