Category / Fusion themes

Impact of virtual reality on the well-being and travel experiences of people affected by dementia

I am undertaking a research placement as part of my studies on the MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology. In my role as a research assistant, I have been working on a project that aimed to introduce the idea of travelling using Virtual Reality headsets for people with dementia and their caregivers/ family members. Virtual reality (VR) technology presents a promising means of bridging geographical divides and empowering individuals with dementia to participate in their communities in ways that were not possible prior to diagnosis. Additionally, research has demonstrated the value of virtual reality in helping people with dementia remember their past, revisit their hometown, or most treasured vacation spots. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how virtual reality can support people with dementia with travel and explore the impact on their wellbeing.

This is a collaborative pilot research study involving BU staff from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) (Dr. Michelle HewardDr. Catherine Talbot, Dr. Michele BoardDr Aisling Flynn, Lyndsey Bradley) and the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR) (Dr. Daisy Fan, Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis) alongside colleagues from PramaLife (Sue Warr and Jo Keats) and is funded with QR funding from the Department of Psychology. We collected data on campus, and I was able to support this and had an opportunity to engage with the participants. The participants were asked to come to 2 sessions. The first session consisted of a session in the Blended Learning Interactive Simulation Suite, also known as the BLISS room. In this room, the participants and their caregivers were given the chance to play interactive VR games of their choice on the walls or visit different parts of the UK, such as London and Oxford. The second session consisted of using the VR headsets, where the participants were able to use the headsets themselves, which allows them to virtually experience other parts of the world, by looking around and having access to a 360 view, of a location of their choosing, whether that be somewhere they had never been to or reminisce about places they have been.

Given this immense opportunity to relive and reminisce about their previous experiences around the world, and their respective homes, the reception was overall a positive one. The participants left feeling positive about having virtually visited places from their past and having engaged with places they have never been to or would like to go to in the future. They provided some useful insights and feedback to inform future research in this area. We now move towards analysing and publishing the data.

Roshin Sibu

For more information about this project please email Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

DNS staff share their virtual reality research at AHSN Wessex

on behalf of Professor Debbie Holley

I am delighted to report that Dr Michele Board, Dr Heidi Singleton and I were invited to share our virtual reality research as part of the Wessex Academic Health Science Network webinar on 16.03.2023. Dr Board presented her work on ‘walk through dementia’, which brings the reality of lived experiences places the viewer in the shoes of the person with dementia. More information about this projects and the collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Society are available from the ADRC website.

Dr Singleton and I presented on our work on the mental health 360 video scenarios we created for student nurse education which have been embedded within the curriculum.

Evaluated via Focus group discussions (n=6 students) and an online survey (n=33 thus far); with 94% of nursing students reporting that the videos were extremely or very useful for their learning.  

“It flags up potential extra considerations in practice that you wouldn’t anticipate with just the theoretical teaching. You can better visualise.” (Student Nurse 31) 

“It made me feel confident in how to interact with an individual who may be having a mental health breakdown.” (Student Nurse 15) 

“It showed me that you can take time and check the correct information and repeat steps when assessing and treating a patient.” (Student Nurse 8) 

The learning resources mean that students can link theory to practice and can repeat the activity at any point during their course and from any location.

Thanks to the wider team Ursula Rolfe, John Moran, Emma Collins and our former colleague Jasmine Snowden,

 

Success in HEIF funding: VR Igloo

VR Igloo: Developing and evaluating a novel interactive virtual reality intervention for children with eczema

Team: Dr Heidi Singleton, Yaqing Cui, Dr Xiaosong Yang, Dr Emily Arden-Close, Professor Steven Ersser, Professor Debbie Holley, Dr Sarah Thomas, Richard Glithro, John Moran, Dr Andy Hodder and Amanda Roberts (Nottingham Support Group for Carers (NSG) of Children with Eczema).

