Category / Research themes

FIF Networking visit to New Zealand

My Fusion journey started well before the Fusion fund came into being. Medicine 2.0 logoI’ve attended several Medicine 2.0 conferences, increasing my network of people researching in a similar area to myself along the way.  Last year this led to an invitation to visit Prof John Sullivan at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The University of Otago, founded in 1869, is New Zealand’s oldest university.

My research interests are around the role of the Internet and Social Media in supporting people living with long term conditions, and the related implications for healthcare professionals’ practice and education. Prof Sullivan researches in the area of sport concussion, including projects examining the role of the world wide web (www) in facilitating concussion awareness.

I applied to the Staff Networking and Mobility strand for support to take up this invitation, and was awarded funds for a 2 week visit to explore potential collaboration in research and education initiatives.

While I was there I was invited to give a guest lecture, where I shared some recent research I have undertaken into the ethics of using online discussion boards as research data. I was lucky enough to meet other Otago academics with an interest in this, including Dr Lynley Anderson in the Bioethics Centre, and Dr Lisa Whitehead, the Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing.

I had an inspiring fortnight, mainly at the Dunedin campus. The School of Physiotherapy were kind enough to give me office space and computer access during my stay.  The University of Otago has grown over the years and has a historic core, surrounded by a collection of buildings of various ages and styles. Prof Sullivan took me on a walk around the campus and told me something of its history.

University of Otago.  Copyright C Bond
I also visited several local coffee shops, where a lot of networking meetings seem to happen. Prof David Baxter, the Dean, gave me an overview of the work of the School, and I discussed research into low back pain with Dr Ramakrishnan Mani, and use of the Internet in education with Dr Daniel Ribeiro.

I also visited the University of Otago’s Christchurch campus where Dr Whitehead is based.

The Centre for Postgraduate Nursing is located in the City Centre, and while there I took some time out to walk around the areas of the downtown area that have been opened to the public after the devastating earthquakes suffered by the city two years ago.

I’ve come back with ideas for two possible research projects that now need to be developed, and funding found.

If anyone would like to know more about my research, or to discuss the Staff Mobility and Networking fund, please email me (cbond)

 

CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin & Cluster Meeting

Here is the slightly late, but updated, CEMP Research and Innovation Funding Bulletin: CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 20.6.13

The next cluster meeting is on Thursday 27th June, 10-11.30 in the CEMP office and, as always, anyone interested in a funding opportunity in the bulletin or wanting to develop another idea for a CEMP project, is very welcome indeed.

Or if you are interested in discussing a project / funding call but cannot attend the meeting, please contact Julian McDougall.

 

Comment on BU Blog leads to academic publication

Authorship differs between disciplines

Paper by Hundley et al. published 2013

Last year Prof. Matthew Bennett1 raised some interesting issues about academic authorship on this award-winning BU Blog.  Authorship is an issue that many academic colleague see as challenging.   On September 27th, 2012 two of us replied to this blog by adding some of our own observations on the web. Having penned our online comments we discussed the issue with BU Visiting Faculty Dr. Padam Simkhada Senior Lecturer in International Health at ScHARR, University of Sheffield (www.shef.ac.uk/scharr/sections/ph/staff/profiles/padamsimkhada).  Between the three of us we came to the conclusion that the issue of academic authorship can be very confusing as well as tricky.

 

We discussed a wide-range of issues around academic authorship, including who should be an author and who should not be so, the order of authors, and that there are different conventions between different academic disciplines.  Being academic we rapidly came to the conclusion that there was a paper in this.  We drafted our ideas, searched the literature for other discussions on authorship, general guidelines on authorship, etc.   We wrote the paper and submitted it to the academic journal Health Renaissance; an Open-Access journal, which is freely available world-wide.  The editor liked it and published our paper ‘Academic authorship: who, why and in what order?’ this month as a guest editorial. 3

 

 

We would like to highlight that there are two separate messages in the publication of this paper.  The first message is about academic scholarship; some of our colleagues may find the content of this paper is a useful guide in deciding authorship order, or at least in helping to open the debate about who should be included as co-author and who is not eligible.  The second message is more about academic citizenship, namely that messages on the BU Blog and even comments in reply to other people’s messages may contain useful information to the wider academic community and should be taken further.  Our message here is don’t see the BU Blog as an end point, see it as a stepping stone to the wider academic world!

