Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) held its third open meeting at the university on 14th May, with this year’s theme being dementia friendly environments. The day was well attended by practitioners, family carers, the general public and people with dementia. It started with a lovely buffet lunch sponsored by Alzheimer Research UK, providing an opportunity for delegates to network and to browse the information stands hosted by themselves and BUDI Ph.D. students. The open meeting was formally opened by Professor Gail Thomas who praised the innovative work being carried out by the BUDI team. Delegates then heard presentations from Dr Fiona Kelly on dementia friendly design, Dr Jan Wiener on the use of eye tracking technology to explore navigation skills and difficulties, Kathrin Büter on using computer technology to support dementia friendly design in hospitals. This session closed with a presentation by architect Niall McLaughlin on his work with communities and older people to design care homes that meet everyone’s needs and are inspirational, therapeutic spaces. The final part of the day involved a question and answer session where delegates and presenters discussed some of the issues raised during the day including how to ensure that the concept of good design filters down to those commissioning, designing and using buildings that people with dementia also use. This successful event is sure to have got people thinking and sharing some of what they heard and we look forward to holding similar events in the future.
Category / Research themes
Übersetzen: Translation of the MGI in German

The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) is a validated tool to assess postnatal quality of life. It was originally designed and tested by Dr. Andrew Symon (http://nursingmidwifery.dundee.ac.uk/staff-member/dr-andrew-symon) at the University of Dundee. This instrument is usually administered several weeks or months after birth and correlates with indices of postpartum mood states and physical complaints. The instrument had not been translated into German before or validated for use among German-speaking women, nor have the results of the tool been assessed specifically for the administration directly after birth. Our recent paper (Susanne Grylka-Baeschlin, Edwin van Teijlingen, Kathrin Stoll and Mechthild Gross) in Midwifery describes the systematic translation process of the MGI into German and to assess the convergent validity of the German version of the instrument directly after birth and seven weeks postpartum
Susanne Grylka-Baeschlin, as part of a European COST Action, has spent time at Bournemouth University’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health. Susanne Grylka-Bäschlin is a Swiss midwife based at the Hannover Medical School, Germany, who studies cultural differences in postnatal quality of life among German-speaking women in Switzerland and Germany.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
SciTech postgraduate conference and poster presentation
Yesterday the postgraduate researchers in the Faculty of Science and Technology (SciTech) held their annual showcase of their research projects. For the applied sciences students this took the form of 15 minutes presentations and the design, engineering and computing students presented posters.
Former PhD student Kathryn Ross opened the presentations in the Lawrence Lecture Theatre and likened the process of studying for a doctorate to taking part in a 100 mile walk. Kathryn was an inspiration to her peers, showing how hard work and persistence can get results. Her own PhD project investigating the effects of sea-level rise on the avocet population in Poole Harbour yielded new and interesting findings about the birds’ diet.
The subsequent presentations were outstanding, covering a wide variety of topics including how parasites impact eco-systems, volunteer engagement, the process of ageing fish and the spread of the domestic chicken through Europe.
The posters were equally impressive, featuring rescue robots, intelligent call routing and lie detector technology among others.
The work of the Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) postgraduate researchers was strongly represented, including a remarkable project looking at adapted home environments for people living with dementia.
It was wonderful to see the amazing research being carried out by BU’s postgraduate community, with the support of their dedicated supervisors. I have no doubt many of them will make valuable contributions to their field in the future.
And to any postgraduate researchers reading this… If you would like to share your research more widely via the BU website or other channels, please do email me. I’d love to help you with that. Additionally, if you are interested in taking part in any public engagement activity, we have some great opportunities including a tent at Camp Bestival. If you like to find out more please email our Public Engagement Manager Barry Squires.
Getting on Board with the Bournemouth and Poole Sustainable Food Cities Partnership:

Bournemouth and Poole Borough Councils were recently successful in a collaborative bid to become one of only six UK cities, to receive matched funding and support from the UK Sustainable Food Cities Network, over a 3 year period. BU is one of the funding partners; a number of BU staff are already contributing to what is an exciting development for the region.
The Sustainable Food Cities Network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations committed to promoting sustainable food. The Network comprising the Soil Association, Food Matters and Sustain aims to help people and places to share challenges, explore practical solutions and develop best practice in all aspects of sustainable food (Sustainable Food Cities 2014).
