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New report highlights how NIHR support for clinical research benefits the UK economy and NHS

NHS

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health research and offer support to NHS Trusts, researchers, universities and any other organisation conducting clinical research.

A recent report shows that the support given by the NIHR via their Clinical Research Networks  (CRN) generated an estimated £8 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the NHS, over the last 3 years. The support also generated 47,467 full time equivalent jobs for the UK.

Other key findings from the report include:

Over the three year period (financial years) 2016/17 to 2018/19:

  • The estimated annual economic contribution of NIHR CRN supported studies increased by £0.1 billion (GVA) between 2016/17 and 2018/19 (up from £2.6 billion in financial year 2016/17, to £2.7 billion in financial year 2018/19) – linked to increased commercial contract research activity supported by the NIHR CRN  
  • For each patient recruited onto a commercially-funded trial supported by the NIHR CRN, on average NHS providers in England received an estimated £9,200 from life sciences companies, and on average saved an estimated £5,800 per patient (where trial drugs replaced the standard treatment)
  • The number of studies and patients recruited onto NIHR CRN supported studies have both increased by approximately 30% in three years (financial year 2016/17 – financial year 2018/19)

There was also a cost saving to the NHS of £28.6 million where trial drugs were provided and use in place of standard drugs.

You can view the NIHR article here and the full report here.

As taken from the article, Matt Cooper, Business Development and Marketing Director at the NIHR Clinical Research Network said:

“The benefits to the UK of a strong and productive NIHR Clinical Research Network, working in partnership with the NHS, are clearly demonstrated in this report. It describes sustained growth in the Clinical Research Network Portfolio of both clinical research and its value to the UK economy –  £2.7billion in 2018/19, an increase of £300million from the previous report in 2016.”

Remember – support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Research Ethics mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance blog.

Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group – Call for Members (Academics, PGRs and ECRs)

PG research, Student Engagement

Do you want to contribute to a University Steering Group?

Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.

There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:

  • Develop and enhance the strategic direction, nature, quality, development and delivery of the University’s provision of researcher development for postgraduate research students (PGRs) which reflect the needs of all PGRs.
  • Guide centrally and faculty provided researcher development provisions promoting complimentary support of both increasing the personalisation of support for PGRs.
  • Evaluate University-wide PGR researcher development provisions, to ensure all programme content is maintained at a high standard and aligns with the university strategic priorities under BU2025.
  • Promote the benefits of facilitation of researcher development to staff and the benefits of engaging with researcher development to PGRs.
  • Enhance the overall PGR student experience at BU.

See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.

Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.

Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.

Open Access Week – Fabulous Friday!!

Guidance, Publishing, writing

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Lot’s of fabulous things have been going on across the sector to celebrate Open Access Week 2019. Here are a small selection…

 

 

The publishers have also been getting involved with numerous events, one of note is Royal Society Publishing who made all their content free to access this week. You can browse journals here.

Southampton University hosted a A Very Short Introduction to Open Access using Biscuits –

Edge Hill University hosted as a webinar with Open Book Publishers. This non-profit organisation publishes academic books on an OA basis and doesn’t charge authors fees to use the service.

Open Access Week has been truly international with events across the globe:

To end, here is a lovely quote posted by University of Tennessee which reminds us why open access matters…

Last chance – RDS Academic and Researcher Induction

The Research Development and Support (RDS, formerly RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.Objectives

  • The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
  • To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Indicative content

  • An overview of research at BU and how RDS can help/support academic staff
  • The importance of horizon-scanning, signposting relevant internal and external funding opportunities and clarifying the applications process
  • How to grow a R&KE portfolio, including academic development schemes
  • How to develop internal and external research networks
  • Key points on research ethics and developing research outputs
  • Getting started with Knowledge Exchange and business engagement

For more information about the event, please see the following link.  The eleventh induction will be held on Wednesday, 3oth October 2019 in Melbury House, 5th Floor, Garden Room.

Title Date Time Location
Research Development & Support (RDS) Research Induction Wednesday 30th October 2019 9.00 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RDS academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RDS staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here.

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

Regards,

The RDS team

HEIF-6 funding now available for innovative KE projects

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

HEIF-6 funding now available for innovative Knowledge Exchange (KE) projects

 

Research England provide Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) to universities to facilitate a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between them and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK.  The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-6 and runs from August 2017 to July 2022.

