Tagged / HSC

Case is made for fusion of the Arts and Social Sciences

BU research

Kip Jones, Reader in Peformative Social Science, HSC and The Media School makes a case for the potential of arts-based social science to reach audiences and engage communities in an article in The Qualitative Report (Vol 17: 18, 1-8) published electronically today. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR17/jones.pdf

 Entitled, “Connecting Research with Communities through Performative Social Science” (PSS), the paper contextualises both the use of the Arts in Social Science, as well as the utility of Social Science in the Arts and Humanities. PSS is conceived of as a fusion of the Arts and Social Sciences, creating a new paradigm where tools from the Arts and Humanities are explored for their utility in enriching the ways in which we investigate Social Science subjects and involve communities in our research efforts and diffusion of our collaborative endeavours. Performative Social Science is redefined in terms of a synthesis that can break down old boundaries, open up channels of communication and empower communities through engagement.

The article harks back the beginnings of PSS by recalling the influential AHRC funded series of workshops, “Social Science in Search of its Muse” held at BU throughout 2006-07, reported in a short video (https://vimeo.com/4327950). This was followed by a Special Issue on Performative Social Science for the online, qualitative journal, Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Jones et al., May, 2008), providing a wide range of examples and manifestations of PSS, with contributions from various disciplines/subject areas, and realized through a wide variety of approaches to research practice.

 Since these early efforts in PSS, the impact of these explorations has been measurable, including several completed PhDs utilizing principles of PSS, many journal articles, films and conference presentations nationally and internationally and further funding by Research Councils UK of research based in Performative Social Science methods.

Jones then turns to examples from his own work to illustrate what happens when Art talks to Social Science and Social Science responds to Art. The benefits of such interaction and interdisciplinarity are outlined in relation to a recently completed project using multi-methods, which resulted in the production and current dissemination of the professional short film, Rufus Stone.

Jones said, “Performative Social Science provides the overarching intellectual prowess, strategies and methodological and theoretical bases to engage and unite scholars across disciplines and, in turn, connect researchers’ endeavours with communities and stakeholders. Performative Social Science or a fusion of the arts and sciences are central to both community engagement and as catalysts for change”.

#hwbbu – Health and Wellbeing Community Hashtag (and biscuits)

BU research

#hwbbu – Twitter hashtags

As Carol Bond indicated in the comments to the recent blog post about the successful HSC Health and Wellbeing Community Conference the community agreed to select a twitter hashtag in order to collect information from any tweets relevant to the activities of the community.

I was tasked with organising this, being familiar with the concept, and after a wait for the registration to come through I can confirm that the hashtag is #hwbbu (Health and Wellbeing at Bournemouth University). The hashtag is registered with the Healthcare Hashtags Project here. This project maintains a date-searchable archive of the tweets of healthcare relevant hashtags as well as allowing analysis of activity and reach.

We went for a short hashtag because this is good practice with Twitter being limited to only 140 characters for each tweet.

Biscuits – Light is alright

As you’ll see from the rather fetching picture from the conference post, I took part in the biscuit taste test organised by Dr Heather Hartwell who was talking to us about the concept of ‘Health by Stealth’. We tried two Rich Tea biscuits from the same company and, despite what the picture shows, most people preferred biscuit A. This was actually the ‘Light’ version! Less fat, less calories, slightly more sugar needed to bond it but crunchier (less claggy) and the same price. The problem is we tend to think of ‘healthy’ versions as not being as tasty. I did manage to guess by sight which was the healthiest so was therefore surprised to prefer its taste. As someone who likes a sweet snack I think it’s definitely worth trying out lighter versions in future.

 

Public Health: Knowledge into Action

BU research

1 day conference  – 26th June 2012

Jointly hosted by BU and the NHS

Public health is at a crossroads … moving back into local authorities where it began with the appointment of the first medical officers for health.  This move presents opportunities to improve health and wellbeing by taking a more integrated approach. The purpose of this one day conference was to discuss these opportunities and identify action that can be taken to improve health and wellbeing using the best available evidence.  The event was very successful and well attended and included local public health practitioners, local councillors and BU staff.

For further information please contact: Ann Hemingway, Public Health Academic at Bournemouth University – ahemingway@bournemouth.ac.uk or Lindley Owen Consultant in Public Health NHS Bournemouth and Poole – Lindley.Owen@bp-pct.nhs.uk

Presentations

Munchausen by Internet

BU research, Featured

Online health forums offer much needed support, advice and friendship for people suffering with illnesses. But within this supportive atmosphere, unwelcome visitors sometimes lurk; a breed of malicious, hurtful Internet trolls masquerading as real group members.

