Our research, our partners and how our work benefits the world

Our research is helping ensure we live in an inclusive and diverse world

Research from the University of Brighton has brought aspects of inclusivity and diversity to the forefront of public consciousness and ensured that communities and individuals can make and take opportunities to lead richer lives.

Researchers have used art practices to understand and promote inclusivity, helped build communities through involvement in sports, brought healthcare solutions to LGBTQ+ communities across Europe and informed new street-triaging services for police officers in Sussex.

Partnerships with the cultural sector have brought marginalised histories to new audiences, ensured the profitability of the international charity sector and given new hope to whole communities based on resilience for social justice.

Inclusive arts practice: reaching new understandings of what is truly inclusive

Participatory, inclusive arts practice can combat isolation, prejudice and exclusion. It provides meeting points, public platforms and common experience for diverse groups of people. Importantly, though, the best examples move beyond arts participation for health interests alone, and challenge simple art-as-service models. Alice Fox's research at the University of Brighton is establishing a deeper understanding of truly inclusive practice, evolving the concept of expanded listening, a way of being with and responding to another person.

... read more about the University of Brighton's impact in the development and understanding of inclusive arts practices.

Football 4 Peace...Rugby 4 Peace: how sport is bringing intercultural cooperation to communities in conflict

The story of opposing World War I soldiers kicking a football together in no-man’s land has warmed hearts for decades. Whatever the truth of the legend behind the Christmas truce soccer game, it demonstrates a willingness to believe that sport can and does unite people across engrained social and political divides. The reality of this is being proved around the world today as, through research-led initiatives at the University of Brighton, sports participation is developed and structured to bring hope for peace and to foster intercultural understanding and harmony in conflict zones around the world.

... read more about the University of Brighton's Football for Peace initiative and the impact of its research into models of cooperation and understanding through sport.

Photography research: visualising history from the margins

Research in photography at the University of Brighton has given a renewed public presence to previously obscured or marginalised histories. Through practice-led photography research, as well as the historical and critical study of photographs and photographic collections, researchers have worked in collaboration with public institutions, museum professionals and community activists to bring greater understanding of communities that have been subject to forms of economic exploitation, political oppression and social marginalisation. 

... read more about how research in photography at the University of Brighton has taken effect  through practice and analysis.

The Shakespeare Hut: research reveals the forgotten and marginalised histories of Shakespeare performance and theatre heritage

The earliest history of the National Theatre was for many years forgotten.  Along with it, history had side-lined important stories of women’s early twentieth-century performance culture, Indian freedom-fighting activity in 1920s England and an episode in the development of the global youth organisation, the YMCA. Ailsa Grant Ferguson’s rediscovery of the 'Shakespeare Hut' (1916–23) has changed this, revealing forgotten histories of marginalised groups in Shakespearean heritage.

... read more about the ways in which research into the Shakespeare Hut brought new histories to life.

Resilience for social justice: research is bringing an inclusive revolution in mental health

Exactly how do communities come together to support each other? Mental health and wellbeing can be developed on an individual level to overcome immediate difficulties, but can there be mutual benefit through the individual development feeding into the wider community wellbeing? 

These questions and the battle against social adversity at a long-lasting and wide-spread level is at the heart of research into resilience and communities of practice at the University of Brighton. Teams of people based in and around the university’s research Centre of Resilience for Social Justice, together with its social enterprise wing, Boingboing, have been working to understand the underlying principles that can provide the best opportunities for whole communities to thrive in difficult contemporary environments. Their next step is a widespread resilience revolution. 

... read more about the ways resilience research is helping communities around Britain and internationally.

Humanitarian business: our innovation strategy is helping disaster-affected third world relief funds

The challenges facing international humanitarian action are growing in scale, scope and complexity. According to the United Nations report the gap between the amount of money needed to meet the basic needs of disaster affected communities and donations received is increasing. Innovation dedicated to improvements in both the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian relief initiatives and expenditure have, consequently, become an important pillar within the strategic approaches of many UN and international non-governmental agencies.  

The inclusion of innovation as one of the principal themes of the UN’s 2016 World Humanitarian Summit was testimony to the importance of innovation as a means of bridging the funding gap and the University of Brighton’s CENTRIM research for the UN’s World Humanitarian Summit has helped embed innovation in the aid sector at systemic and individual organisational levels. 

