Category / Health, Wellbeing & Society

Hat-trick of new diabetes papers

international, Publishing, writing

Diabetes editorial BarnardCongratulations to Katharine Barnard and Janet James in FHSS and their colleagues in the USA and Sweden on their latest publication on the ‘Impact of Chronic Sleep Disturbance for People Living with T1 Diabetes’ [1].  Recently Dr. Barnard also co-authored an editorial in the international journal Diabetes under the title ‘Psychosocial Aspects and Diabetes Technology – Head to Head or Hand in Hand?’ [2].  Finally, the third recent paper by Dr. Barnard and colleagues from across the UK was published in Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes Association [3].Barnard Diabetes 2016

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

References

  1. Barnard, K., James, J., et al. Impact of Chronic Sleep Disturbance for People Living With T1 Diabetes J Diabetes Sci Technol 2016; 10: 762-767.
  2. Barnard K.D., Weissberg-Benchell, J., Psychosocial Aspects and Diabetes Technology – Head to Head or Hand in Hand? Diabetes 2016; 12(1): 35-36. DOI: http://doi.org/10.17925/EE.2016.12.01.35
  3. Barnard K.D, Holt, R.I. et al. ,Could the Discrepancy in Perceived Emotional Care Received and Provided Be a Barrier to Active Diabetes Self-management? Insights From the Second Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN2) Study. Diabetes Care 2016; 39(2): e20-e21.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0674

 

FHSS PhD student awarded prestigious Churchill Medallion in London

Funding opportunities, student research

new medallion Anita

129 Fellows awarded a prestigious new Churchill Medallion at a London award ceremony

 

Anita Immanuel, PhD student in FHSS was presented with a newly designed Churchill medallion at a prestigious biennial award ceremony in London this week (Wednesday, 18th May), after successfully completing  her Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship.

Anite was presented with the stunning blue cloisonné enamelled silver Churchill medallion by its designer and Guest of Honour, Professor Brian Clarke, who is a world renowned architectural artist. Professor Clarke presented 129 Fellows with their medallions at a ceremony in Church House, in Central London. Church House has significant Churchillian associations as during the Blitz, Winston Churchill requisitioned Church House as a makeshift Houses of Parliament after the originals had been damaged by bombing.

As part of  her Fellowship and linked to her PhD research, Anita travelled to Australia and Canada.  Her PhD reserach examines the quality of lives of adults who have survived cancer of the blood or lymphatic system. Patients with haematological cancers have frequently reported lack of care-coordination as an unmet need following their intensive treatment.   Anita’s Fellowship has been outlined in a previosu BR Research Blog (click here!).

Speaking about the Fellowship, Prof. Stephen Tee (Executive Dean FHSS) said: “These Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships provide opportunities for UK citizens to go abroad on a worthwhile project, enriching their lives through their global experiences.  We are proud of Anita’s PhD research focusing on the quality of life in people who have survived cancer.  This Fellowship has also benefited Anita and her colleagues at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trustwhere she works as specialist nurse in this field”.

Anita’s PhD is supervised by: Dr. Jane Hunt and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (both FHSS) and Dr. Helen McCarthy, Anita’s clinical Ph.D. supervisor.

In 2017 The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust will be awarding 150 Travelling Fellowships. This will directly support British citizens who want to travel overseas to gain knowledge, experience and best practice to benefit others in their UK professions and communities, and society as a whole. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established shortly after Sir Winston’s death in 1965, as his national memorial and living legacy. Since then it has awarded over 5,250 Travelling Fellowships.  The application process for travel in 2017 is now open!  Visit www.wcmt.org.uk for more details, or to apply before 5pm on 20th September 2016, for travel in 2017.

 

There’s no ‘I’ in Team: My experience as a URA

Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, Fusion

Blog post by Pippa Empson, Undergraduate Research Assistant (Innovative Pedagogy)

Following my application and interview earlier this year I was accepted for the Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) position on an ‘Innovative Pedagogy’ research project. Being part of the URA programme gave me an insight into the world of primary research which involved transcribing conversations from focus groups, collating data into spreadsheets and statistically analysing data using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), and getting the opportunity to present our findings in the Bournemouth University conference SURE (Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence). It was a pleasure to work alongside academic staff Dr Jacqueline Priego and Dr Jonathan Branney who welcomed me and Jade Offer, the other URA, to the team and supported me in my position.

