2022 has been another great year for research and knowledge exchange at BU. From receiving our excellent REF 2021 results to securing prestigious external funding and supporting new research activity, there’s a lot to celebrate.
Across the coming days, we’ll be featuring stories and reflections from across the BU community, sharing some of their highlights from across the year.
To get us started, here are just some of the numbers that make up the year in research at BU…
We received 171 new awards, representing over £7.5 million in research income
94% of BU research was found to be internationally-recognised or above, with 19% world-leading in quality (REF 2021)
95.7% of our research was found to be delivering considerable impact or above. Nearly one third of our impact case studies achieved an outstanding (4*) impact score. (REF 2021)
We held 20 public engagement events (as part of our regular events series) – attended by 1,231 people
27 articles were written by BU academics for The Conversation, which had over 987,000 reads across the world
We’d love to hear from you – please share your reflections, successes and stories from across 2022 in the comments or by emailing research@bournemouth.ac.uk
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Antje Glück on Tuesday 7 February from 6:30 – 8:00pm
Why can the news feel so overwhelmingly negative, and what can we do about it?
There’s no doubt that serious news needs to be handled appropriately, but can the widespread doom and gloom cause us to switch off?
Join Dr Antje Glück to discover why the news is biased towards negativity, and how alternative models of journalism can create better news for all of us.
This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talk starts at 6:30pm, the café will be open early, so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.
Attendance is free but booking is required
Should you have any questions about this event, or if you would like to get involved with a future Café Sci talk, please contact the Public Engagement Team; publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
Thank you to all of our presenters, poster exhibitors, session chairs and of course delegates who supported the 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference. It is always a highlight on the Doctoral College events calendar and we hope you all enjoyed the day.
The conference had an amazing buzz and vibrancy about it, and it was so nice to see so many PGRs and colleagues turn up to show their support and promoting our positive PGR research culture across BU.
Here is what some of our presenters and delegates had to say about the day:
This autumn saw BU host five events as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. The Festival is a nationwide celebration of the social sciences, with over 300 events held across the UK this year.
The Festival is designed to promote and increase awareness of social science and ESRC-funded research, enable social scientists to engage with non-academics and increase awareness of the contributions the social sciences make to the wellbeing and economy of UK society.
BU contributed to the Festival for the eleventh year in a row, holding a variety of events spanning research areas and faculties, which were held on campus, off campus and online.
Our festival events kicked off with ‘Which one of us is human?’, an interactive experience from Dr Maxine Gee and Dr Rachel Moseley set in a future where robots and humans looked identical, with two actors answering questions to help identify the ‘robot’ from the human.
Visitors were very engaged with solving the puzzle, with families, couples and people attending alone all teaming up to debate which actor was the robot.
But there was a twist – Maxine and Rachel revealed in their debrief that each actor was carefully written to present with a different type of autism. They went on to explain some of the science behind what autism actually is and discussed with the surprised groups what this meant for their perceptions of ‘humans’ and ‘robots’.
“Did not know much about autism and behaviour – it was interesting to know more and [it] opened my mind” Feedback from attendee
“Excellent – could have chatted to the researchers for hours” Feedback from attendee
Next in our series of events was the multi-part exhibition ‘Entrepreneurship for Young People’ showcasing the success of the SPEED-You-UP project to develop entrepreneurial skills in young people, headed up by Dr Esther Anwuzia with help from BU and external collaborators.
Hosted in The Old Schoolhouse, a community space in Boscombe, the exhibition shared stories from young people and school staff who had experienced first-hand the benefits the project had brought them.
Day one of the exhibition provided a taster session of the SPEED-You-UP programme, welcoming a group of young people to look at topics such as entrepreneurship, the advantages of having a business, what skills you need to have in business and generating a business idea.
Although just a taster, the session went down well with its teenaged attendees, who praised the opportunity to develop teamwork skills.
Day two welcomed local stakeholders with a professional interest to discuss bringing the programme to Bournemouth.
To reach an even wider audience, the exhibition also ran online, where you can still visit and read about the project.