... read more about how business innovation strategy is helping third world humanitarian relief funds.

Sexual health research: understanding HIV and improving health among men who have sex with men

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) has claimed tens of millions of lives globally. In recent years deaths from HIV-related causes are still over 600 thousand annually worldwide, while approximately 38 million people are currently living with HIV. University of Brighton research into HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and research focused on sexual health among men who have sex with men, has spearheaded a range of prevention methodologies including a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) community organisation funded by the national government in Slovakia, and the development of a nationally coordinated HIV prevention campaign in Japan. 

... read more about how University of Brighton research is bringing sexual health innovation to men who have sex with men.

LGBTI health care: challenging and improving the inequality in care for LGBTI communities

Historically, LGBTI populations across Europe have experienced significant health inequalities both in terms of poorer health outcomes and negative experiences of accessing healthcare compared to non-LGBTI populations. For some, these experiences have translated into a risk of depression, suicide and self-harm, violence, substance misuse and HIV infection. 

Research led by the University of Brighton has tackled these health inequalities within the LGBTI community, generating changes in policy and health education at local, national and European levels. 

 ... read more about Brighton's work in challenging and improving the inequality in health care for LGBTI communities

Street triage and mental health: giving a voice to those in crisis at the heart of the system

Suicide rates in the United Kingdom increased steadily throughout the austerity era that followed the 2008 economic crisis and a burgeoning crisis in emergency mental health care prompted major national concern. With it, the annual rates of detention under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales) escalated from less than 18,000 in 2005/6 to more than 25,000 in 2011/12 with the county of Sussex having the highest national rates.

Ethical questions surrounding the potential stigma and negative psychological effects of police involvement in mental health emergencies were coupled with growing calls for alternatives to counter the unrealistic expectations placed on already strained police services. University of Brighton research has now provided a voice for those in crisis at the heart of the system. The investigating of the controversial use of police powers to detain people under this section contributed to national guidelines and new legislation (Policing and Crime Act, 2017) that changed the operation of Section 136.

... read more about University of Brighton research and knowledge exchange tackling the controversies around overuse of Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Our research is evolving creative and sustainable communities

The research environment at the University of Brighton fosters creative thinking across all its disciplines. With roots in that creativity, we are able to reach out to communities locally and globally, helping them create new lives and new opportunities while sustaining the resources and economies on which they thrive.

We have pioneered creative disciplines as methodologies and devised new theories of social learning. Working with museums and the heritage sector we have developed new academic fields and new technologies to help different publics understand and embrace their heritage, while developing and enlightening communities through archive development and research

Our work has given voices to marginalised people and promoted challenging issues through visual communication, changed attitudes to how books are read and explored new aspects of the data driven economy and cultural industries. 

Practice-led research: developing the impact of research conducted through art and design practice

The University of Brighton has long been a leading voice in the development and recognition of research engaged with creative practices, known as practice-led research or practice-based research. 

The work conducted by creative practitioners, for example artists, designers, architects and photographers, is some of the most publicly visible of the university's research. Some examples command large audiences as artworks. What is less well-understood is that these works and practices also generate and interrogate knowledge, often in ways that are profoundly subtle and nuanced and whose impact is immeasurable.

Discover more about the ways our artists, designers and makers use their practice to generate, investigate and disseminate knowledge.

Design history research: how we help to develop a greater understanding of our global cultural heritage

Research in design history, allied with scholarship across material and visual cultures, has changed the ways in which history is framed and the way societies are understood. It has transformed how design work and designed objects give insight into social and cultural history. The University of Brighton contributed significantly to the initial development of design history as a formal discipline in the late 1970s and continues to be a major centre for academic work at all levels. Over the decades, its design history research has had continuous impact on the public through its work with museums, galleries and the cultural industries.

... read more about the development of design history at the University of Brighton and how this has helped an understanding of cultural heritage.

Heritage technology: helping to augment museum collections and enliven cultural engagement

‘Do not touch!’ The traditional experience of museums has, for many, been one of glass cases and barrier ropes. Fragile objects in museum settings are often at risk  from damaging light and other environmental conditions, meaning that the public’s understanding of historic objects through tactile experience has been largely impossible. This is changing, though. 