Munchausen by Internet (MBI) sees people faking illnesses and fabricating serious health conditions in online support groups, building relationships with genuine sufferers and generating sympathy for their invented condition.

In one case documented in 2011, a brother and sister posed as relations of a multiple sclerosis sufferer on a social networking website and created an elaborate narrative, which included diagnosis of terminal cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a baby miscarriage, pneumonia and the death of a loved one through a heart attack. They trapped their victim – a genuine MS sufferer called Elizabeth – into providing half a year of time-consuming and emotionally draining interaction with themselves and their fake personas.[i]

Events such as these can have devastating effects on online health communities, destroying trust when the hoax is exposed and sometimes damaging the communities beyond repair. But what can be done to manage this more effectively?

Andy Pulman and Dr Jacqui Taylor from Bournemouth University are the authors of a recent article on MBI and its motivation, opportunity, detection, effects and consequences. They suggest that MBI trolling should be formally acknowledged: “This will help patients, caregivers and practitioners to more effectively identify cases of MBI and minimise the growth of this behaviour as more and more people seek reassurance and support about their health in an online environment,” they explain.

Pulman and Taylor also suggest that more research is required in order to provide victims of suspected MBI trolls with the right advice and for facilitators of discussion groups to effectively manage interactions. “There is a clear, compelling need to recognise that in addition to MBI being classed as a condition in its own right, there is a subsection of people currently tagged as MBI sufferers who are MBI trolls intentionally harming well intentioned support groups and abusing members for their own pleasure or enjoyment. It is this area which needs urgent attention and action either by group users or the creators of the software that host them.”

‘Munchausen by Internet (MBI): Current research and future directions’ is published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). Read it online here.

[i] Case documented in Cunningham JM, Feldman MD. Munchausen by Internet: current perspectives and three new cases. Psychosomatics 2011 Apr;52(2):185-189.

Rufus Stone scoops 2 awards at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival!

BU research

Rufus Stone  has just scooped two awards at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival in the USA, the only short to win in two categories at the festival:  the Grand prize in the Alternative Spirit category and the Youth Jury Award for best GLBT film at the festival.

The Rhode Island International Film Festival consisted of six days and nights of screenings, meetings and greetings featured more than 200 films selected from more than 4,000 entrants.

The Youth Jury is a programme that introduces youth to the world of independent film. The youth attend multiple screenings during the Festival, Q&A’s, and festival events. Their goal is to deliberate, and choose a Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Best Short to receive the Youth Jury award.

Just few reactions to Rufus Stone from audience members at earlier screeings:

“Critically the authenticity of the film shone through – the characters were real and genuine”.

  •   “emotionally gripping”
  •   “technically innovative and striking”
  •   “a brilliant way to portray research”
  •   “beautiful and very intense”
  •   “a quite remarkable film”
  •   “a brilliant film, beautifully crafted and full of empathy”

“Rarely does one get the chance of seeing a love affair between two men portrayed on screen credibly and realistically, not to say very movingly”.

“A kind of ‘ To Kill a Mocking Bird’ type film that makes you really think about your morals”.

Bournemouth University’s Kip Jones (The Media School &; HSC) said, “Winning at prestigious film festivals such as RIIFF is important in getting the film seen by a wide audience. This is the kind of impact that we imagined from the outset of the research project itself”. 

“I am particularly pleased for our director, Josh Appignanesi, who took on board the concept of fusion of research and a professional film and visually brought it to life through Rufus Stone.”

“Gay and Pleasant Land? -a study about positioning, ageing and gay life in rural South West England and Wales” was  funded by Research Councils UK.The Rufus Stone microsite gives more information about the film, and the research that inspired it.

BUCRU – Seminar presenting Breaking News!

BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

 

BREAKING  NEWS…

We would like to invite you to an afternoon seminar by one of our Visiting Faculty, Professor Mike Wee, presenting some exciting new research findings to come out of a recently completed Research for Patient Benefit funded study comparing two methods of pain relief during labour (abstract and biography below).  This paper was just voted best paper of the conference at the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association Annual Conference in Liverpool and was featured recently in the Bournemouth Echo http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9770928.Pain_relief_in_labour__study_at_Poole_hospital_makes_important_discovery/

The seminar is scheduled for Thursday 19th July 2-3pm in BG10 Bournemouth House (after the HSC end of term lunch and next door for your convenience).

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you then.