I learnt many new skills including analysing quantitative and qualitative data which the academic staff was happy to guide me in. I was initially daunted by the work I would be expected to do and whether I would be able to fit it around my undergraduate studies as a second year adult nursing student. However as I was able to fulfill some of the URA work at home on my own computer it meant I was able to be flexible with when I worked, so I could keep my other commitments. Being a URA was a great opportunity which I would recommend it to anyone interested in research or furthering their skills, be it computer skills or communication skills.

Pippa Empson, BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing, year two

Pedro Zamora, Sexuality and AIDS Education

Fusion

After researching the life of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora for some time (since my Phd in 2005 in fact), and having the opportunity more recently to work on an ‘educational biography’ of his life, partly funded by the Fusion Project a couple of years ago, I am delighted that the book is now coming out on 1 June, 2016.  Pedro’s life story is inspiring, he was an immigrant from Cuba arriving in the United States in 1980, aged 8.  He found out that he was HIV positive aged 17, and went on to become possibly the most well known HIV/AIDS educator who was able to reach youth audiences through his appearance on the reality television series The Real World: San Francisco in 1994.  He died not long after the series was broadcast at aged 22, but he reached so many people, and his message is still so relevant, when we consider that HIV/AIDS is more than ever a worldwide concern, devastating in many places.  Pedro’s message touches us deeply, and his message is not lost. I must sincerely thank not only John M Clum (Professor Emeritus of Theater Studies and English at Duke University) and Toni Tan at Cambria Press for commissioning the book, when I found it difficult to find anyone interested in an ‘educational biography’,  but also to Bill Nichols and Christine Holmlund for such endorsements of the book.

9781604979237front

Rewilding Dorset

conferences

A very successful meeting with 140 delegates from was held in May 2016 at Charlton Down Village Hall, near Dorchester to discuss and explore the application of rewilding concepts to Dorset co-hosted by Bournemouth University and the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

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In recent years, rewilding has become a major theme in conservation, stimulated by publications such as George Monbiot’s Feral and the launch of rewilding organisations both in the UK and at the European scale. While a number of rewilding initiatives have been launched in the UK, most of these are predominantly located in upland areas in the north and west of the country. Elsewhere in Europe, many rewilding initiatives are seeking to encourage ecological recovery on agricultural land that has been abandoned. This raises the question of whether rewilding concepts are applicable to intensive agricultural landscapes such as Dorset, and if so, how they might best be implemented.

We were delighted to be able to welcome a number of speakers who presented at the meeting, including leading researchers with expertise in rewilding, and practitioners with experience in implementing rewilding projects. The meeting also involved representatives from a number of conservation organisations in Dorset.

Speakers included:

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Dr Paul Jepson, Oxford University – “Rewilding policy: risk and opportunities”

 

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Dr Christopher Sandom, University of Sussex – “Putting rewilding into practice”

 

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Dr Matthew Heard, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – “Ecological impacts of rewilding using extensive grazing: the case of Knepp Estate”

 

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Fiona Bowles, Poole Harbour Catchment Initiative – “Is there space for Dorset Rivers to run wild?”

 

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Helen Meech, Rewilding Britain – “Why Rewild Britain?”

 

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Professor Richard Brazier, Exeter University – “Quantifying the ecohydrological impacts of reintroducing Eurasian Beaver to intensively managed, lowland agricultural landscapes”

 

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Alison Turnock, Dorset AONB – “The Wild Purbeck Nature Improvement Area – towards bigger, better, more, joined”

 

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The day was rounded off with a lively and positive discussion with  Jonathan Spencer (Forestry Commission), Ian Alexander (Natural England), Mark Robbins (RSPB), David Brown (National Trust), Imogen Davenport (Dorset Wildlife Trust) and chaired by Prof. James Bullock (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology).

 

This meeting was held as part of the Modelling Natural Capital in Dorset Project (funded under the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) initiative). Any questions can be addressed to Research Assistant Arjan Gosal.