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen*, Prof. Vanora Hundley* & Dr. Padam Simkhada**

* Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health, HSC, Bournemouth University

** ScHARR, The University of Sheffield

 

References:

1.      Bennett, M. (2012) What’s in a list?, BU Research Blog, http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/09/27/whats-in-a-list/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily

 

2.      Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (2012) Response to What’s in a list?, http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/09/27/whats-in-a-list/#comment-17234

 

3.      Hundley, V., van Teijlingen,      E., Simkhada, P. (2013) Academic authorship: who, why and in what order? Health Renaissance 11      (2):98-101  www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Download/vol-11-2/Page_99_101_Editorial.pdf

Joint research theme meeting – Creative & Digital Economy / Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth

Staff are invited to attend a ‘joint’ meeting of the Creative & Digital Economies and Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth research themes. The idea behind the meeting is to cross-pollinate staff ideas and ensure that research themes do not become silos.

The meeting will take place on 26 June (12-2pm) in the EBC (EB705). The meeting will provide a useful platform to catch up on what’s happening within each of the themes. We would also like to hold a number of ‘elevator pitches’ from staff who have an idea(s) on funding applications or joint research papers and would like to work collaboratively with another member(s) of staff. For example, you may need a specific skill or have a gap in your knowledge to develop a funding application/paper – so here’s your chance to get some momentum into your idea. Each ‘pitch’ should last no more than 3 minutes (no powerpoint slides!).

If you have an idea and would like to pitch it to other staff, then please let Professor Dean Patton or Dr John Oliver beforehand.

CEMP Conversation: 27:6:13

The next CEMP conversation – our fortnightly readers’ and writers’ group – will take place on Thursday June 27th 12 – 1pm in the CEMP office.

This time we’ll be discussing this article, provided by CEMP research student Tom Stacey:

Psychological Science-2013-Frost-0956797612472207

Tom will make a link from the article to his own PHD research and open the discussion.

As always, anyone who wants to read the article and join the discussion is very welcome indeed.

 

BU research on the Japanese Tohoku tsunami

Dr Maharaj Vijay Reddy from the School of Tourism has recently returned from the Tohoku region of North East Japan, where he explored the nature of the impact of the 2011 on the tourism industry of the North East Japan and identified the priorities for socio-economic revival and sustainable future of the coastal communities and local businesses including agriculture and fisheries. The Great East Japan earthquake (8.9 magnitude) and the tsunami that followed have had catastrophic impacts on Northern Japan creating economic, nuclear and humanitarian crises in 2011. The major part of fieldwork was carried out with the financial support offered by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation in London.

Dr Reddy’s very intensive fieldwork in March 2013 covered all the four Prefectures of the Tohoku on the Pacific coast, namely Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori and Fukushima. He has completed over 80 semi-structured interviews by meeting with multidisciplinary stakeholders from the four worst affected Prefectures as well as respondents and relevant organizations in Tokyo and other parts of the Japan. This significant project was completed with the prompt local help offered by the Directors related to the Departments of Environment, Fisheries, Infrastructure, Industry and Tourism within the Prefectural Government Offices of Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori.

Respondents include ANA Airlines, Japan East Railway, JAL City Hotels, Metropolitan Hotels, Monterey Hotels, Toyoko Inn Hotels, Tourism Associations based in famous locations such as Matshushima (Miyagi), Hachinohe (Aomori) and Morioka (Iwate), leading tour operators including JTB, relief agencies such as the Nippon Foundation, Ocean Policy Research Foundation and many other local businesses whose opinions are being translated (from Japanese language) ‘anonymously’ by the students at the School of Tourism for analysis and interpretation.

Dr Reddy expressed his sincere thanks to those respondents and the others who offered immense support. For instance, Mr Ishikua of Miyagi Prefecture Government, Mr Mikami of Aomori Prefecture Government, Mr Kobori of Japan National Tourism Organisation in Tokyo, Ms Mizuho of Monterey Hotel in Sendai, UNITAR Hiroshima, Sendai Tourism and Convention Bureau, and researchers at the Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo and the Fukushima University.