Based on their innovative, sector-leading research in heritage technologies, including the internationally renowned project 3D-COFORM, researchers from the University of Brighton continue to work with cultural heritage organisations, professionals and community groups to transform how art and cultural heritage collections can best be made available to the public. Thanks to this research and the partnerships formed with the heritage sector, not only can museums bring visitors closer to their precious collections, but artefacts can be made part of a multisensorial experience for all to enjoy.

... read more about the University of Brighton's pioneering work on heritage computing for museums and collections including the 3D COFORM project.

Communities of Practice and Value Creation Frameworks: how do we learn from each other?

What are the similarities between a tribe learning to survive, a group of academics working on similar problems, a street gang understanding their environment and a gathering of new employees helping each other orientate themselves? The ways in which communities, often informal communities, learn from each other through the social structures and patterns they create helps us recognise a vital connection between knowledge, community, learning, and identity.  

These are what social learning theorist Etienne Wenger-Trayner has described as Communities of Practice. They are groups of people who share an interest and form a direction and, because human knowing is fundamentally a social act, they are engaged in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour. By understanding and formalising how these systems operate, new opportunities have begun to emerge for more effective knowledge-orientated organisations and cross-organisational learning systems.

... read more about Professor Etienne Wenger-Trayner's development of Communities of Practice and Value Creation Frameworks.  

The Design Archives: international collections bring cultural heritage partners on board and develop innovative engagement 

Since the 1990s, the University of Brighton Design Archives has provided access to a rich collection of materials vital to perceptions of the history of design. In that time, in collaboration with diverse cultural heritage partners, it has also shaped the archival practices that capitalise on its own collections and those of design archives and design museums around the world. It has developed innovative forms of digital access and engagement with archival content, and has helped to change the way design history is accessed and understood.

... read more about the impact of the University of Brighton Design Archives.

Graphic novel research: changing attitudes to reading and publishing

Graphic novelist and experimental fiction designer Graham Rawle has revolutionised literary practices through his meticulously crafted works, each a practice-led research experiment which tests the boundaries of readership, publishing and the possibilities of narrative. His work in print and, more recently, in film, has brought new attitudes within the publishing and cinema industries, changed public readership practices and underpinned new creative experiences for teachers and learners across the creative storytelling disciplines. 

... read more about how Graham Rawle's graphic novel research has changed readers' and publishers' understanding of the form of the book.

Screen archives: fostering audiences for our shared film heritage through its archive development and research

Two mainstays of film culture in South East England owe their success to University of Brighton research. Investigations into screen texts and archival development have expanded the cultural role of both the Screen Archive South East and the annual Brighton film festival, Cinecity, leading to the growth, nationally and internationally, of mainstream and marginalised audiences for film heritage and film curation.

... read more about the impact of research and knowledge exchange in film studies.

Politics and art: how media and visual communication can bring about social and political change

Researchers at the University of Brighton have demonstrated new ways in which visual communication, media and arts practices can and do develop socio-political change. Through visual communication and participatory communication methods, they have engaged and mobilised activists, artists, young people and citizens internationally. The work has forged collective spaces for community, artistic and activist expressions on globally important socio-political and environmental issues. 

... read more about the impactful ways in which art and visual communication are being used towards social and political change.

Superfused Brighton: research into how creative and media innovation drives the digital economy

The University of Brighton’s research and knowledge exchange into the value of data for the digital economy has helped secure investment and shaped strategy across the creative, digital and information technology industries, creating jobs, products and enhancing business strategy for multiple small and medium enterprises.

... read more about the impact of the University of Brighton's work with Fuse, Fusebox and the Digital Catapult.

Our research is enriching the planet and sustaining its resources

The University of Brighton brings its research excellence to some of the planet's most prominent challenges. Our researchers have worked with natural phenomena and human communities across the globe, helping with climate change, primary resources and large-scale enterprise. 

We have developed new routes to sustainable living through urban food production and an understanding of urban waste.  Business management research on the international stage has informed the sustainable tourist industry. Working with water companies, our researchers have improved the quality of water supply systems while protecting wildlife habitation. Our work has made life-saving advances in the treatment of water-bourne diseases and is helping understand the relationships between humans and wild carnivores.

Urban agriculture research: increasing food production for city sustainability

How will the world feed its increasingly dense urban populations? In the last decade, urban food production and supporting policy and design initiatives have increased in importance and urgency for cities around the world. 