 

An internal call is now open for applications from BU colleagues who wish to develop innovative projects.  Funding will be awarded to those applications that clearly demonstrate how new/existing collaborations will be developed and how societal/economic impact will be achieved, specifically in relation to the generation and exploitation of Intellectual Property and commercialisation.  Interdisciplinary and/or cross-Faculty/Professional Services proposal are encouraged, as are proposals with international collaborators.

 

We anticipate making awards of £25,000-£100,000 per project per year.  Please note that the total fund allocated to this call is approximately £300,000 per year.  Projects should be up to 24 months in duration and must align to one of BU’s HEIF-6 themes:

  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Health (focusing on digital health and e-health)
  • Digital and creative

 

Colleagues wishing to apply should read BU’s HEIF-6 strategy and the HEIF-6 FAQs before completing the HEIF-6 application form (part 1 and part 2).  These documents can be found on the i-drive (I:/RDS/Public/HEIF 6).

 

It is highly recommended that you contact Research Development and Support (RDS) prior to applying to this fund to ensure your project is within the scope of the fund.  Please contact Knowledge Exchange Adviser, Rachel Clarke, who will discuss in further detail the purpose of the fund and how your project aligns to it.

 

Applications must be supported by the Project Lead’s Faculty and signed by their Head of Department and relevant Deputy Dean (Research and Professional Practice).  Any queries should be sent to Rachel Clarke (heif@bournemouth.ac.uk) in the first instance.

 

Completed application should be sent to HEIF@bournemouth.ac.uk by midnight on Monday 9th December.  The HEIF panel aims to confirm the outcomes of applications by the end of January 2020.

Open Access week – Thesis Thursday

Today, we are celebrating our Open Access doctoral theses.

There are 822 theses available through BURO. Furthermore, BU theses have been downloaded 1586 from EThOS in the last year.

 

 

Some highlights from our collection of theses include:

European Union 

European integration reassessed: a grounded theory approach.

 An analysis of the perceived effects of European Economic Monetary Union upon the hotel industry in the north of Portugal

Social media

Problematic attachment to social media: lived experience and behavioural archetypes.

Audience at the gates: how the BBC is using social media to identify talent and involve audiences in programme production.

Hackers gonna hack: investigating the effect of group processes and social identities within online hacking communities.

News

News, activism and social media: reporting the Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath by Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, RT and XINHUA.

Politics, terrorism and the news media: a case study of Saudi Arabia (2006-2007).

Climate change

Impact of climate change on extinction risk of montane tree species.

Tourist understanding of and engagement with the climate change impacts of holidays.

Predicting ecological impacts of climate change and species introductions on a temperate chalk stream in Southern Britain – a dynamic food web model approach.

Heritage

The Local community as a stakeholder group and its participation in UNESCO’s World Heritage nomination process: Jatiluwih Village, Bali, Indonesia.

Understanding heritage: multiple meanings and values.

Roman Britain

Chickens in the archaeological material culture of Roman Britain, France, and Belgium.

Making the invisible, visible. Iron age and roman salt-production in Southern Britain.

Integrating zooarchaeology into studies of Roman Britain and Medieval Russia.

Healthiness, through the material culture of the late iron age and roman large urban-type settlements of South-East Britain.

Health

Measuring what works: a mixed-methods evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal.

On being a mental health service user and becoming a service user representative: an autoethnography.

 

5th International Conference for Marketing in the Insurance Industry

conferences

FOM academics from the department of Marketing, Strategy and Innovation presented their work at the  International Conference for Marketing in the Insurance Industry (ICMI) held in Paris. This conference attracted an international audience of insurance specialists including academics, practitioners and industry consultants.

Dr Julie Robson presented two joint papers. The first examined the negative impact of brand spillover in the  financial services sector on individual U.K. based insurance companies and was co-authored with Prof Jillian Farquhar from Solent University/University of Pretoria. The second paper detailed research conducted in France on how multi-channels can destroy (rather than create) customer value. This paper was co-authored with  Prof Illaria Dalla Pozza from IPAG, Paris and Prof Jillian Farquhar.

FoM doctoral student, Ella Ejime also presented her research on psychological distance. Her results compared consumer perceptions in the UK and Nigeria. Ella is a matched funded PhD student  funded by IPAG and BU.

This conference is now in its fifth year having been held at IPAG Paris, St Gallen Switzerland and BU England.   More details about ICMI and the Association for Insurance Marketing can be found here.

 

Royal Society Content for Free!!

