Scams and fraud have become one of the most common crimes globally, inflicting high emotional and psychological tolls on millions of people. The enormous scale of the problem is demonstrated by figures from Action Fraud (the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre), from the Office for National Statistics crime survey for England and Wales and reports from financial and consumer services organisations.
Data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau shows that individuals from the UK reported over 420,000 incidents in the year to November 2021 with financial losses of approximately £1.8bn. The consumer association Which? reports that more than £4m on average is stolen by fraudsters every day. Moreover, there is evidence that financial losses relating to scams and fraud have significantly increased since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has announced that measures to protect people from online scams and fraud are to be included in the Online Safety Bill.
Falling victim to scams and fraud may have negative impacts on health and wellbeing with victims reporting significantly higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of happiness. Recent research carried out for Which? calculated the cost to victim wellbeing at around £9.3bn per year. The PHR Programme recognises that the evidence base on preventing and reducing the health impacts of scams and fraud is at varied stages of development and could benefit from further underpinning development work.
This funding opportunity is for applications of up to £50,000 over a maximum of 6 months. The aim of this Application Development Award (ADA) scheme is to provide funding for underpinning development work that will add to the current knowledge base and will ultimately support and inform applications either to an NIHR commissioned call on interventions to mitigate the negative health impacts of scams and fraud or applications to the Programme’s researcher-led workstream. The primary outcomes of any resulting applications must be health-related.
The PHR Programme is predominantly interested in evaluating interventions that are likely to have impact on populations at scale, addressing health inequalities and the underlying wider determinants of health.
Possible areas of work for the health impacts of scams and fraud ADA may include (but are not limited to):
- Work to understand what data are collected on the health impacts of scams and fraud from statutory or third sector support services. For example, data collected by local authorities, Trading Standards teams, services dedicated to helping individuals affected by scams and fraud, services providing mental health and wellbeing support, services primarily focused on supporting particular populations that might be especially vulnerable to scams and fraud.
- Secondary analyses of existing data.
- Development of networks or partnerships to support the development of interventions. For example, across or within particular geographical areas or with services and organisations such as citizens advice and support services, consumer rights organisations, financial services organisations, police services.
- Analysis of how current interventions to prevent or reduce the health impacts of other similar crimes may be applied to this topic area and the consideration of possible new approaches.
- Analysis of how current interventions, where the primary focus of the intervention is not necessarily on the health impacts of scams and fraud, could be adapted.
- Identification and engagement of relevant stakeholders. For example, with specific communities and population groups, families and carers, interest groups, local and national decision-makers, service providers.
- Development work to support feasibility or pilot study proposals.
- Underpinning research such as epidemiology. For example, work to understand the distribution of the potential health effects of scams and fraud in the population (including consideration of groups that may be disproportionately impacted), investigations of the health impacts within specific populations or broader epidemiological assessments that may inform intervention research. This could include attention given to the scale, types and pattern of the health impacts, regional and population variations, ethnicity, socio-economic group or age group.
Applicants should note that:
- The PHR Programme will consider funding more than one study team for this ADA.
- Applicants do not have to be limited to the research areas of interest identified above.
- Applicants can focus on a single or combination of components, if preferred.
- The PHR Programme welcomes applications that propose innovative approaches to undertake this work, as well as demonstrating how researchers from non-traditional public health disciplines will be engaged in the research.
- The PHR Programme funds only interventional research that has health-related primary outcomes and underpinning or developmental research to inform the design and execution of intervention studies measuring health outcomes. It will accept other outcomes as long as the link to health can be clearly justified.
Applicants should ensure that the underpinning development work shows a clear link to future possible interventions and approaches to prevent or reduce the health impacts of scams and fraud.
Research teams could see this ADA as an opportunity to prepare a later application for the researcher-led workstream. Research teams that are already in a position to submit a proposal to evaluate interventions that tackle the health impacts of scams and fraud, are welcome to do so directly via the researcher-led workstream.
If you have specific questions about this funding call, please contact: phr@nihr.ac.uk.
Timescales
Commensurate with the level of funding available, this is a direct-to-Stage 2 funding opportunity. Applications received will be assessed by a sub-committee of the PHR Programme Prioritisation and Funding Committees. Applications will be assessed for importance to public health, scientific quality, feasibility and value for money. Successful applicants will be expected to begin the work within two months of the funding decision being communicated. Successful applicants will be expected to produce a final report. Any other outputs (e.g. journal articles) must be accessible in line with NIHR’s Open Access policy.