Procedures for Prison Research with Health Outcomes

ANNEX 2: DEFINING OFFENDER HEALTHRESEARCHadapted from MRC definition of clinical research by Dr MaryPiperThe term “health research” encompasses a broad range of activitiesall aimed at improving or maintaining human health.The main outcomes from health research is a health outcome withthe ultimate aim of being able to apply the knowledge gained fromresearch to improve healthcare delivery, which itself may be thesubject of research such as, studies of health services andorganisation.Clinical research: Research based on humans and designed toanswer questions about health and disease. In addition to directexamination of individual patients and populations, it includes thestudy of biological samples and personal data deriving from theindividuals concerned.Population sciences: Investigations undertaken to identifymechanisms of health or disease, or to test the validity andimportance of new interventions, or treatments. e.g. descriptiveepidemiology, cohorts, randomised trials, and case-control designsinvolving peopleResearch defined as health should encompass at least one of thefollowing categories:1. Human participation: studies with a main health outcome thatrequires face-to-face contact with patients and/or healthy humanparticipants and may involve use of patient records as well.• Assessment of the impact of an improved clinical substancemisuse service on people in prison2. Records based studies: studies which require access topersonal data on health or lifestyle without involving face-to-facecontact with any people e.g., epidemiological studies, healtheconomic studies, public health interventions, health servicesresearch and meta-analyses – information may be obtained bytelephone, postal questionnaires/surveys or electronic/manual dataretrieval.• Study of records of those who have died in prison or onrelease from custody, ie suicide.