Horizon 2020 – Health – 7th & 8th July 2016, Brussels

conferences, Info Days

Health, Demographic Change & Wellbeing

Challenge in Horizon 2020

Do you intend to prepare a proposal for the 2017 call in Horizon 2020 for Health?

On the 8th of July 2016, the European Commission is organizing an Open Info Day dedicated to “Health, Demographic Change & Wellbeing (SC1)” challenge in Horizon 2020 and focusing on the 2017 call.

One day before, on the 7th of July 2016, Health NCP Net 2.0 and Fit for Health 2.0 are organizing a free of charge Partnering event meant to assist you in finding the right partners for the upcoming 2017 calls. The launch of the 2017 call is planned for the 29th of July 2016, having the first deadline on the 4th of October 2016, therefore this would be a good opportunity for your institution to identify the proper consortium partners.

Priority in participation, on 7th July, will be granted to entrepreneurs and research organizations with identified expertise profiles and project applications initiatives. As participation is limited to 2 persons representing the same department/organization, please contact RKEO so that we can co-ordinate registration on this event.

If you are attending both days, separate registration will be needed  As far as we are aware, there is no restriction on numbers from each organisation for the Info Day on 8/7/16.

BROKERAGE EVENT

M2M + Symposium

Find cooperation partners for the upcoming H2020 health calls.

PRESENT YOUR PROJECT

M2M + Symposium

Present your project in a 5 min flash presentation to a highly commited audience

7 July 2016 – Fit for Health 2.0 and Health-NCP-Net 2.0

Horizon 2020 Health Partnering Day

This Partnering event will be dedicated to consortium building. The main part of the day is dedicated to bilateral meetings between persons interested in the same call area.
A surrounding programme will provide information on support measures for Health projects and give researchers and entrepreneurs from the Health and ICT areas a platform to present their project ideas in 5-minute presentations.
Bilateral meetings will be arranged automatically by a sophisticated, user-friendly match-making tool following indication of interests in specific call areas by participants. Additionally, to bilateral meetings among potential project partners, participants will have the option to meet with representatives of support initiatives and members of the organizing projects for personalized support and information.

Focus

This Partnering event will target a wide spectrum of companies, universities and researchers from Europe and beyond interested in sharing new project ideas and finding collaboration partners and will be focused on the following challenge of the Horizon 2020 Health Call.

Main topics

  • Understanding health, well-being & disease
  • Preventing disease
  • Treating and managing diseases
  • Active ageing and self-management of health
  • Methods and data
  • Coordination activities
  • Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in health projects
  • Sustainable food security – health aspects

Why to participate

  • to facilitate the setup of Horizon 2020 project consortia
  • to present, discuss and develop new project ideas on Health at an international level
  • to initiate cross-border contacts

 

 

 

Lessons from Southern Health – leadership to support a culture of voice across complex integrated systems

iStock_000020671825Large

Dr Lee-Ann Fenge

Over the past few years there have been a number of reports which have highlighted concerns about failures of care and patient safety within a range of NHS settings raising serious concerns about the leadership of such organisations. Most recently The Care Quality Commission has identified “serious concerns” about the safety of mental health and learning disability patients at Southern Health NHS Trust. The concerns highlight the failures of leaders to deliver, monitor, assure, and safeguard a culture of safety, quality, and compassionate care and services.

This inspection took place following the publication of an independent review (the Mazars report  that described a number of concerns about the way the Trust reported and investigated deaths, particularly of people using its mental health and learning disabilities services, and a lack of leadership, concerning the reporting and investigation of unexpected deaths of mental health and learning disability service users.

So what leadership challenges are there in turning this situation around? Undoubtedly there have already been improvements in the care offered within the Trust, and the commitment of staff to provide high quality care is beyond doubt. However, the problems result from on-going senior leadership failures within the organisation. Leadership is the most influential factor in shaping organisational culture (Faculty for Medical Leadership and Management, 2015), and is essential to ensure high quality, safe and compassionate healthcare. A key failing identified in Southern Healthcare concerns a lack of robust governance arrangements to investigate incidents, resulting in a lost opportunity to learn from these incidents.