Research into the design of urban agriculture at the University of Brighton is now enabling cities in the UK, Germany and Japan to deliver resilient urban food systems that point to sustainable agricultural solutions. Andre Viljoen and Katrin Bohn have shown that food provision is a key challenge for urban sustainability and their work is influencing planning for urban farming as a part of green infrastructure and the legacy of major events.

... read more about the university's research into urban agriculture for sustainable cities.

Food recycling: waste solutions through city-scale food recycling policy are developed and tested in China

Food waste is a major problem worldwide. It makes up 30-40 per cent of household waste in the Global North and 60-70 per cent in China. Failure to enable householders to sort their waste for recycling, composting or reuse is at the heart of global environmental challenges around food waste, which is usually disposed of via landfill or incineration, leading to greenhouse gas emissions. City projects that handle significant food waste in environmentally friendly ways, for example conversion to biogas or compost, are rare. Researchers at the University of Brighton have however identified the key ways in which residential recycling behaviour is shaped. Working with Chinese environmental non-governmental organisations and Chinese local government, this theory was used to develop policy recommendations that have been incorporated into municipality-wide regulations on household waste in Shanghai, a city with a population approaching 25 million people. 

... read more about the ways in which the University of Brighton has pioneered food waste solutions through city-scale food recycling policy.

Sustainable tourism: collaborative research methodologies to transform the tourism sector

While tourism provides opportunities for new income generation in many parts of the world, it comes at a cost that is too easily unrecognised or under-estimated. The University of Brighton’s research in tourism has, for twenty years, been addressing complex tourism development issues - poverty alleviation, social justice, conflicts and epidemics, environmental issues, hospitality management and human resource skills - in a range of African and European contexts.

The University of Brighton's research into tourism and sustainable development integrates empirical academic studies with commissioned work for tourism organisations and community-based participatory research. Professor Marina Novelli, Dr Adam Jones and Dr Ioannis Pantelidis have employed practical collaborative research methodologies to advance policies and industry practices designed to transform the tourism sector. 

... read more about the ways in which tourism and hospitality research is leading to more sustainable tourism around the globe.

Faecal-borne diseases: research provides life-saving advances in disease control

University of Brighton research has made life-saving advances in the fight against faecal-borne diseases. Breakthroughs help protect some of the most vulnerable human populations globally, by supporting a multiple barrier approach to disease control, particularly in low-resource and emergency settings. The research has reduced human health risk from diseases including cholera, Ebola, typhoid and childhood diarrhoea in regions of Africa, Asia and South America. This life-changing work has stemmed from research into safer excreta management and improved low-cost faecal and vomit contaminant tracking, leading to improved protocols for the safe handling and disposal of human excreta and improved approaches for the surveillance of potential disease transmission routes.

... read more about the ways in which University of Brighton research has provided life-saving advances in the fight against faecal-borne diseases in the developing world.

Water supply research: providing better, cleaner, cheaper water

Population increases combined with the impact of climate change on rainfall and evaporation levels are projected to result in significant water deficits in the South of England by 2050 without preventative action. However, research from the University of Brighton has led to improvements in water supply services in the South and, by collaborating with major companies, researchers have developed low-cost tools to protect water supplies and improve water quality. The research has changed water management policy and built skills capacity for South East Water, Southern Water and Thames Water, enabling them to provide cleaner, more secure water supplies to millions of customers. 

... read more about the University of Brighton's impact on better, cleaner, cheaper water supply services through aquatic environment research.

Coexistence with carnivores: how do we better understand inter-relationships between humans and wild carnivores? 

How do human beings live side-by-side with wild carnivorous animals? University of Brighton research has developed research into human-carnivore relationships, and that work is promoting coexistence between humans and wild carnivores in both Africa and the UK. Working in collaboration with landowners, government agencies and non-government organisations, University of Brighton researchers have enabled decision-makers to prescribe key conservation, land and species management actions, and enabled co-existence between wild carnivores and people at local, regional and national scales. This research has led to changes in the management of human-wildlife interactions by individual landowners and wildlife reserves in South Africa, conservation agencies such as the RSPCA and government bodies including DEFRA.

... read more about the ways in which research has enabled the coexistence between humans and wild carnivores.

Our research is enhancing wellbeing for all

University of Brighton researchers have been at the forefront of vital breakthroughs and world-renowned collaborations, playing their role in improving the health of individuals and communities world-wide.