Challenges of Leadership

Leadership is a word often bandied about with many people claiming, assuming or being allocated ‘leadership’ roles, but what does this actually mean when trying to bring about societal improvements? Last week as part of an NHS South of England project BU and Plymouth University hosted a 2 day workshop for strategic leaders in the NHS, Local Authorities and the voluntary sector responsible for strategic leadership in the world of dementia in Devon, Dorset and Somerset. The aim of this project is to promote improvements in the provision of dementia care at a time of fiscal challenge. Working across organisational and disciplinary boundaries, learning from others and acting rather than just talking about the policy directives and vision that contextualises dementia is key. We had several high profile speakers at the workshop, including the Chief Executive of the Alzheimer Society, Jeremy Hughes; the Clinical Lead for dementia for NHS England, Prof Alistair Burns; the immediate Past President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), Sarah Pickup; Angela Rippon a high profile ambassador for the Alzheimer Society as well as BU’s own director of the NCPQSW. Prof Keith Brown who does a lot of leadership training across the country. We also had a person living with dementia reminding us of why it is of utmost importance to ensure that people with dementia can live well with their dementia and really what the workshop was all about. Key messages I took from the 2 days that are perhaps transferable to anyone with a leadership role are first that it sometimes just important to get on and do what you need to do because it is the ‘right thing to do’ and this may be at odds with procedures, other colleagues perceptions and priorities but still worth doing! Good leaders sometimes need to buck the trend and with convention, and there were lots of dementia specific examples about how people have been innovative in challenging times. Another key leadership message related to working together and learning from others rather than reinventing the wheel. None of these are new messages but do highlight the ongoing challenges those with key strategic roles face as they work to address key societal concerns.

Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch – the Silicon Beach of the future?

Bournemouth University hosted a creative and digital economy summit at the EBC on Friday 7 June where leading businesses, entrepreneurs and MPs came together to back a bid to style Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch as a hub for the creative and digital industry. A manifesto, coordinated by BU with input from a range of local stakeholders, was launched at the event and a host of different businesses and organisations pledged to commit money or their expertise with the aim of growing the local creative and digital sector in the hope the area. The summit featured in the Daily Echo on June 12 which reported that “the area already has above average business start-up and survival rates and is one of the UK’s liveliest digital clusters and this exciting development is a great step forwards”. Read more here. BU will continue to play a central role in taking forward the work set out in the manifesto so watch this space for further developments. If you are interested in finding out more, contact Samantha Leahy-Harland on sleahyharland@bournemouth.ac.uk

eBU staff drop in sessions to be held in each school

I am pleased to announce that I am holding drop in sessions in each school for the BU community to ask questions about eBU: Online Journal.

These sessions will be:

Mon 24th June – DEC 12 -2pm in P411

Mon 24th June – School of Applied Sciences 2-4pm in C122

Tues 25th June – HSC 9-11am in the Wellbeing Centre, B112 Bournemouth House 

Tues 25th June – Business School 2-4pm in EB205

Thurs 27th June – School of Tourism 1.30-3.30 in P410

Fri 28th June – Media School 8-10am in CAG04

 

CEMP Conversation – recording

Audio extract of today’s  CEMP conversation 13.6.13  – a discussion of Allen et al: Work placements in the Arts and Cultural Sector: Diversity, Equality and Access, which was shared by CEMP PHD student Tamsyn Dent.

NB – some of the voices here are via skype.

The next CEMP conversation is on 27.6.13 and the reading will be posted here a week before. All are welcome to attend.

Dizzy the dog attends midwives forum

 

Left to Right: Mandy Williams - Community Midwife, Gay Rogers - Breakfast Host and Hospital Midwife and Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Senior Lecturer (Midwifery)

Every three months hospital and community midwives at Salisbury NHS Trust Hospital attend a forum dedicated to matters relating to Examination of the Newborn (EXON).  The aims of the forum are to support healthcare professional undertaking newborn examinations, sharing of experiences/case studies, interprofessional working, maintenance of competence, formulate and review internal  processes and peer support for professionals in training. Members consist of midwives, nurses, a consultant Paediatrician and Children’s physiotherapists. BU student midwives are welcome to attend when working with their community midwives and on this occasion two students were present. As unit leader for EXON at BU and one of the link lecturers at the hospital, I chair, coordinate and facilitate the forums, with venues alternating between hospital and community.  This month we met for breakfast at a colleague’s home, where midwives were greeted with the smells of freshly brewed coffee and a newly prepared home cooked frittata. Further offerings included fresh strawberries, raspberries, warm croissants, cocktail sausages and quails eggs.  

