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Citizen science — an approach whereby citizens actively contribute to the generation of knowledge about important research questions — is gaining increased attention in research and policy communities. Recent years have seen an expansion in the scale of citizen science activity globally, as well as an increase in the diversity of ways in which citizens can contribute to research endeavours. This report, informed by a literature review and interviews with selected experts, explores key areas of innovation and emerging and topical issues in citizen science, with a particular but not exclusive interest in healthcare related applications. More specifically, the report explores innovation related to new areas of applications of citizen science; novel methods of data gathering and analysis; innovative approaches to recruiting, retaining and enabling participation in citizen science projects; and building capacity for citizen science. The report also considers emerging themes and topical issues within the field and their implications.

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Cancer survival is lower and mortality rates are higher in the United Kingdom (UK) than in some other high-income countries. An important way to improve cancer survival in the UK is to increase the proportion of cases that are diagnosed early, as patients diagnosed at stages I and II have the best chance of successful treatment and long-term survival. Cancer Research UK awarded a grant to RAND Europe to undertake research with the purpose of helping Cancer Research UK's Early Diagnosis programme to better understand how National Health Service (NHS) commissioners of healthcare services and NHS Cancer Alliances make decisions about early diagnosis interventions at local level, with a particular focus on England and Northern Ireland. The decision-making landscape in England was shaped by the 2019 NHS Long Term Plan and the Implementation Framework that goes with it; meanwhile in Northern Ireland a new cancer strategy was under active development in 2019. We gathered evidence through more than 30 interviews with stakeholders at Cancer Alliances and national bodies in England, and from six interviewees from national bodies and at local level in Northern Ireland.

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MS is a chronic, progressive disease of the central nervous system, which affects more than 2.2 million people worldwide. In addition to the health burden on people affected by MS, it is a disease associated with high costs in terms of both medical costs and wider economic costs to society, as well as requiring a high amount of informal care provided at home. RAND Europe undertook a study to understand the non-clinical impacts of MS with specific focus on disease progression. We addressed this question from the perspective of the individual with MS, their carers and broader society using a literature review and key informant interviews. We found that there are a range of impacts of MS on individuals with MS and on their carers and that the majority of the literature focuses on the individual. We concluded that MS is a shared experience between the individual with MS and their carers lived in different ways. We found that the impacts of MS on society are mainly captured as the monetary costs associated with the disease, although there are additional costs that are not widely described or captured in the literature. There is limited literature exploring the range of impacts affected by disease progression, although it is clear that the negative impacts of MS increase with disease progression. Across the countries included in our study, individuals with MS have access to psychosocial support although there is room for improvement on public services. Improved psychosocial support could be provided to carers.