Aim: To co-create a complex VR health intervention based on the guided imagery approach to treating eczema (Ersser et al., 2014); targeted at children (aged between 7 and 11 years of age) (complex intervention development). This intervention is not a medical device but addresses a clinical issue and can be used at hospital or in the home. Our processes and outputs will be congruent with some of the staging of complex intervention development advised by the Medical Research Council (2021).

Evidence from our small-scale PPI project (Singleton et al. 2022), points to the need for an interactive VR innovation that provides an immersive experience to distract from itchy eczema with minimal requirements for contact with the child’s face or hands. To tackle this problem, we will design and develop a prototype system of an interactive “mini-VR igloo headset”. We will work with the Department of Design and Engineering to design and develop the prototype.

In keeping with a person-based approach these ideas will be discussed with our PIER group and will form part of the developmental work with our Nottingham based charity stakeholder partner.

This Open Call HEIF funding will enable this cross faculty team to work together, with some additional paid staff, to accelerate and maximise the development of a complex intervention to enhance its potential for impact of this well-established VR Eczema project. It will also provide us with several prototypes to test at BU events.

Heidi, Steve and Debbie research as part of the Centre for Wellbeing & Long-Term Health, follow us at Twitter CWLTH_BU

New qualitative research methods paper now online

I am delighted to share that our most recent methods paper in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods entitled “Most Significant Change Approach: A Guide to Assess the Programmatic Effects” [1] is now published and is available online (click here!).  This paper is co-authored by Mohan K. Sharma, Shanti P. Khanal and Edwin R.van Teijlingen.

The paper outlines the so-called ‘Most Significant Change’ (MSC) participatory technique to monitor and evaluate programmatic effects. MSC is a form of monitoring that can be applied throughout the programme cycle and it provides information to help manage the programme. Furthermore, MSC as an evaluation method, provides stories from which programmes’ overall impact can be assessed. However, MSC, as a participatory evaluation technique using qualitative approaches, is often neglected by many evaluators.

 

This is the latest in a series of papers describing the strengths and weaknesses of applying specific research approaches.  Other recent methods papers included two on positionality [2-3], a paper on interview methods [4], reflections on conducting participatory policy analysis in Nepal [5], some considerations about the selection of study localities in health research [6], distinguishing between methods and methodology [7], the use of the appreciative inquiry methods [8], reflections on interdisciplinary research [9], and patient and public involvement in research in Bangladesh and Nepal [10].

Whilst older methods papers published Faculty of Health & Social Sciences academics include topics such as focus group discussions, working with translators, conducting pilot studies, the Delphi Method, comparative studies, and qualitative interviews [11-22].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH

 

References:

  1. Sharma, M.K., Khanal, S.P., van Teijlingen E. (2024) Most Significant Change Approach: A Guide to Assess the Programmatic Effects, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/16094069241272143
  2. Gurr, H., Oliver, L., Harvey, O., Subedi, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2024) Positionality in Qualitative Research, Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology & Anthropology 18(1): 48-54. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v18i01.67553
  3. Thapa, R., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Heaslip, V. (2023) Researching Dalits and health care: Considering positionality, Health Prospect 21(1): 6-8.
  4. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2024) Using a range of communication tools to interview a hard-to-reach population, Sociological Research Online 29(1): 221–232 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13607804221142212
  5. Sapkota, S., Rushton, S., van Teijlingen, E., Subedi, M., Balen, J., Gautam, S., Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P., Wasti,SP., Karki, JK., Panday, S., Karki, A., Rijal, B., Joshi, S., Basnet, S., Marahatta, SB. (2024) Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal. Health Research & Policy Systems, 22(7) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01092-5 .
  6. Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Rushton, S., Balen, J., Subedi, M., Karki, J., Adhikary, P., Sapkota, S., Gautam, S., Marahatta, S., Panday, S., Bajracharya, B., Vaidya, A. for the Nepal Federal Health System Team (2023) Selection of Study Sites and Participants for Research into Nepal’s Federal Health System, WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health
  7. Harvey, O., Regmi, P.R., Mahato, P., Dhakal Adhikari, S., Dhital, R., van Teijlingen E. (2023) Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused. Journal of Education & Research, 13(2): 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716
  8. Arnold, R., Gordon, C., Way, S., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service, European Journal of Midwifery 6 (May): 1-7. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/147444
  9. Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences 3(2): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v3i2.317
  10. Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen, E., Nadeem, A., Green, S., Warren A. (2021) Importance of involving patients and public in health research in Bangladesh and Nepal. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 37: e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266462320000811
  11. Kirkpatrick, P., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Lost in Translation: Reflecting on a Model to Reduce Translation and Interpretation Bias, The Open Nursing Journal, 3(8): 25-32 web address: bentham.org/open/tonursj/openaccess2.htm
  12. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2005) Pilot studies in family planning & reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31(3): 219-21.
  13. van Teijlingen E, Pitchforth E. (2006) Focus Group Research Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 32(1): 30-2
  14. van Teijlingen E, Pitchforth, E., Bishop, C., Russell, E.M. (2006) Delphi method and nominal group techniques in family planning and reproductive health research, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 32(4): 249-252.
  15. Pitchforth, E, van Teijlingen E, Ireland, J. (2007) Focusing the group, RCM Midwives Journal 10(2): 78-80.
  16. Pitchforth, E., van Teijlingen E. (2005) International Public Health Research involving interpreters: a case study approach from Bangladesh, BMC Public Health, 5: 71 Web address: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-5-71.pdf
  17. Forrest Keenan, K., Teijlingen van, E., Pitchforth, E. (2005) Analysis of qualitative research data in family planning & reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31(1): 40-43.
  18. Brindle S, Douglas, F, van Teijlingen E., Hundley V. (2005) Midwifery Research: Questionnaire surveys, RCM Midwives Journal 8 (4): 156-158.
  19. Douglas, F, van Teijlingen E, Brindle S, Hundley, V, Bruce, J., Torrance, N. (2005) Designing Questionnaires for Midwifery Research, RCM Midwives Journal 8: 212-215.
  20. van Teijlingen E Ireland, J. (2003) Research interviews in midwifery RCM Midwives Journal 6: 260-63. http://www.midwives.co.uk/default.asp?chid=439&editorial_id=13768
  21. van Teijlingen E, Sandall, J., Wrede, S., Benoit, C., DeVries, R., Bourgeault, I. (2003) Comparative studies in maternity care RCM Midwives Journal 6: 338-40.
  22. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2002) ‘The importance of pilot studies’ Nursing Standard 16(40): 33-36. Web: nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/vol16-40/pdfs/vol16w40p3336.pdf

BU Hosted the National KTP Practitioner Conference 2024! Matt Desmier

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are an extremely useful tool for any forward-thinking institution or team of academics wanting to apply their research in real world settings.

The UK Government’s longest established business support and research funding allocation, they’re a tried and tested vehicle that consistently demonstrate how Universities can have a measurable impact on the world around them.

Earlier this summer, Bournemouth University was selected as the honourable host of the 2024 KTP Practitioners Conference, the annual gathering of knowledge exchange professionals from across the country. This was a coup for BU and an excellent opportunity to cement our place in the canon of proactive institutions embracing the potential of KTPs.

Over the course of one and a half days, Fusion Building welcomed 200 delegates, representing 79 universities alongside guests from Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect, some interested businesses and a smattering of academics too.

The convened audience enjoyed three high profile keynote talks, updates from both the KTP funders and the National Forum, as well as twelve workshops designed to equip those present with the skills they need to grow and manage their KTP portfolio.

Assisted by Bournemouth’s wonderful micro climate, the whole event was a resounding success. Much was learnt, many connections were made and the bar was set extremely high for Manchester Metropolitan University, who’re hosting the event next year.