Our sports scientists have worked to bring safety to paralympic competition. Research on understanding the psychology of crowds has made countless events safer to attend.  We have provided improved models for mentoring professional educators and delivered scientific research through commercial partnerships that alleviate suffering for those with liver disease and asthma difficulties.

The integrated work of the University of Brighton and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School has provided research solutions to some of the most challenging problems across medicine and healthcare. We have helped with the elimination of Hepatitis C among vulnerable sectors. Our work has improved patient treatment across physiotherapy, geriatric care and breast cancer sufferers, and we have made breakthroughs in the ways to secure life for premature births.

Sports science: protecting the health of Paralympic, Olympic and World Cup competitors 

When athletes are striving for a competitive advantage, and while sports organisers are seeking ever more watchable competition, who looks out for the health of the athletes? Sports health and sports science research from the University of Brighton has been helping athletes and para-athletes to understand the optimal preparation for competition, while helping them remaining within safe boundaries. 

This is especially important when athletes are competing in extreme environments. While helping athletes and coaches, that same research in sports science has also been informing the ways in which sports are regulated, reducing injury levels and creating safer competitive environments.

Findings from research teams led from the university have been at the forefront of changes in decision-making and policy implementation for over twenty years, delivering improved sporting environments that protect Paralympians, Olympians and other athletes while optimising sporting performance in differing conditions and maintaining the integrity of fair athletic competition.

... read more about the impact our sports science research has had for athletes and athletic competition.

ONSIDE teacher mentoring: re-envisioning mentoring to promote professional development and wellbeing

Schools in England are legally required to provide mentors to trainee and newly qualified teachers, while mandatory or voluntary mentoring schemes exist for trainee, newly qualified and established professionals across multiple global contexts. However, despite evidence that mentorship can significantly enhance professional learning and development, work effectiveness, wellbeing and retention, the optimum benefits of mentoring are rarely realised. Explanations for this include the absence of appropriate regulatory frameworks, under-resourcing, and the misappropriation of mentoring for the performativity agenda, which spawned the pathology of mentoring practice Professor Andrew Hobson termed ‘judgementoring’, shown to stunt mentees’ professional development and impair their wellbeing.  

... read more about the impact of the ONSIDE project and advances in mentoring.

Crowd psychology: revolutionising safety management through a better understanding of the psychology of crowds  

In the reports on crowds in an emergency situation, familiar phrases are often used, for example, ‘mass panic’, ‘stampedes’ or ‘mob rule’. In a report of 2019, the Sports Ground Safety Authority noted the commonplace assumption that crowds are hostile. They recognised a widespread sense of moral panic over the actions of individuals within crowds, and a perception that crowds acted irrationally when grouped together. 

They also recognised the research of the University of Brighton’s Dr Chris Cocking in turning these perceptions around. In fact, those dominant assumptions about crowd responses to emergencies, stressing mass panic and stampedes, are rarely supported by detailed evidence of what actually happens. Indeed, holding such views can hinder effective emergency planning and response. Chris Cocking’s research into crowd psychology, together with wide and diverse knowledge exchange, has now given governments, events organisers and emergency services an awareness of how the reactions of mass gatherings can be better understood and managed more safely.

... read more about the ways in which research has helped understand the psychology of crowds, revolutionising crowd management and public safety.

Liver disease research: medical device innovation and commercialisation to combat liver disease

In one recent year there were an estimated 841,000 cases of liver cancer diagnosed worldwide and 782,000 deaths. It is one of the most challenging cancers to treat and the second leading cause of global cancer deaths. In developed countries, increasing prevalence of obesity and alcohol consumption in the general population account for a rising incidence of liver cancer and other diseases.

Liver cirrhosis results in an estimated one million global deaths annually and these rates are rising. Meanwhile, in the UK, the British Liver Trust has estimated that the annual cost to the NHS for treatment of liver disease is expected to exceed one billion pounds.

University of Brighton researchers have worked with business to develop two medical device innovations to reduce the global burden of liver disease benefitting patients, providers and private businesses. 

... read more about the University of Brighton's work with medical device innovation and commercialisation to combat liver disease.

Hepatitis C: eliminating the virus among vulnerable communities of drug users and homeless people

There are currently estimated to be around 89,000 people living with the Hepatitis C Virus in England. In May 2016, the UK joined 193 other member states signing the WHO Global Sector Strategy with the aim of eliminating the Hepatitis C virus by 2025, five years earlier than the WHO 2030 target.