There are now opportunities for others to be involved. We have identified a number of potential project areas (at undergraduate and Master’s level) where students in particular, might wish to participate and where further research would support the work of the Partnership. Potential topic areas relate to the broad range of aspects related to sustainable food and drink including: the impacts of climate change, food security and food waste, food poverty, health and nutrition, well-being, food tourism, Fairtrade, community growing, the conversion of grey to green spaces, local food production, food marketing and distribution.

Information Session: If you are interested in finding out more, an information session on the Partnership and the student project opportunities will be held on Thursday June 19th from 2.00 – 3.30 pm in TAG31.
A more detailed list of the potential projects is available upon request. If you would like a copy of the list or you are unable to attend the information session and would like to discuss any of these potential projects or other ways that BU students could assist and be engaged with the Sustainable Food Cities Partnership, please contact one of the following BU staff and partnership members:
Dawn Birch – The Business School – dbirch@bournemouth.ac.uk
Chris Shiel – School of Applied Sciences – cshiel@bournemouth.ac.uk
Jill Quest – The Media School – jquest@bournemouth.ac.uk
Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture
We would like to invite you to the next research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre that will be delivered by Hana Almakky.
Title: Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture
Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM
Date: Wednesday 28th May 2014
Room: P302 (Poole House, Talbot Campus)
Abstract: Social media has continued growing in Saudi Arabia. Millions of businesses and trades are now using social media for entertainment, advertisement and promoting themselves internationally. Social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc., have gained huge popularity at personal as well as professional scale. Therefore, work is being done to evolve the modes of communication over these platforms, extensively. My research explores the effect of Saudi cultures on the design of social media site of Facebook. The expected outcome of this research will be a theoretical framework that guides the design of a user interface for Facebook to meet the Saudi’s expectations.
We hope to see you there,
Dr. David John
Media School Academics Join EU CyberPark Project
The EU COST funded CyberPark project brings together participants from 21 countries to explore how ICT can help attract more users to engage with public spaces more efficiently, enhancing their health and wellbeing. With the emergence of social media, wearable technologies and devices such as Google Glass, a future where technology is embedded in the environment and where landscapes respond to the people who pass through them may no longer be just science fiction fantasy. The CyberPark project will explore how nature and the digital can be brought closer together, drawing on the expertise of urban planners, architects, anthropologists and researchers from the arts and humanities.
Bronwen Thomas, Sue Thomas and Sam Goodman from the Media School’s Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community will all be contributing to the four-year project from May 2014. Bronwen Thomas is Director of the Centre and an Associate Professor in the Media School. She has published widely on new media narratives and organized the Location-based Storytelling symposium here at BU in 2012. Sue Thomas is a Visiting Fellow in the Media School, and recently published a book on Technobiophilia (Bloomsbury, 2013) exploring the relationship between nature and cyberspace. She is currently developing ideas around digital well-being. Sam Goodman is Lecturer in Linguistics in the Media School, with research interests in Medical Humanities and literary representations of space, place and landscape.
You can read more about the project on Sue Thomas’s new Wired Well-being column for The Conversation at https://theconversation.com/cyberparks-will-be-intelligent-spaces-embedded-with-sensors-and-computers-26837
Full details of the COST action can be found at
http://www.cost.eu/domains_actions/tud/Actions/TU1306
Professor Barry Richards on ‘The Conversation’
A piece written by BU’s Professor Barry Richards was featured as a lead article on ‘The Conversation’ website.
Entitled ‘A hymn confirms that the FA Cup final is a matter of life and death’, the article explores the reasons why ‘Abide with Me’ has become the FA Cup anthem.
The Conversation is a website, sourcing news and views from the academic and research community and sharing it with the wider public.
Dementia Awareness Week
This week is the designated UK Dementia awareness week. We kick started our contributions early with our 3rd annual public meeting on the 14 May focusing on Dementia Friendly Environments where we also gave a preview of our new video which we are launching this week as part of BUs commitment to raising awarenss about dementia – click here to view what local people with dementia and carers have said what it is like to live with dementia in Dorset:
We had a stand at the weekend at the London Annual Care Show aimed at the general public to raise awareness of dementia. We are also doing a cake sale today in the atrium all proceeds to the Alzheimer Society music groups which is in keeping with our current BSO project focusing on the power of music on the well-being of those with dementia – the BU Baking Club and BUDI team have made some scrummy looking cakes – I am sure they will go fast!