Guidance, writing

For Open Access week, all of the The Royals Society’s content is free to access. Browse their journals: http://bit.ly/2W1pIac 

Dr Nasiru Taura – Keynote speaker at the Africa Logistics Conference

Digital innovations of the future in the field of flying robotics and drones technology are competing over the African Airspace. Few examples include: The UPS, Zipline, & GAVI partnership to begin aerial transport of healthcare supplies in Rwanda; The AfroTech Spin off Red/Blue testing of cargo drones capable of covering distances of up to 80km (50 miles) as well as the Flying donkeys (robotic flying vehicle) to deliver cargo across Africa?

While it is clear that these companies could benefit from scale economies due to humanitarian/development issues in Africa and save lives, it is unclear how Africa could make the most of this opportunity. Dr Nasiru Taura of the Faculty of Management – Department of Marketing, Strategy, and Innovation – was invited as one of the few world-leading experts on digital entrepreneurship in Sub Saharan Africa – to be a guest speaker at the recently held 7th Africa Logistics Conference. The annual Africa Logistics Conference (ALC) brings together local and regional researchers, business leaders and professionals from humanitarian, government, donor, academic and private sectors to share knowledge on issues, trends, and opportunities related to supply chain networks in the context of humanitarian & development logistics in Africa. The event was held from 2nd to 3rd October 2019  in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr Taura draws from his research and professional practice expertise across a range of his publications on digital entrepreneurship to reflect on issues such as:

  • why Africa on one hand and drones/robotics companies on the other needs each other?;
  • why the 4th industrial revolution presents different sets of opportunities for actualizing African dreams?.

Dr Taura argues that Africa can become more prosperous by taking an active, instead of passive, role to co-create/co-produce body of knowledge that could underpin the development of the said futuristic technologies. However, he asserts that African governments need to engage in globalisation, improved absorptive capacity, & knowledge mapping of the humanitarian/development supply chains to be successful.

Should you be interested in Dr Taura’s work please see some of the favorites below or get in touch via email:

1) The digital entrepreneurship in Sub Saharan Africa (2019);
2) Accelerating Tech-enabled Entrepreneurship in Sub- Saharan Africa: A two-sector assessment – work presented  in 20th Annual International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD) held at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (May 2019);
3) Feature in the Conversation Africa;
4) A recent paper titled ‘Intra-cluster knowledge exchange and frequency of product innovation in a digital cluster’ published in 3* (ABS ranked) Journal of Small Business Management.

 

Photo of the Week: ‘Cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for smart cities’

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by Neetesh Saxena and is titled;

‘Cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for smart cities’

This image focuses on the solar and wind energy, which can be utilised in the upcoming smart cities to make the system more efficient, self-manageable, and optimised resourced, and also a cost-effective and mostly available energy resource for the smart devices.

Neetesh Saxena’s research focuses on the system’s efficiency and security aspects.

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

2020 BU PhD and MRes Matched Funded Studentship Competition – Call for Proposals

Funding opportunities, PG research

The BU Matched Funded Studentship Competition, which has run annually since 2006, provides an important role in growing PGR numbers, building and strengthening of a greater number of external relationships, providing a stronger Fusion learning experience for our PGRs.

Call for submission of up to 46 matched funded PhD studentships is now open and has been split into three strands:

  • PhD Studentship Strand 1 Allocative Matched Funding (up to 9 matched funded studentships)
  • PhD Studentship Strand 2 Competitive Matched Funding (up to 31 matched funded studentships)
  • PhD Studentship Strand 3 DTC Pump Priming (up to 6 matched funded studentships).

In addition, for the first time this year, BU is offering a limited number of MRes Studentship Competitive Matched Funding (up to 3 matched funded studentships).

Application Process

At this stage, academic staff are invited to submit proposals for matched funded Studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2020 start.

Full details, including the BU Studentship Allocative Process and Proposal Form, can be found on the Doctoral College Staff Intranet .

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted to the Doctoral College via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 5pm on Monday 13 January 2020.

If you have any questions about your application please speak with your Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice (DDRPP) or the Doctoral College Academic Managers: Dr Fiona Knight (for FST or FHSS enquiries) or Dr Julia Taylor (for FM or FMC enquiries).

Please ensure applications contain all relevant information (project proposal signed by Faculty DDRPP; letter of support from matched funder; due diligence form signed by Faculty DDRPP) as incomplete applications will not be considered.

BU’s Research Principles

Putting the BU Studentship Scheme into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding Panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).