BUCRU

Website: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Administrator: +44 (0)1202 961939 / wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk

Title: The IDvIP Trial: A two-centre double blind randomised controlled trial comparing i.m. diamorphine and i.m. pethidine for labour analgesia

Research team and affiliations: MYK Wee, JP Tuckey,* P Thomas,† S Burnard,* D Jackson.

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole, UK, *Royal United Hospital, Bath, UK, †Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit, Bournemouth, UK.

Abstract:

Background: Intramuscular pethidine, the commonest parenteral opioid analgesic used in obstetrics and more recently diamorphine usage has increased in the UK.  The maternal, fetal and neonatal side effects are well known for pethidine but there are no sufficiently powered large RCTs comparing pethidine with diamorphine. The aim of this trial is to address this.

Methods: After ethical approval, informed consent was obtained from 484 women randomised to receive either 7.5mg diamorphine i.m. or 150mg pethidine i.m. for labour analgesia. The sample size calculation derived from a small RCT giving 90% power (at the 5% significance level) is based upon the maternal primary outcome measure of pain relief at 60mins and the neonatal primary outcome measures of Apgar Score of <7 at 1min and neonatal resuscitation. Secondary outcome measures include verbal pain intensity at 60mins and over 3hrs post-analgesia, pain relief over first 3hrs, maternal oxygen saturation, sedation, nausea and vomiting and maternal satisfaction with analgesia. Fetal and neonatal secondary outcomes include CTG trace, meconium staining, UApH, UVpH, time of delivery to first breath, Apgar Score at 5mins, naloxone use, neonatal oxygen saturations, sedation and feeding behaviour for the first 2hrs after delivery.

Results: Reported using CONSORT guidelines. At 60mins post-administration and over a 3hr period, diamorphine is better at reducing pain scores than pethidine (p<0.001). There were no statistical differences between the two groups regarding Apgar Scores of <7 at 1min and the need for neonatal resuscitation.  The time between first dose administered and delivery is on average 82mins longer with the diamorphine group compared to pethidine (p<0.001). The vast majority of women experienced moderate to severe pain at all times. Women receiving diamorphine were more satisfied with their analgesia. There were no statistically significant differences in maternal sedation, nausea and vomiting or oxygen saturations over the 3hr period. There were no statistically significant differences in the fetal and neonatal outcomes including feeding behaviour between the two groups within 2hrs of birth but neonates in the pethidine group were more likely to be moderately or severely sedated at delivery.

Discussion: Intramuscular 7.5mg diamorphine gives significantly better analgesia than 150mg pethidine but prolongs delivery by approx. 82mins.  Women given diamorphine are more likely to be satisfied with their analgesia.  The mechanism for the prolongation of delivery time in the diamorphine group should be investigated further.

Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme (PB-PG-0407-13170).

References

1. Tuckey JP, Prout RE, Wee MYK. Prescribing intramuscular opioids for labour analgesia in consultant-led maternity units: a survey of UK practice. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia 2008, 17(1):3-8.

2. Fairlie FM, Marshall L, Walker JJ et al. Intramuscular opioids for maternal pain relief for labour: a randomised controlled trial comparing pethidine with diamorphine. British  Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1999; 106(11): 1181 -1187.

Biography of speaker:

Michael Wee is a consultant anaesthetist from Poole Hospital and Royal Bournemouth Hospitals.  He has a special interest in obstetric anaesthesia and is the lead obstetric anaesthetist at Poole Hospital.  He is chair of the Research and Innovations Group at Poole Hospital and is a Board member of the Western Comprehensive Local Research Network.  He was awarded a visiting professorship at Bournemouth University in 2009.  He is a referee for several medical journals.  His research interests include patient information, safety in anaesthesia, maternal analgesia and simulation in epidural anaesthesia.  He is a co-supervisor of a PhD student at BU and chief investigator of the MObs study investigating early warning scores in obstetrics.

BU Wellbeing Theory Keynote in Montreal

BU research

The theme of the 31st International Human Sciences Research Conference was ‘Renewing the Encounter between the Human Sciences, the Arts & the Humanities.’ Professors Les Todres and Kate Galvin presented one of four keynote addresses on their Dwelling-Mobility theory of Wellbeing. They illustrated their theory with film clips, poetry, and phenomenological-reflective writing. A video of their talk can be viewed in due course on the conference website.  BU was further represented by two  staff members and one PhD student: Caroline Ellis-Hill from the School of Health and Social Care, presented her  research on ‘caring following a stroke’; Sean Beer from the School of Tourism presented data and analysis from his studies on experiences that shaped peoples’ perceptions of what made food and drink authentic to them; and Regina Hess, a PhD student, spoke poetically of the survival of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. This interdisciplinary conference will be held next year in Denmark.