Drowning prevention meeting for NIHR-funded study

This week our collaborators on the Sonamoni project traveled from Bangladesh and Uganda to Dorset for a set of research planning meetings.  The visitors represented CIPRB (The Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh) and DWB (Design without Borders).  They were hosted by colleagues from Bournemouth University, the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) and from the University of Southampton.  Since Monday we managed to have an intensive week of design workshops, reviewing and incorporating local-community prioritised interventions for child drowning prevention (aged <2years) in Bangladesh.  I say ‘we managed’, but I have been at home all week with COVID-19.  The past few days I was beginning to feel quite well again, so I was unpleasantly surprised that I was still positive when I tested yesterday, and even more so this morning.  Consequently, missing the whole week working with our visiting collaborators.

The Sonamoni project recently presented its own video recording on YouTube,which you can watch here!

Sonamoni is a public health project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website.

 

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)

Introducing AWE project: nature trails augmented with digital technology

We are thrilled to introduce the Augmented Wildlife Experiences (AWE) project. Our mission is to transform traditional nature trails into fun, educational adventures that capture visitors of all ages.

HEIF funding and QR funding have allowed us to set up and test our first proof of concept trail at Holton Lee.

 

What is AWE?

AWE integrates QR codes along a wildlife trail that unlock multimedia content bringing the story of local flora and fauna to life. Imagine walking through a forest, scanning a QR code, and instantly accessing videos, audio recordings, and detailed information about the unseen wildlife around you.

This is the magic of AWE.

Our Partnership with Livability Millie College

We are proud to collaborate with Livability Millie College in piloting the AWE project. Their beautiful campus and commitment to innovative education make them an ideal partner for testing and refining our concept.

Together, we have created a 2.4km nature trail complete with nine interactive hubs, each offering unique insights into the local wildlife. This first trail is not publicly accessible but future trails will be.

Stay connected

Visit our website at www.awetrails.co.uk to learn more about upcoming events, educational resources, and how you can support the AWE project, join us on social media @awetrails to share your AWE experiences, connect with fellow nature lovers, and stay updated on the latest developments. We are keen to collaborate to enhance our trails and build new trails elsewhere. You can get in touch with us via info@awetrails.co.uk.

Adventure Aweits!

Looking forward

In collaboration with National England and Talbot Woods we plan to set up further trails in publicly accessible areas. Our collaboration with Dorset Electrical Solutions will also be further developed to create more bespoke live-viewing systems. We are currently looking and applying for funding for these future plans.

 

 

New paper: Tourism and transport use in Bali, Indonesia

Congratulations to BUBS PhD student Rama Permana on the publication of his paper ‘The (un)sustainability of rural tourism travel in the Global South: A social practice theory perspective’ in the International Journal of Tourism Research. The paper draws on a series of semi-structured interviews with tourists and destination stakeholders which explore tourists’ rural travel practices in Bali, Indonesia. The paper uses a social practices perspective to explore how Bali’s transport provision has evolved to meet residents’ needs for travel and income generation, shaping the options for tourists. The paper highlights how transition to more sustainable transport use is challenging when local populations are invested in existing transport provision and how this provision has become part of the tourism experience. 

New sociology paper Freedom from Academentia

Congratulations to Laura Favaro, Lecturer in Social Science in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, who published the paper ‘Let us be free from “ACADEMENTIA”’ this last weekend of June [1].   “Survivor of academentia” is how one former lecturer in sociology described herself when to Laura interviewed her for her ethnography of academia. In particular, the research explored the “gender wars”, namely the disputes around sex and gender that have escalated dramatically since the mid 2010s in Britain and increasingly also in many other countries. This article builds on feminist and other critical uses of the term academentia with original insights from interview and document data about the detrimental impact of queer theory and politics. The hope is to stimulate further inquiry into the push towards queering at universities, and beyond, as well as into the connections between the
transgender and mad movements.