There are eight funding panels:

  • HEIF Funding Panel
  • GCRF Funding Panel
  • Research Impact Funding Panel
  • Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
  • ACORN Funding Panel
  • Research Fellowships Funding Panel
  • Charity Support Funding Panel
  • SIA Funding Panel

Please see further announcements regarding each initiative.

These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the BU Studentship Funding Panel, please refer to:

Principle 1: encouraging the development of research team(s)

Principle 2: supporting research development, funding and impact that are both disciplinary and increasingly multi and inter-disciplinary as exemplified by the SIAs

Principle 3: focusing on the development of critical mass within the University, as per the honeycomb model

Principle 7: taking into account disciplinary norms when providing opportunities.

So…on Monday I was in the Kremlin!!

Fusion, HSS Our 9 Research Entities

but no worries I’m out and back in the UK!!

I had the privilege of being invited to represent the British Geriatric Society (BGS) Nurses and AHP Council to talk about Dementia and the nurse’s role at the Scientific and Practical Conference Long Term Care Focus on Dementia in St Petersburg last week. What struck me most as I listened to the presentation interpreted from Russian or Hebrew into English is that when it comes to talking about dementia we have more in common than divides us. Nurses, academics, physicians, psychiatrists, and nutritionists all talked about wanting to provide a person centred approach to care, seeing the person not their diagnosis and in essence wanting to offer a humanised approach to care. They discussed the importance of preparing nurses to work with older people and people with dementia and the challenges this poses for the curriculum. They emphasised the need for more research into what is ‘living well with dementia’ and how we can provide it. The presenters spoke with a passion that was inspiring.

I was able to offer the UK perspective and highlight examples from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at BU about our innovative approaches to education, research and practical examples of enabling people with dementia to live richer lives. My talk was being translated from English to Russian so as I started my talk I invited everyone to stand up to relieve their pressure areas (we had been sitting still for 2 hours and I am a nurse after all), I do not know what was translated but everyone did stand up, looking a bit bemused. Fortunately when I said to sit down again they all did – hand gestures helped! I felt like I was at the UN with my earpiece carefully in place, but was in awe of the eagerness to learn from others. I was the only person from the UK, but there were speakers from Norway, Israel and of course Russia all presenting. We have so much in common that I hope our conversations will continue.

I was able to stay the weekend and did a mini tour, that included the Hermitage Museum, the ballet (wow!), an overnight sleeper train to Moscow (I felt like I was in a Agatha Christi film), and of course go in to the Kremlin.  It was a fascinating conference and trip.

UKRO Visit (and Brexit)

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, international, Post-award, Training

As usual, RDS will host an annual UK Research Office visit to BU in 2019. This year’s event has been scheduled for November; the reason is obvious – Brexit!

 

All academic staff interested in EU funding are invited to attend the event:

Monday 18th November Fusion Building – FG06 from 11:00 – 14:30. Lunch will be included.

Dr Andreas Kontogeorgos, European Advisor of the UK Research Office will be discussing with us the impact of Brexit on EU funding opportunities. Academics are welcome to submit any other EU funding related topics for discussion to Ainar Blaudums by the end of October.

UKRO delivers subscription-based advisory service for research organisations and provides MSCA and ERC National Contact Point services in the UK. As part of UKRO services, BU members of staff may sign up to receive personalised email alerts and get early access to EU funding related publications on UKRO portal.

Please contact Organisational Development to book a place.

Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group – Call for Members (Academics, PGRs and ECRs)

PG research

Do you want to contribute to a University Steering Group?

Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.

There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:

  • Develop and enhance the strategic direction, nature, quality, development and delivery of the University’s provision of researcher development for postgraduate research students (PGRs) which reflect the needs of all PGRs.
  • Guide centrally and faculty provided researcher development provisions promoting complimentary support of both increasing the personalisation of support for PGRs.
  • Evaluate University-wide PGR researcher development provisions, to ensure all programme content is maintained at a high standard and aligns with the university strategic priorities under BU2025.
  • Promote the benefits of facilitation of researcher development to staff and the benefits of engaging with researcher development to PGRs.
  • Enhance the overall PGR student experience at BU.

See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.

Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.

Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.

 

 

BU researcher explores how people who have had a stroke can be supported to return to work

The 8th edition of BU’s annual research magazine – the Bournemouth Research Chronicle – has now been published.  This year’s edition focuses on the work of our Early Career Researchers (ECRs). Read on to find out more about research being undertaken in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.