Dragons’ Den: Pitch to the Editors
Do you have a science news story worthy of appearing in Nature, The Times or Research Fortnight?
Organisers of the UK Conference of Science Journalists are running a ‘Dragons’ Den: Pitch to the Editors’ session, open to students, recent graduates or scientists with a great story.
This is your chance to stand up in front of top journalists and ‘sell’ your story idea. It can be about any aspect of science, as long as it is suitable for Nature, the Times or Research Fortnight. (Do make sure you research the publications before submitting)!
Successful applicants will pitch their story idea to Helen Pearson (Nature), Ehsan Masood (Research Fortnight) and Hannah Devlin (The Times) in front of a live audience at the conference on Wednesday 18th June in London.
For more information and details of how to apply, visit http://www.ukcsj.org/dragons-den.html. Applications are open until 23rd May.
If you would like to discuss your pitch, email Sally Gates (Research Communications Manager).
Free places available for BU staff – BUDI workshop hosted by Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 21st May 2014
Thanks to FIF Mobility Strand Funding, Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) are delighted to be welcoming colleagues from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York to Bournemouth University from 20-23rd May 2014. As part of their visit, BU Staff are being invited to join a free workshop. In this workshop MoMA’s specially trained Museum Educators will share their successful model and established approach for making their services dementia-friendly (validated via evaluation from New York University).
This workshop showcases MoMA’s innovative style of education delivery, providing attendees with an opportunity to hear the success of their approach and a practical demonstration in the Atrium Gallery. Staff with an interest in alternative teaching methods and those working with vulnerable groups may be particularly interested in attending. Please also pass on this information to any PhD students you feel may benefit from attending.
Date: 21st May 2014
Time: 11:00 – 15:30
Venue: Talbot Campus
There are a limited number of places available on this workshop for BU staff. To book a place, or for more information, please email mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk or call 01202 962538.
Successful Grant Application! Plaster & Boot Comparison for Ankle Fracture Surgery
Despite ankle fractures requiring surgery being so common, patients are managed in many different ways and there is debate over whether patients require prolonged periods immobilised in plaster or whether being able to actively move/use the ankle might be advantageous. £350k has recently been awarded to Poole Hospital and collaborators by the National Institute for Health Research’s Research for Patient Benefit scheme to find out!
The Dorset office of the South West Research Design Service based within Bournemouth University’s Clinical Research Unit were contacted in late Spring 2010 about the potential study and have therefore been involved in all aspects from the outset. Several members of the Clinical Research Unit are co-applicants and committed to the delivery of the trial.
As the Research Design Service project lead, Zoe Sheppard helped facilitate the grant application bringing in statistical support, patient and public involvement advice, qualitative research expertise, health economic expertise, costing and research and development advice liaising with finance and research and development departments as well as the Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit. In addition to inputting into specific aspects according to their expertise, all co-applicants also extensively commented on the overall design and proposal, meaning a wide-ranging input.
Two previous drafts were submitted to the mock funding committee. Six extensive written reviews were received from lay reviewers and methodologists as well feedback from the chair/panel members.
So if you would like support with a grant application for health research, please get in contact as early as possible – we look forward to working with you!
Professor Adrian Newton in National Geographic
BU’s Professor Adrian Newton has featured in a National Geographic article ‘Apples of Eden: Saving the Wild Ancestor of Modern Apples’.
Reporter Josie Glausiusz explores the endangered wild fruit trees of Central Asia, drawing on Professor Newton’s expertise and experiences working to protect the fruit and nut forests in Kyrgyzstan.
In the article Professor Newton explains the genetic importance of the fruit there: “All of the apples that we’re eating today and cultivating originate from this area. So if we want to add genetic variation to our crops to cope with new pests or climate change, then the genetic resource is these forests. It’s true for apples, apricots, peaches, walnuts, pears. In terms of a wild genetic resource for cultivated fruit trees, there’s nothing like it on the planet.”
Read the full article, ‘Apples of Eden: Saving the Wild Ancestor of Modern Apples’, online here.