The content of this paper has been covered by writer Victoria Smith in  The Critic  and Laura will be presenting about this exciting topic at a conference this summer.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

Reference:

Favaro, L. (2024) Let us be free from “Academentia”, Cuestiones de género: de la igualdad y la diferencia. Nº. 19: 659-92.

 

Free Research Event – Wednesday 26th June – A Celebration of Sustainable Food Related Research

BU Research Centre CSSRC is celebrating its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around sustainable food on Wednesday 26th June 2024, 4.45-7.00pm.

The Centre for Sustainable & Socially Responsible Consumption (CSSRC) invites you to attend its research event on Wednesday 26th June 2024 to celebrate its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around sustainable food. After a welcome refreshment this interesting and informative event will comprise of three topical presentation sessions, each lead by a member of CSSRC, as outlined below. Opportunity for discussions and networking over drinks and nibbles after the talks will round off the event.

Session 1: FoodMAPP: Local food supply communicated through a transactional searchable MAP based APPlication

FoodMAPP is a European funded research project that is developing a searchable map-based platform that will enable consumers to search and buy food products directly from local suppliers. Currently within Europe food is transported, on average, 171km from farm to fork. 26 per cent of global carbon emissions come from food and large volumes of food are wasted. The FoodMAPP project aims to address these challenges by enabling consumers to identify and purchase local sources of food in real time to shorten supply chains and reduce food waste, while also providing additional sustainable income to food producers and providers. The project, led by Professor of Consumer Behaviour Jeff Bray, consists of a consortium of European partners, comprising academic partners in Croatia, Hungary, Spain and Belgium and industry partners in France & Austria. In this session Professor Bray will introduce the project and discuss current insights from it.

Session 2: Assessing the impact of food prices on consumption and health

Professor of Economics Tim Lloyd will present this session and introduce this Defra funded project. The overall aim of this project is to develop user-friendly software, underpinned by theory and modelling that will provide Defra with the capacity to assess the potential impacts of external and internal shocks and the outcome of potential policy options, not just on prices but on food consumption more generally, including the health impacts across socio-economic groups, while addressing the resilience of the UK food chain and environmental challenges. The project has Defra Funding for two years and is a collaboration with the University of Exeter, that develops previous work on food price modelling in relation to Brexit that formed the basis of an Impact Case submitted to UoA17 (Business and Management) in REF2021. The current project started in December 2023 and is in its early phase of development. The BU team comprises Tim Lloyd (Professor of Economics) and Adam Witt (ECR) from the Department of Accounting Finance and Economics in BUBS. It is envisioned that the output of the project will augment the government’s analytical capacity in the politically sensitive area of food prices and form an Impact Case Study for REF2029.

Session 3: An exploration of alternative food network practices

The landscape of food systems is evolving, with alternative food networks (AFNs) gaining prominence. AFNs encompass decentralised and locally rooted system that seek to establish direct connections between producers and consumers, often bypassing conventional supply chains e.g. farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and food cooperatives. As consumer preferences shift towards locally sourced and sustainable food options, it is essential to assess the challenges and opportunities that arise in the context of AFNs. Through exploring AFNs and SFSCs, this project seeks to understand their potential contributions to sustainability, resilience, and community well-being. In this session Dr Anthony Ezenwa will present his BU QR-funded research that explores the nuances of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) and Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), using Dorset County, England as a comprehensive case study. Dr Ezenwa will highlight the various typologies and meanings associated with these concepts and discuss how the social and institutional perspectives surrounding the challenges and opportunities within AFNs and SFSCs practices in the region, shedding light on their intricate links.

Provisional Timetable:

4.45-5.00pm – Welcome refreshments

5.00-6.15pm – Presentation sessions

6.15-7.00pm – Discussion, networking and refreshments

This is a free event, but you must register to attend via Eventbrite: A Celebration of Sustainable Food Related Research Tickets, Wed 26 Jun 2024 at 16:45 | Eventbrite