Related Measure: Social support
Generation Scotland (GSSFHS)
GS:SFHS is a family-based genetic epidemiology study with DNA and socio-demographic and clinical data from 24,000 volunteers across Scotland aged 18–98 years. The breadth and depth of phenotype information collected, participants’ mechanisms for linkage of all data to comprehensive routine health-care records, and ‘broad’ consent from participants to use their data and samples for a wide range of research were designed to maximize the power of the resource to identify, replicate or control for genetic factors associated with a wide spectrum of illnesses and risk factors, both now and in the future. It has recently added on a new module called COVIDLife in which quesitons related to COVID-19 were asked to participants over three main sweeps in 2020 and 2021. There are also three young persons' sweeps and a sweep which focuses specifically on rural areas.
Cognitive Function and Ageing Study Wales (CFAS Wales)
CFAS Wales is a longitudinal study looking at health and cognitive function in older people living in Wales. The study builds on the design and infrastructure of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study collaboration (CFAS) exploring biomarkers and other early indications of risk of cognitive decline, such as imaging. It also investigates factors that may delay the onset of dementia, specifically focusing on the role of bilingualism and social networks and allow a more in-depth examination of rural-urban variations, which have been markedly unexplained in previous studies.
School Census (SchC)
Completion of the school census is a statutory requirement under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Most schools complete the school census three times per year.These collections give an excellent coverage of pupils educated in England. Local authority maintained schools and pupil referral units submit census data to their local authority who authorize the data and then submit it to the department. Academies and other schools not maintained by a local authority are responsible for submitting their own data to the department. The data aims to give a fair representation of the policy area, aiding the work of policy makers and commissioners.
Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA)
As the first large scale longitudinal study of ageing in Northern Ireland, NICOLA aims to help gain a better understanding of the factors that affect social and health outcomes in the older Northern Ireland population. Over time, it will inform new prevention strategies, new interventions, new models of health and social care delivery, and ultimately contribute to how society should change to ensure a better quality of life for all.
Mental Health of Children and Young People in England Surveys (MHCYPS)
The Surveys of the Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) are a series of national surveys of the mental health of children and young people. Each survey involves interviewing a large, stratified probability sample of children and young people, and their parents and teachers. The primary aim of the surveys is to collect robust data on a range of topics relating to the mental health of children and young people to improve understanding of the state of children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and inform the design of mental health services.
British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)
The British Household Panel Survey began in 1991 and was a multi-purpose study whose unique value resided in the fact that it followed the same representative sample of individuals over a period of years. Sampling was by household and every adult member within each sampled household was interviewed. The main objective of the BHPS was to further the understanding of social and economic change at the individual and household level in Britain. It was discontinued in 2007 though some sample members were recruited to become sample members in the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (Understanding Society).
Survey of Carers in Households (SCH)
The Survey of Carers in Households was commissioned by the Department of Health as part of the Government’s Carers’ Strategy programme. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care (NHS IC) undertook responsibility for this survey which was funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions. The survey collected details on the prevalence of caring in England, the demographic profile of carers, the impact of caring duties upon the carer, details of the services carers receive and a profile of the cared for people. Carers who were under 16 years of age were excluded from the Survey of Carers in Households 2009/10, as were people in communal establishments.
Cognitive Function and Ageing Study II (CFAS II)
Since the baseline of MRC CFAS there has been an increase in life expectancy, changes in major chronic disease and potentially advances in symptomatic treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. CFAS II builds upon the design and infrastructure of MRC to investigate the implications of changes in morbidity and frailty on health itself, as well as the use of services and expenditure in health and social care on future. It also provides important baseline information on older people aged 65-84 in 2008-2011 who will reach the age of greatest frailty during the 2020’s, when the peak in the number of people aged 85 or over is expected and at a time when major therapeutic interventions for dementia could be expected to have an effect.
Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children (ALSPAC)
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children (ALSPAC) is a multi-generational, population-based prospective birth cohort study. Established in the early 90s, ALSPAC follows the lives of over 14,500 people born between April 1991 and December 1992 and their family members. Children and their families have been followed intensively, primarily with annual questionnaires, as well as clinical assessments for a sub-sample of cohort members. ALSPAC was specifically designed to understand the ways in which genetic and environmental factors interact to influence health, behaviour, and development across the lifespan. The ALSPAC study has collected data using a range of methods. Mental health measures collected in postal questionnaires and from clinic assessments are detailed on the Catalogue.
Assuring Transformation (AT)
Assuring Transformation collects data to monitor the progress in moving people with learning disabilities from inpatient to community settings. Data is collected about people with a learning disability, autism or both who are getting care in hospitals for their mental health or because they have had behaviour that can be challenging. Data is collected via the NHS Digital Clinical Audit Platform (CAP) on an ongoing basis. Submitters are expected to keep data held in this system up to date and reflect changes as and when they occur. This information tells policy makers: how many people are in hospital; how long they have been in hospital for; when their care and treatment is checked; what kind of hospital they are in.
Adults With Learning Difficulties in England (AWLDE)
The Adults With Learning Difficulties in England survey took place once between 01 Apr 2003 to 31 Mar 2004. This was the first ever national survey about the lives of people with learning difficulties in England. It was the first time that this type of survey had been carried out anywhere in the world. The survey told policy makers how much more needed to be done if people with learning difficulties were to be more included in their communities and to have a better life. It fulfilled a Government promise (Valuing People, a White Paper 2001) to help people to live full and independent lives as part of their local communities.
Adult Social Care Finance Return (ASC-FR)
The Adult Social Care Finance Return (ASC-FR) is often used alongside the Short and Long Term (SALT) collection to provide information regarding adult social care activity and finance on local authorities in England to create an official statistics report. The return is submitted by every local authority in the UK and is used to support policy and planning.
1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) is a multidisciplinary national longitudinal birth cohort study. Original aims were to examine the social and biological characteristics of the mother in relation to neonatal morbidity, and to compare the results with the 1958 National Child Development Study. With each successive sweep, the scope of the enquiry has broadened from a strictly medical focus at birth, to encompass physical, educational, social and economic development.
Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS)
The ASCS asks service users questions about quality of life and what impact care ans support services have on their quality of life. The survey is conducted annually and is conducted by Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs). The survey seeks the opinions of service users aged 18 and over in receipt of long-term support services funded or managed by social services and is designed to help the adult social care sector understand more about how services are affecting lives to enable choice and for informing service development.
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is a longitudinal study that collects multidisciplinary data from a representative sample of the English population aged 50 and older. The survey data are designed to be used for the investigation of a broad set of topics relevant to understanding the ageing process including economic position, physical and mental health, labour market activity, retirement and social networks.
Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a national longitudinal birth cohort study following the lives of around 19,000 young people born in the United Kingdom in 2000-01. This multidisciplinary survey aims to capture the influence of early family context on child development and outcomes. Children from minority ethnic backgrounds and children in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland are oversampled to help capture the diversity of backgrounds into which children are born in the beginning of the 21st century.
Newcastle 85+ (N85)
The Newcastle 85+ Study is the world’s largest population-based longitudinal study of health and ageing in the over-85s. The study aims to assess the spectrum of health in the oldest old, identify factors which contribute to the maintenance of health and independence and advance understanding of the biological nature of human ageing.
Understanding Society – UK Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS)
Understanding Society is a largescale longitudinal survey of approximately 40,000 households across the United Kingdom. As a multi-topic household survey, the purpose of Understanding Society is to understand social and economic change in Britain at the household and individual levels by capturing important information about the social and economic circumstances, attitudes and behaviours and health of people living in thousands of households. The Understanding Society study is a successor to the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), with the BHPS sample forming part of Understanding Society from Wave 2 onwards.