BUDI Open Public Meeting – 14 May 2014
This is a reminder that the BUDI Open Public meeting is tomorrow (14 May) there are still a few spaces available.
This year’s event focuses on dementia friendly environments, how design helps to support people living with dementia. The hospital environments and the philosphy of dementia friendly environments will be covered by external speakers.
To book your free place please go to eventbrite http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/budi-open-meeting-dementia-friendly-care-environments-tickets-9876528964
Understanding Crowdsourcing and CCTV surveillance
Staff, students and members of the public are invited to join us for the next Cyber Security Seminar…
‘Understanding Crowdsourcing and CCTV surveillance’
Tuesday, 27th May
Coyne Lecture Theatre
4pm – 5pm
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) has many different uses but is often considered an archetypal surveillance technology. These infrastructures generate large amounts of data; so much so that the technique of crowdsourcing has recently been applied to the problem of searching for abnormalities in live surveillance video; the premise being that many inexpert watchers are cheaper but as efficient as a small number of experienced security experts. However, the merits of crowdsourcing watchers of surveillance video are largely unknown.
In this talk Dr. Paul Dunphy will describe exemplar infrastructures of this type, and two user studies that assess the performance of the watchers of CCTV video online. The results prompt a discussion regarding the effectiveness of using crowdsourcing in such contexts, and the role such infrastructures can play in society.
Speaker Bio: Paul is a postdoctoral researcher in the Culture Lab at Newcastle University. He is interested in multi-disciplinary approaches to understand and design security and privacy technologies.
If you would like to join us for this presentation, please book your place via Eventbrite.
Puerto Rico welcomes a new BUDI
Every year the prestigious Alzheimer’s Disease International conference welcomes practitioners, academics, people living with dementia, medical professionals and clinicians from all over the world to share their latest knowledge, experience and research about dementia careThis year I was lucky enough to attend and represent BUDI at the 29th International Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International Dementia: Working Together for a Global Solution, hosted in San Juan on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.
Three abstracts were accepted to be orally presented, so this was a great opportunity to showcase some of BUDI’s innovative research projects to world leading dementia specialists. The three presented projects were the Technology Club (Dementia Care and Technology), Tales of the Sea (Empowering people with dementia) and (Dont) Mention Dementia (Voices of people with dementia and their families).
All three presentations were well received and stimulated discussion and many questions. The feedback I received after my presentations and during the conference was that BUDI’s projects were seen as innovative, creative and great examples of how to engage people with dementia in research and how people with dementia should be at the core of all research.
Above and beyond presenting, I had the opportunity to catch up with Peter, an Australian colleague (who I have been working on the international GRIID research project with for around two years and have never met!) Peter presented the GRIID project (Gateway to Rural International Initiatives in Dementia) at this conference. After his presentation we were able to meet and come up with some really innovative ideas to take the GRIID project to the next level.
To top off a very successful conference, I won a huge kangaroo courtesy of the Australian Alzheimer’s Association. He was unfortunately a bit too big to fit into my case so he to travelled home with another colleague…I wonder if I will ever get him back as he was very cute!
Since returning home I have started to get in touch with some of the many contacts I made at this conference and look forward to potential international collaborations. This conference highlights all the good work currently being undertaken but also emphasises the amount of work we still need to do. I invite you to check out the below clip of Richard Taylor PhD, who presented numerous times at the conference. Richard is extremely funny and has a great approach and attitude to life. It is very thought provoking as he shares his thoughts about living with dementia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHQfc3KJ9qE.
Clare Cutler, BUDI Project Manager
Progress with making music
This week I went along to the half way point in the rehearsals for the BUDI orchestra and as promised from my first post about this work here is a link to short video clip
(this was rather difficult as I managed to record my clips upside down on my iphone (how is that possible??), as well as create huge file sizes from 30 second clips, but thanks to David Stone in M&C we now have something postable that hopefully gives a bit of a flavour of the sessions- despite my very amateur recording skills! but do come to their performance on 14 June at the Winton Life Centre as part of the BU FOL!)
