Matrix Evidence

The Health and Safety Executive commissioned Matrix to conduct an REA of the literature on the impact of guidance on the actions of corporate policies and practices, identifying key factors which may support the implementation of guidance. Click here to read the report.

NICE was asked by the Department of Health (DH) to develop public health intervention guidance on sun protection resources and environmental changes to prevent skin cancer for the NHS and local authorities. Matrix Evidence was commissioned by NICE to help build the evidence for this guidance. You can download these reports below:

• Sun protection resources and changes to the environment to prevent skin cancer:qualitative evidence review
• Economic analysis to inform the development of NICE public health intervention guidance on information, sun protection resources and physical changes to the environment to prevent skin cancer (phase 2)

You can find additional information on the NICE website.

In light of the proposed changes to the Government’s policy on prisons, Matrix’s research findings in The Economic Case For and Against Prisons report was used as a source on the BBC News. BBC Home Affairs Editor Mark Easton covers Matrix’s data in his blog.

We are very pleased to announce that the Home Office has awarded Matrix Evidence a framework contract to provide research and evaluation services. The contract will cover many areas within the criminal justice system where we have worked previously – sentencing, interventions, reoffending etc – in addition to building upon our expertise in research methods, evidence reviews, economics and operational research.

Kevin Marsh, Head of Economics at Matrix co-authored this study which estimates the spend on health promotion and public health in Wales. You can find the report here.

With growing concerns to establish the value for returns on public health investment, there is a need to identify cost-effective physical activity interventions. Kevin Marsh, Head of Economics at Matrix co-authored this study which can be downloaded here. The study measured change in moderate physical activity (MPA) in seven community-based intervention types, costs and cost-effectiveness of the interventions, and possible explanations for cost variation.

Matrix will be sponsoring the ‘LSE PhD Student Poster Exhibition: Relating research to reality’ on Wednesday 26th May 2010. The Exhibition will showcase some of the innovative research undertaken by LSE Doctoral students.

Play England has commissioned Matrix to undertake an economic evaluation of the value added by staffed play provision –in particular, after school play clubs and adventure playgrounds. This is an important piece of research that will help all organisations in the field in their continued support for children and young people’s play.

The Health Foundation has commissioned the Reviews team to deliver three best evidence reviews that will contribute to answering the question, ‘What works to improve the quality of healthcare?’ read more »

The Health Foundation has commissioned the Reviews team to deliver two improvement reports. These reports will build upon the model of their report ‘Bridging the Quality Gap – Stroke’, 2008.

The improvement reports will bring together a summary of guidance on best practice, data on performance and a view from the Health Foundation on what needs to be done to bring practice in the UK up to the level of recommended practice. The content will include: an overview of epidemiology (where relevant); economic burden and the policy context; a description of high quality services, based on current guidelines, case studies of leading practice, and information drawn from evidence reviews. In addition, improvement reports will include performance data on current UK performance, and cost information.

The EOA commissioned Matrix Evidence to undertake a review of the evidence concerning the benefits of employee ownership as a business model. Click here to read the report. The study was sponsored by the John Lewis Partnership and the health company Circle.

Paul Dolan, Professor at the LSE and Chief Scientist at Matrix has developed MINDSPACE, a practical guide on how to influence behaviour through public policy. This guide was developed with colleagues at the Institute for Government and Imperial College London. You can download the report here.

Matrix Evidence is going to be working with the BMJ Evidence Centre on a contract to deliver Technology Assessment Reviews (TARS) for the National Institute for Health Research. As one of the first agreements of this type reached with a research group outside of the university system, the contract is a real milestone. read more »

Kevin Marsh, Head of Economics at Matrix co-authored the 2nd edition of Evidence-Based Decisions and Economics in Health care, social welfare, education and criminal justice which is now on sale. read more »

Kevin Marsh presented at the launch of the T2A Alliance Young Adult Manifesto on 25th November 2009, you can download the report here – Economic analysis of interventions for young adult offenders.

Matrix Knowledge Group sponsored the Transformation award at the Guardian Public Services Awards 2009. The prize was awarded to the Sheffield city council Care4you team, find out more about the winning team here. More information on the awards can be found in our press release.

Matrix Evidence have been commissioned by the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services (C4EO) to conduct three evidence reviews over the next year. Read the press release to find out more.

Dr Kevin Marsh presented at the 2009 Society Conference & Meeting on October 20 and 21, 2009 at the Washington Court Hotel, Washington, D.C. His paper was titled Using Subjective Well-Being Measures to Value Policy Outcomes.

Tony Munton presented at the GLA seminar on September 23, 2009. His presentation on Evidence, analysis and the Green Book looks at Treasury guidance on how evidence and analysis supports effective policy development and delivery. You can download his slides and find out more about the event here.

Matrix recently worked on the inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning which has been reported in The Guardian. Matrix looked at the relationship between in-prison education and re-offending, and the relationship between lifelong learning and subjective well-being. See the following links for examples of how the Inquiry was reflected in the press: life-long learning and adult education.

The case for and against prison research evidence can best support development of government plans to build fair chances for everyone to succeed in the new economy. Read more on the Publications page.

Matrix Evidence supported The Ninth Annual Campbell Collaboration Colloquium which was held in Oslo, Norway on 18-20 May 2009.

Over the 3 day conference Kevin Marsh presented the following papers :

• Prioritising investment in public health: A review of the economic evidence
• The value of training the children’s workforce: An example of the use of modeling techniques to support reviews

You can find out more about the Colloquium here.

Dr Kevin Marsh, Head of Economic Evaluation at Matrix, was quoted in this week’s edition of The Economist in an article about drug-trafficking in Europe. Click here to read the article.

Matrix Evidence, in collaboration with Imperial College London, Kings College London, and Bazian, has been commissioned by Health England to support commissioners decide which public health interventions should be prioritised.

Across the world changes in demographics, technology, and public expectations are pushing medical costs up beyond each country’s ability to pay. Most countries are seeking to address this by investing more heavily in prevention. Unlike the majority of hospital-based care, there is little evidence of how commissioners should spend their money to maximise the impact of preventative health care services. Health England have commissioned this large research study of the efficacy of preventative measures, and have invited Matrix Evidence, working in collaboration with Imperial College London, Kings College London and Bazian to develop an authoritative view of investment priorities.

Bringing both academic rigour and an eye to practical application of the results, Matrix and its partners will consult national, regional and local decision makers, and draw on internationally published evidence to compare different preventative measures and develop priorities for investment.