This highlights the importance of senior leadership in establishing and maintaining a culture which is open, responsive and able to learn. Such a culture includes a climate in which communication is valued as a two process which values critical upward communication. This requires a culture of ‘voice’ in which concerns raised by patients, carers and staff are listened to and responded to appropriately. This was sadly lacking at Southern Health and action was not taken to address known risks to the safety of patients, including a lack of response to previous concerns highlighted by the CQC in January 2014, October 2014 and August 2015.

The Trust also failed to respond appropriately to staff concerns about their abilities to discharge certain roles and duties. This perhaps illustrates the failure of senior managers to create a culture of ‘psychological safety’ for staff in which to identify, respond and learn from these problems. Psychological safety has been shown to be a crucial element in organizational efforts to detect and prevent problems (Edmondson et al. 2016). A culture which provides psychological safety for staff embraces ‘challenge’ as a pivotal learning mechanism, and this is supported by the work of McSherry and Pearce (2016) who suggest that safe, quality care requires leaders who can challenge and be challenged.

It is important to learn from the failings of Southern Health. Increasingly NHS leaders need to be able to respond to growing complexity across integrated systems of care. They need the ability to support a system of communication which values the ‘voice’ of all stakeholders to create innovative solutions to 21st century challenges. This requires system leadership that works in partnership across organisations ‘to construct the services that are needed’ (HSJ, 2015:4). It also requires a commitment to create a shared vision of care which values the voice and presence of patients, carers and staff as key stakeholders.

References

McSherry, R.and Pearce, P. (2016) ‘What are the effective ways to translate clinical leadership into healthcare quality improvement?’ Journal of Healthcare Leadership; 2016 (8): 11-17

Perspectives from an Early Career Researcher (ECR): Tips for Conference Engagement

PG research

Last week I attended the 20th European Congress of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ESPRM) in Estoril, which covered topics from functional gait analysis-to-household ergonomics. By the morning coffee break of day one, it came back to me that engaging in a conference is an art-form. In this brief report I hope to share some tips, based on my own experiences in academia.

Beforehand, workload-dependent, leave all mobile technologies and laptops in your room. Emails can wait until the day’s end and social media will only serve to distract (Quentin Tarantino bans mobile phones from his film sets, so there).

Firstly, register early and familiarize yourself with the layout of the conference centre. Stop for a coffee; premium-grade typically dispensed by the sponsor’s kiosk.

Secondly, take the time to read the programme, and map your ‘conference schedule’ (i.e., what sessions you intend to attend). Breakfast presents a fine opportunity for planning, on a day-by-day basis. Schedule planning is important for larger meetings, which can deliver many parallel sessions. Attend a conference with an aim(s). Be strategic; balance topics specific to, and outside your research area. For example, I attended i) functional mobility in older adults (subject-specific), ii) Cochrane Review/PGR development (non-specific, CPD), iii) cognitive dual-tasking (semi-specific, interest), and iv) Nordic walking (personal interest) sessions. Specialist workshops, such as ECR sessions, are gold-dust as you gain insight from international perspectives and practices. I also recommend not studiously attending every single session; I did this in my first conference and burnt out post-coffee break on day two. Don’t feel guilty missing a session if you feel it holds no relevance to you (or your personal development), otherwise you risk losing concentration on the sessions you are interested in. Stop for a coffee.

Thirdly, relax, enjoy yourself and don’t be afraid to talk. You can often learn more (and establish links) during coffee breaks, than in the sessions. Yes, you are at work, and yes, you may be abroad, but don’t fall into wi-fi hunting. Ultimately, you will check, and respond to, emails. You can do this back home. Engage with the academic and local cultures. Remember wi-fi may be omnipresent, but it wasn’t until about 6 years ago.

Finally, ask constructive questions. If presenting, welcome questions as they reflect an interested audience, and may highlight areas that you haven’t yet considered. Do not view negative/antagonistic questions as a challenge, they may not agree with your perspective and/or may have misinterpreted you. Data rigour and quality control are imperative, but findings may be serendipitous.

If you can master these, please tell me how, as I’m still learning.

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Dr James Gavin

Lecturer (Exercise Physiology)

Department of Sport & Physical Activity

jgavin@bournemouth.ac.uk