Rufus Stone featuring in this year’s FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival

BU research

BU’s Kip Jones, Executive Producer and Author of the short film based on his research findings, “Rufus Stone” has just been notified that the film has been selected for acceptance by the judges for exhibition during this year’s FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival  August 7-12, 2012. The event is the largest public film festival in New England and an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences qualifying event.

In 2002, Flickers was notified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) that it had elected to recognize the Rhode Island International Film Festival as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the Annual Academy Awards. With more than 7,000 film festivals worldwide, only 65 have this recognition “One of the top 10 Short Film Festivals and Top 10 International Film Festivals in the United States” – Chris Gore, author of The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, 2nd edition.

 
Well done and good luck Kip!

BU wins a prestigious HEA studentship!

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research

Last week the Higher Education Academy (HEA) announced the winners of their Doctoral Programme awards, which form part of the HEA’s strategy to undertake research to develop pedagogical knowledge and evidence-based practice in higher education. The 15 awards have been made to academics to support Doctoral studentships in fields including the impact of retention strategies on part-time mature students in HE, and unpacking the dynamics of group interaction in problem-based learning.

Professor Jonathan Parker in the School of Health and Social Care was awarded one of the studentships for a student to research male students in qualifying social work education.

This is an excellent achievement, especially taking into account the popularity of the scheme! Congratulations Jonathan 🙂

BUDI@ Alzheimer Research UK event

BU research

On the 25th May 2012 Southampton Solent University hosted an annual Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) public awareness event. BUDI (Bournemouth University Dementia Institute) was invited to set up a display and provide information about BUDI’s services and research. Clare Cutler from BUDI, along with scientists and clinicians from the local ARUK network demonstrated and provided information about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, current treatments and the latest research. The event was attended by many members of the public, carers and students. BUDI was able to provide information about the services it can provide and insight from ongoing research. The day was very well received by the public and was said to be an ‘excellent event”.

Bournemouth University Dementia Institute

BU research

Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) was launched at a public open meeting on dementia on the 16th May. See our fledgling website for more details: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute
A University wide meeting open to all staff interested in working in the dementia field will be held on Thursday 14 June at the Business Centre (EB708) 10-12 followed by opprtunity to network over a light lunch. If you would plan on coming along can you let Michelle O’Brien know (mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk) for catering purposes.
www.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute

BU student identifies Legionella pneumophila in windscreen washer fluid

BU research

Matthew Palmer [one of the BU students on the MSc Public Health programme within HSC] has just published part of his dissertation as a letter to the editor of the European Journal of Epidemiology. Matthew is reporting and confirming, for the first time, the identification of the microorganism (Legionella pneumophila) in water obtained from the windscreen washer fluid of a car without added screenwash.

Legionellosis or Legionnaires’ disease is a severe bacterial pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila acquired through droplet inhalation. Its public health significance lies primarily in the potential for large outbreaks of the disease such as the 1976 outbreak at an American Legionnaires’ conference in Philadelphia from which the disease derives its name. According to the Health Protection Agency there are, on average, 237 cases a year in England and Wales.

This is the first time that Legionella pneumophila has been identified in windscreen washer fluid and the first time that screenwash has been shown to be effective against its growth. With this in mind, we felt that Matthew should waste no time in getting this into the literature by starting publishing his findings. We envisage that there will be a fair amount of interest in Matthew’s discovery, especially within the public health world.

Matthew is currently working as a senior health protection practitioner at the Health Protection Agency and he has been doing his MSc degree at BU on part-time basis under the supervision of Professor Ahmed Khattab, Vanessa Heaslip and the MSc Public Health team.

You can access Matthew’s paper via this link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/u024qt22g77820t7/

Read more about Legionnaires’ Disease on the NHS website: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/legionnaires-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Prof Ahmed Khattab, HSC

Fran Biley’s research project featured in the Dorset Echo today

BU research

HSC’s Associate Professor Fran Biley’s recent research project has been recognised by the Dorset Echo today.

Working with Hannah Walker of the Dorset Mental Health Forum the project funded by a Big Lottery Fund, ‘Writing for Recovery’ aims to help mental health service users develop their creative writing skills. BU Occupational Therapist Lecturer Kirsty Stanley is also involved in the project which has 8 sessions over 8 weeks from May and is fully subsidised, so is completely free for the participants.

The project also has a branch in Eastbourne run by Dr Alec Grant of Brighton University and looks to make a real impact on participants lives as Fran is quoted “Creative writing has been shown to be very therapeutic and we are sure that this important initiative will be very enjoyable and it will also contribute to the health and wellbeing of course participants”.