Minutes and agendas are sent out in advance. A standing item is a report from senior children’s physiotherapist Karen Robinson, whose department leads the service for Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips (DDH) in newborns.  A recent case was brought to our attention, where a baby had been examined by midwives and doctors and found to have an unstable right hip. The baby was appropriately referred for an ultrasound scan which subsequently found the right hip normal, but considered the left hip abnormal.  The Barlow’s and Ortolani manoeuvres used by both professions at the time of the examination had not detected any left hip abnormality. A robust discussion ensured as to the complexities of examining babies for DDH and the difficulties in detecting unstable hips when the manoeuvres used by all professionals were themselves unreliable. However Karen was able to reassure us by indicating that in the seven years of the Children’s Physiotherapy Department leading the DDH service, very few babies had been ‘missed’. Karen also emphasized the significance of caring for babies’ hips in general and the importance of educating parents around their baby’s ‘hip health’. The 3rd year midwifery students are currently taught theory around DDH with opportunities to practice manoeuvres on ‘Baby Hippy’. As facilitator for these sessions I realized that our midwifery curriculum had to include general baby hip health in the first year of the student’s programme. Rachael, a 3rd year student midwife, was in agreement: “the discussion around hip care for newborns was great to listen to. I agree that it would be really beneficial to have a lecture on hip care for students”. 

Left to Right: Rachael Callan - 3rd year student midwife, Carol Bremner - Community Midwife, Beccy Seaton-Harris - 1st year student midwife and Fiona White - Community Midwife

On other matters Karen highlighted a number of babies diagnosed with Erb’s Palsy following birth had recently been treated by the department. Various options were offered as to why these babies had sustained these birth injuries, resulting in the forum unanimously agreeing that education around Erb’s Palsy and Brachial Plexus Injuries would benefit all professionals involved with childbirth.  Terri Coates, an expert on Brachial Plexus Injuries and a midwife at Salisbury, agreed to arrange a study day with the national Erb’s Palsy Support Group, to be held at either Salisbury Hospital or BU for midwives and students.

There are many advantages in having a regular forum to discuss issues relating to newborn examination.  Case studies are presented and debated and education around various topics are provided at regular intervals. The forum also supports midwives from other trusts who are having difficulties with undertaking the examination in their areas. Beccy, the 1st year student midwife had the following to say: “It was very informative. It was good to see community and hospital midwives coming together as a team. I am also interested in learning more about Erb’s Palsy and attending a study day. Learning about general hip care would also be beneficial. The breakfast was lovely too”.

Dizzy

The last bark, I mean word, goes to Dizzy. He gets terribly excited when breakfast is served and runs from one midwife to another hoping for a dropped sausage or at least a titbit from a kind soul. After not having much luck, he eventually settles down and gently snores in the corner of the room. 

                                                                              

 

                                                                                        

 

 

 

Festival of Learning – Testament to a Successful Morning (Dr Simon Thompson, DEC Psychology Research Centre)

‘Testamentary Capacity in Dementia’ (03 June 2013 10:00h – 13:00h) – Presentation followed by in-depth plenary session about the complexities of leaving an estate to beneficiaries following a diagnosis of dementia.

‘Dementia’ is an umbrella term used to describe many types of deteriorating diseases – the most common ones are Alzhiemer’s disease, Vascular dementia, and Lewy body dementia.

Many married couples own property as ‘joint tenants’. Upon death, ownership automatically passes to the survivor. If property is owned as ‘tenants in common’, one half of the estate belonging to the deceased is dealt with by their Will. Problems arise when there is no Will, when others make a claim, or when another Will is executed.

‘Testamentary capacity’ is a person’s legal and mental ability to make a
valid Will. There are three premises: Presumption of capacity; Requirements; Proof of testamentary capacity.