My observations of the process this time centre around three things – first, the strong sense of a social group that has been created/formed by all involved, from the friendly welcomes, the catch ups over coffee and the general encouragement the group offered each other during the session. Second, I was also pleasantly surprised that carers sought me out to thank us for putting this group together and to share the positive impact they had observed themselves during the sessions on their relatives with dementia, but also how friends and family at home had also remarked on a positive visible difference in their relatives. 5 sessions and observed differences – is this the power of music? I was also struck by the questions asked of me about ‘would the group continue’ and as with any short ‘intervention’ type study feel the weight of not being able to promise to deliver again on something that is being hugely enjoyed by participants (and which we all hope will evaluate positively in a research sense – but only time will tell…). I guess this lack of being able to promise to continue with a service is kind of like service providers with limited budgets and short term initiatives… Hopefully we will secure funding to enable this work to continue, as even the community musician from the BSO with huge experience of outreach work feels this is a ‘very special’ project with amazing and fast results that everyone involved is observing. From week 1 where participants were nervous about trying out the instruments to now being very comfortable with playing around with (lots of experimentation in terms of how to hold a violin in a comfy position) and actually playing the notes. I was also struck by carers telling me of their attempts to ‘practice’ at home – downloading or recording the pieces they have been introduced to during the sessions and singing, humming and dancing along at home – as unfortunately the violins cannot go home with the participants – and how enjoyable they are finding the sessions beyond coming along to the rehearsals themselves. My final observation is also the growth in confidence of the musicians, our students as well as those with dementia and their carers in how they relate to one another, how they try out new pieces and are no longer as hesitant to experiment as they were in the first session. The combination of body percussion, instrument playing and singing that the musicians have created by paying close attention to how everyone responds has led to a session format that is uplifting, fun, creative while also creating intense concentration amongst all participants as they learn and work together. I wish I could find time in my diary to attend all the sessions as they leave me feeling upbeat and positive; something that was clearly evident not only from what I observed but from what I was told by everyone in the session yesterday.
Latest HSC paper in Birth
The international journal Birth published our latest paper:
Whitford, H., Entwistle V.A., van Teijlingen, E., Aitchison, P., Davidson, T., Humphrey, T., Tucker, J. (2014) Use of a birth plan within woman-held maternity records: A qualitative study with women and staff in northeast Scotland, Birth (Epub ahead of print).
The co-authors of BU Professor Edwin van Teijlingen are affiliated with a wide-range of Scottish institutions: the University of Dundee; the University of Aberdeen, the University of Stirling, the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and NHS Grampian, Aberdeen.
This latest paper considers the use of a birth plan section within a national woman-held maternity record. Unlike England, Scotland has a national women-held maternity record. In Poole, for example, a midwife needs to complete another maternity record for women who want to deliver in the Poole area than those who want to delivery in Bournemouth Hospital and another form for those might want to go to the New Forest Birth Centre, and again another one for the Dorchester area. In Scotland a pregnant women receiving antenatal care in one health area and delivering in another can take her same record/notes along. As midwives (and other staff) only have to be familiar with one set of records, this reduces the chance of errors and avoiding duplication.
This qualitative study comprised interviews with women and maternity service staff in Northeast Scotland. In our study staff and women were generally positive about the provision of the birth plan section within the record. Perceived benefits included the opportunity to highlight preferences, enhance communication, stimulate discussions and address anxieties. However, some women were unaware of the opportunity or could not access the support they needed from staff to discuss or be confident about their options. Some were reluctant to plan too much. Staff recognised the need to support women with birth plan completion but noted practical challenges to this.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Delivering healthcare in prisons
A special event has been arranged at BU that will focus on health care within prisons. The session to be held on 28th May will be led by Jane Senior from the University of Manchester. Jane is a clinician-researcher and Research Project Manager for the Offender Health Research Network. Jane is a qualified mental health nurse with over 20 years of post qualification experience of working in prison and secure mental health settings.
Jane’s session will be of great value to anyone :
- thinking about undertaking research within UK prisons
- wanting to know more about health care delivery in prisons
- thinking of working with or in a prison health care team
During the session Jane will outline findings from her recent prison research projects. These include studies into how to manage the health and wellbeing of older prisoners and her recent work in developing the Older Prisoner Health and Social Care Assessment and Plan (OHSCAP). She will also highlight some of the specific issues that can arise when undertaking research within a prison environment.
Staff and students are welcome to attend the session. If you would like to attend please email Holly Crossen-White (hcrossen@Bournemouth.ac.uk).