This goal seems achievable with the rollout in 2015 of new effective oral, direct-acting antiviral treatments, but people living with the virus need to be urgently identified and treated to achieve Hepatitis C Virus elimination by 2025. Research from Brighton and Sussex Medical School has led to the development of a simplified Hepatitis C virus care pathway for high-risk populations, particularly drug users and the homeless, and through this, has played a major role in achieving the national goal of eliminating Hepatitis C virus by 2025. 

... read more about the Brighton and Sussex Medical School's work in eliminating Hepatitis C among vulnerable communities of drug users and homeless people.

Childhood asthma and eczema treatment: a personalised approach 

Over 1.1 million children in the UK are currently receiving treatment for asthma. The condition is usually treated with inhalers but until recently treatment has been untargeted and the same approach has been used with no regard for the individual child and their other conditions.

Research, carried out by Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay and his team, promoted a personalised approach to treatment based on the genotype of the individual child. The evidence provided through the research has been used to create a shift in awareness of alternative treatment options, which is now improving clinical practice, informing GP training (UK), and is formalised within international treatment guidelines (Australia). Life-changing care is now being provided for the patients and families undergoing alternative treatment.

... read more about Brighton and Sussex Medical School's research into childhood asthma and eczema treatment

PrefHER: putting patient choice and preferences at the forefront of breast cancer management

Approximately one in five patients diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide will have HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease. HER2+ breast cancer patients require treatment via the targeted anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody agent, trastuzumab following surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Brighton and Sussex Medical School researchers designed, conducted and analysed study-specific patient interview schedules used in the international clinical trial, PrefHER, to measure patient preference, resulting in a powerful tool to engage patients and their communities and quantify the patient voice across different stages of clinical drug development to support patient-centric, healthcare decision-making. 

... read more about the Brighton and Sussex Medical School's work with the PrefHER trials and their work towards putting patient choice and preferences at the forefront of breast cancer management 

Delayed umbilical cord clamping: research into the health benefits to babies

Premature birth is one of the leading causes of death worldwide for children under the age of five. After birth, the baby's umbilical cord is clamped and cut, separating the baby from the placenta. There is now evidence that babies benefit from a delay before clamping the cord, allowing time for extra blood to flow from the placenta into the baby. This is called deferred (or delayed) cord clamping. 

Professor Heike Rabe from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School conducted research into the beneficial health effects of delaying clamping of the umbilical cord and her research demonstrated that delayed cord clamping in preterm babies reduces deaths of babies in hospital by 27 per cent.  

... read more about Brighton and Sussex Medical School research into delayed clamping of the umbilical cord for premature births.

Diabetes patient care: providing life-saving therapy and improved quality of life 

There are currently 400,000 patients with Type 1 diabetes in the UK. A typical Type 1 diabetes patient suffers an average of two symptomatic hypoglycaemic episodes a week – thousands of episodes across a lifetime. They will suffer at least one episode of severe, disabling hypoglycaemia (often with seizure or coma) every year. This number rises dramatically in patients with poorly controlled diabetes, leading to frequent hospitalisation and life-threatening consequences.

Since the late 1990s, the University of Brighton has been developing life-changing research by improving the understanding of the disease mechanisms in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Clinically reflective research and human tissue studies have determined the disease mechanisms underpinning the causes, development and progression of diabetes.

... read more about islet transplant for diabetes and Brighton's work on life-saving therapy and new quality of life for diabetic patients.

Physiotherapy private practice: raising standards across the UK 

How do you know which physiotherapist to trust? What data informs quality across the practices? Patient experience in the physiotherapy private sector has always been extremely varied because of a lack of quality standards and benchmarking. Increasingly, patients are holding physiotherapy services accountable for the quality and equity of care provision. Yet, in order to demonstrate and account for the delivery and quality of their clinical services, practitioners need to be collecting data in a robust and consistent way. This includes patient demographics, clinical presentation, service delivery and outcomes of care.

The University of Brighton’s development of data collection tools and research into private sector physiotherapy practice, has led to the launch of the first UK Quality Assurance awards for private practitioners and clinics. 

... read more about the University of Brighton's work towards raising the standards of physiotherapy private practice across the UK.