It is proposed that the law should allow testators alternative means of satisfying the testamentary capacity standard such as an option to validate a testator’s capacity during their lifetime through forensic assessment measuring cognitive elements of testamentary capacity.

It does not remove the difficulty of knowing the status of person at a specific time line. However, it goes some way to describing a person during their lifetime in terms of mental ability and capacity.

Thompson, SBN (2006). Dementia and memory: a handbook for students and professionals. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Thompson, SBN (2012). Dementia. In SBN Thompson (Ed), Psychology of trauma: clinical reviews, case histories, research (pp169-202). Portsmouth: Blackwell-Harvard-Academic.

‘Off the Campus and Into the Community: Teaching for Social Justice

Speaker: Dr Susan Hyatt, Visiting Fellow, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Associate Professor of Anthropology, IU School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis 

 Monday, 17th June 2013

12:00– 13:30

R303  Royal London House

 

Abstract:

Over the past 20 years, institutions of higher learning in the US, both public and private, have increasingly emphasized the value of civic engagement and community outreach as integral parts of their educational missions. In my teaching of applied anthropology, I have embraced this pedagogical turn as a way to involve students in community-based issues and to promote critical thinking. In this talk, I offer several brief examples where I have taken students out off the campus and into the community to engage in collaborative research projects. And, I have also offered students opportunities to participate in courses taught in somewhat unconventional community settings, including prisons and a residential treatment facility for women overcoming addiction. I argue that through such courses, we do not teach our students about social justice; rather, we allow students to experience for themselves the inequalities that structure much of our contemporary world and to reflect deeply on the ways that social action connects theory with practice.

 

 

PHENOMENOLOGY INTEREST GROUP: Sport and Well-being

 

 

 

 

You are warmly invited to the fourth meeting of the Phenomenology Interest Group which will be held on Wednesday 3 July between 12.00—1.30. Venue: R201, Royal London House

We are fortunate to have Dr Joanne Mayoh and Dr Ian Jones from the School of Tourism who will demonstrate an example of cross-disciplinary thinking and the translation of theory into practice:

Title: Using the Dwelling Mobility theory to explore how sport can make wellbeing an experiential possibility

Abstract:

The positive relationship between sport and wellbeing has been widely documented in both policy documents and the academic literature. Whilst it is widely acknowledged that this relationship exists, little is known regarding how and why sport can contribute to positive wellbeing for individuals.  Subsequently, there is a need for research that takes a bottom-up approach in order to adequately explore the nature of this relationship in order to contribute to wider knowledge regarding sport and wellbeing, and effectively inform future policy and practice. In mirroring this approach our research draws upon phenomenological philosophers such as Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty to provide a view of the individual that sees them having a sense of agency and existential freedom. This philosophical standpoint will provide the human-centred emphasis for research that is required to fully understand how sport and wellbeing may be connected.  Specifically, this paper draws upon the existing work of Todres & Galvin with regards to Dwelling- Mobility Theory in order to consider how lifeworld philosophy could become more central in leading sport research. In line with this theory, our work considers how sport can provide a sense of dwelling, mobility, and dwelling-mobility within each of six lifeworld dimensions: temporarily; spatiality; embodiment; inter-subjectivity; identity and mood. We conclude that sport is one of the few single activities that can provide the potential for feelings of dwelling, mobility and dwelling-mobility within these dimensions simultaneously.

Dr Joanne Mayoh is a Lecturer in Sport, Physical Activity and Health at Bournemouth University. Her main research interests include the Conceptualisation of Wellbeing, and Active Ageing. She has published journal articles on Phenomenology and research methodology.

Dr Ian Jones is the Associate Dean for Sport at Bournemouth University- His research interests include Sport and Identity, Sport Fandom, and Spectators. He is author of Research Methods for Sport Studies and Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity.

CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin

Here is the latest CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin. CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 30.5.13

The next R&I cluster meeting – where we will review these opportunities and monitor current projects – is on Thursday 6th June 10-12 in the CEMP office.

All are very welcome – just drop in – and if you can’t make the meeting but would like to discuss any of the funding opportunities here, or another research proposal, please let me know.

For info – the ‘think-tank’ part of the cluster meetings will now take place separately, under the re-brand ‘CEMP conversations’ and the next one will be Thursday 13th June. More information to follow.

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