‘Popularizing Research’ published with opening Chapter by BU’s Kip Jones on Performative Social Science

BU research

Peter Lang Publishing announces the publication of Popularizing Research: Engaging New Genres, Media, and Audiences, edited by Phillip Vannini of Canada’s Royal Roads University.

The book’s opening Chapter, “Short Film as Performative Social Science: The Story Behind “’Princess Margaret’” was written by Dr Kip Jones, Reader in Qualitative Research and Performative Social Science, who shares a joint appointment in HSC and the Media School. The Chapter outlines his fascinating and innovative approach to research and its dissemination via a fusion of the arts and social sciences.

Jones utilizes his chapter to recount an unconventional journey to academic publishing that certainly did not follow the usual route of journal or book publication. The Chapter revisits “The one about Princess Margaret”, one of Jones’ earliest attempts at audio/visual script writing, by recalling his initial motivation and enthusiasm for finding innovative ways to express scholarship and how his thinking about the use of tools from the arts in social science has evolved since those early days. These personal experiences are then offered up as advice in a summation for both social scientists and arts practitioners who may be interested in this new paradigm of Performative Social Science through a discussion about collaboration and pathways to impact.

Popularizing Research offers academics, professional researchers, and students a new methodological book/website hybrid by way of a broad survey of ways to popularize research. As an edited interdisciplinary book accompanied by a website featuring samples of popularized research, it will have the potential of not only telling its readers about new genres, new media, new strategies, and new imperatives for popularizing research, but most importantly it will also be useful in showing how these new processes work in the end, what they sound like, and what they look like.

For more information and to view the video representing Jones’ contribution to the book, see his page on the book’s website under ‘Film’.

Come along to the BU-research based short-film ‘Rufus Stone’ screening & lunch on Tuesday

BU research

Pictured: Tom Kane, who plays 'Flip', Rufus' young friend, and Harry Kershaw as 'Rufus'.

Rufus Stone: a film about love, sexual awakening and treachery (30 minutes).
The Making of Rufus Stone: (7 minutes).
Tuesday 28 February
12:00 noon: Complimentary lunch
12:45- 13:45: Screening of films
Weymouth House 240 & 241
Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University 

A screening of the short film Rufus Stone is open to BU students, staff, the public and takes place on Tuesday 28 February at 12:45 in our Hollywood-style Screening Room on BU’s Talbot Campus. Complimentary lunch will be available beforehand from 12 noon. You must register to attend at: diversity@bournemouth.ac.uk

Rufus Stone stars William Gaunt, familiar to many from his appearances in the TV sitcom, No Place Like Home and Elle Magazine’s ‘Star in the Making’ Harry Kershaw, both playing Rufus at different periods in his life story.

There will be time for discussion following the screening of the films with

Dr Kip Jones Executive Producer, Reader in Qualitative Research, HSC and a behind the scenes look at The Making of Rufus Stone with Trevor Hearing, The Media School.

As featured in The New York Times during its world premiere in 2011, Rufus Stone is a film which draws its story from three years of in-depth research to give an account of being gay and growing older in the British countryside. The film is now available for wider audiences to enjoy in Dorset and Hampshire as part of BU’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History month, celebrating the lives and achievements of the LGBT community.

Rufus Stone is an innovative approach to a research three-year research project, ‘Gay and Pleasant Land?’ led by BU academic, Dr Kip Jones.  The project, about positioning, ageing and gay life in rural South West England and Wales, is a work package in the UK-wide New Dynamics of Ageing Project ‘Grey and Pleasant Land?: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Connectivity of Older People in Rural Civic Society’, funded by Research Councils UK.

Directed by award-winning Josh Appignanesi and produced by Parkville Pictures, the stories which form the foundation of the script for Rufus Stone are entirely based upon research undertaken by Dr Jones and his team from BU’s School of Health and Social Care (HSC) with the assistance of a citizens’ advisory committee. The film’s ‘fictional’ story was created over time using composite characters and situations, all uncovered in the ‘Gay and Pleasant Land?’ research project, through in-depth biographic life story interviews, focus groups, and actual site visits to the rural locations where older gay or lesbian citizens were living.

“Our hope is that the film will dispel many of the myths surrounding ageing, being gay and life in British rural settings,” said Jones, in his role as Executive Producer of Rufus Stone. “The film renders poetically the way in which our memories morph and play with our histories, much as dappled sunlight reveals, then conceals, an idyllic landscape”.

Rufus Stone the movie weblog
Rufus Stone the movie on facebook