At least 100,000 people in the UK have a stroke each year and around a third of them are of working age. In 1990 only a quarter of strokes were experienced by people aged between 20-64 years old, meaning that the average age of stroke victims is falling. BU’s Dr Kathryn Collins, a Lecturer in Physiotherapy, noticed this trend emerging while working as a physiotherapist in Chicago and while undertaking her PhD at the University of East Anglia.

“My PhD explored neural plasticity, and the corticospinal tract which connects our brain to different muscle groups. I was really interested in the way our brains can change: whether from learning a new skill or from being damaged through a stroke,” explains Dr Collins, “For example, in someone who has had a stroke, we might see an undamaged area of the brain developing differently in order to compensate for an area that has been damaged.

“Through both my practice and my research, I noticed that my patients were becoming much younger. Not only were this group trying to recover from their strokes, they were also trying to get back to work. Working gave them a purpose as well as enabling them to provide for themselves and their families.”

There are a number of reasons why people are at risk of having a stroke at a younger age. Some may be more susceptible to blood clotting because of a pre-existing condition, such as sickle cell anaemia, while others may be at risk because of certain lifestyle factors. These could include stress, poor diet or lack of physical activity.

Now at Bournemouth University, Dr Collins has been continuing her research into the facilitators and barriers to returning to work. Her research was funded by BU’s Acceleration of Research & Networking (ACORN) grant scheme, which provides promising Early Career Researchers with the opportunity to lead and manage their own research project.

“The funding enabled me to carry out a systematic review with two of our physiotherapy students. It was a really good opportunity for them to get involved in research and for them to broaden their skills. Through this review, we have been exploring hidden impairments which were seen as a significant barrier to returning work.”

Dr Collins also worked with BU’s Public Involvement in Education and Research (PIER) Partnership to run a number of focus groups with stroke survivors. The PIER Partnership put her in touch with the local Stroke Association, who were keen to be involved. Through these focus groups Dr Collins was able to identify a number of barriers and facilitators to returning to work.

“Peer support was big factor in helping people back to work, as it gave stroke survivors the opportunity to learn from someone else who had been in the same position,” says Dr Collins. “Learning to listen to their bodies was also important. If they felt fatigued, for example, then they needed to learn that it was OK to take a break and rest.

“Workplace support made a big difference too. Being offered a phased return to work, having a flexible working pattern or having adjustments to help them carry out tasks they now found difficult were all examples of the kinds of support people found beneficial.”

In addition to this, training, longer rehabilitation, family support and returning to or learning new hobbies were seen as facilitators to help people return to work. The latter often helped to increase confidence which would then spill over into other areas of life“One of the biggest barriers to returning to work were hidden impairments, such as emotions. People experience a huge range of emotions after a stroke; anxiety about having another stroke, frustration at not being able to do things they could do before or guilt that they were no longer able to support their families in the same way. These emotions could then lead to changes in their behaviour or their personalities,” explains Dr Collins.

“Fatigue was also a significant barrier. Some people had returned to work, only to have to give it up altogether shortly afterwards as they hadn’t realised how fatigued they would be. In addition to this, some stroke survivors might face physical barriers such as finding it difficult to drive, climb stairs or get out of their chair easily.”

Changes in cognition were also recognised as a barrier. Some stroke survivors reported no longer being able to process information in the same way, finding that they felt overwhelmed or were facing ‘information overload’ if faced with too much to process at once.

“The final set of barriers centred on perceptions; both of their employers and colleagues. Some people found that there was a lack of understanding about the effects of a stroke, which meant they didn’t have the right support at work. It was felt that employers were better at making adaptations for people with visible, physical disabilities, but less so for people who might have hidden impairments.”

As the project draws to a close, Dr Collins is now considering what her next steps will be and how she can ensure that her research findings can make a difference to stroke survivors.

“I’d like to broaden my research to speak to more stroke survivors to make sure that I’ve correctly identified all the barriers and facilitators to returning to work. I’d also like to speak to employers to find out what their perceptions are,” says Dr Collins. “Ultimately, I want to be able to use my research findings to inform the support that physiotherapists and other health professionals provide to stroke survivors. My goal is to make sure that we’re providing the right kind of support and interventions to enable stroke survivors to get the most out of their lives.”

To find out more about the research of BU’s Early Career Researchers, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/brc.

If you would like a printed copy of the magazine, please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk.