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Impact

Our research supports developments in policy and practice

We are dedicated to investment in knowledge exchange and translation as well as impact, and are exploring innovative ways to ensure that our research has every chance of making an impact. 

Our research aims to improve services by influencing practice and policy, and to add to the knowledge base of what works in health and social care. 

We emphasise both academic and non-academic impact. We regularly publish papers in well-regarded journals, and have a strong reputation for high-quality, robust research. We benefit from LSE’s rich intellectual environment in these pursuits.

We believe that our reputation encourages national and local policy-makers, commissioners and providers to seek our help in generating evidence to inform decisions. Some of our work has influenced national policy development and implementation, and often has filtered through to change social or health care practice. Our impact has been recognised in numerous ways:

  • Award of the Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2009 for ‘applying research to the advancement of global health and social care’
  • Success in winning contracts for key UK Department of Health Policy Research Units
  • A successful partnership bid to host NICE’s Collaborating Centre for Social Care
  • Selection of LSE as lead university in the NIHR School for Social Care Research (with Martin Knapp as national director), both in 2009 and then again in 2014 when CPEC's ‘exceptional track record in adult social care research’ was commended
  • Recognition in the Research Excellence Framework 2014, where our host Department (Social Policy) was ranked first in the UK for percentage of research rated ‘world leading or internationally excellent’; CPEC's two impact case studies both received 4* grading
  • Links from our research to many policy developments and practice changes in long-term care, mental health, public health and other fields, both in the UK and internationally
  • Establishment of the International Long-Term Care Policy network (ILPN), with growing global reach into academic and policy communities, successful biennial conferences (hosted at LSE) and a new open-access electronic journal. 

Reflections on our impact

Impact case studies