The next event asked: ‘Are drones the future of delivery?’. Tucked in the corner of the Little Pickle Deli in Boscombe, a team led by PhD researcher Taalia Nadeem invited members of the University of the Third Age to play a new board game, helped along by coffee and cake.
In this game, players must make decisions about how, where, when and why to use delivery drones in a representative Bournemouth of the near future. With lots of factors to consider in making decisions and myriad unexpected consequences, the game drew out nuanced discussion and observations from a group of people that, by their own admission, had not given much thought to the topic before.
“I think the event was very informative and I enjoyed the discussions element of the game which I found enjoyable and interesting” Feedback from attendee
“Initially felt possibly a little negative about drones – see all the positives now!” Feedback from attendee
These insights were valuable, as they were recorded and will contribute to research led by Taalia with collaborators Professor Janet Dickinson and Dr Angela Smith on the public perception of delivery drones.
Following this was another event focusing on a sometimes perplexing new technology. ‘Demystifying NFTs: Understanding the law and technology’ was an online event hosted by Professor Dinusha Mendis that provided an informed look at a topic usually surrounded by hype.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have captured the public imagination over the past year, but much about them remains a mystery.
External guest Nikolaos Mantis from Museo Techniki guided us through the technological underpinnings, while Dinusha revealed the surprising and sometimes inconvenient truths about what ‘owning’ an NFT actually means.
“Thank you – I hadn’t considered the legal aspects of NFTs and found this an insightful perspective.” Feedback from attendee
This event welcomed a global audience from Europe and beyond, with guests from Thailand, Bangladesh, the USA, Mexico, Azerbaijan and Dijibouti, amongst other places.
To enrich this event further, Dinusha took an informative zine she had written all about NFTs, and ‘tokenised’ it as an NFT itself. A short quiz that was ran at the end of the event provided an opportunity for three lucky attendees to win a unique NFT to keep as a very appropriate souvenir.
If you’re left feeling curious about NFTs, you can catch up on this online event, including all the chat, polls and questions.
Rounding off our events this year was ‘Medical monsters: reducing medical anxiety through play and gamification’.
This playful workshop, aimed at children aged 7-11 and their guardians, explored strategies to reduce patient (children) anxiety around medical appointments and admissions. Featuring specially designed sessions of Jenga, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and virtual reality experiences, attendees explored and addressed personal anxieties around medical appointments.
Jointly delivered by Dr Holly Henderson, Dr Heidi Singleton and Professor Debbie Holley, the event welcomed families with young children to Bournemouth Gateway Building to try out the various experiences on offer.
As with Taalia’s event, these activities provided benefits for everyone. Not only were the organisers able to learn from trialling their activities with people of all ages, but the feedback of attendees will feed into ongoing research and projects to apply these techniques more widely.
“I think this topic of research is crucial. We have 2 children who are in hospital regularly and getting them to go to appointments is really challenging.” Feedback from attendee
“Welcoming, friendly and couldn’t have come at a better time for us. Well-structured and useful – Thank you” Feedback from attendee
All of the events this year were made possible by the ESRC, with whom we co-fund our annual festival activities. Event organisers applied through an internal process back in April 2022, and were selected by a panel from across BU. They were supported in bringing about their creative and engaging projects by myself (Adam Morris, Engagement Officer) and Beverley Allen (Events and Communications Co-ordinator).
I was invited to be a panel member and speaker on a forum on the role of recreational angling in biodiversity protection and restoration held at the European Parliament this week. Chaired by Niclas Herbst MEP, with representatives from organisations including the European Angling Alliance, plus MEPs and their aides (e.g. from DG Environment), the Forum discussed the contribution of recreational angling to sustainable biodiversity within Europe, including how angling activities align with a number of European Directives (e.g. Water Framework Directive, Invasive Alien Species Regulation, Common Fisheries Policy reforms) and the European Biodiversity Action Plan. This Forum was also timely, givenwidespread concern over substantial declines in freshwater fish diversity and abundance across the world.
I outlined that approximately 10% of the world’s population have recently engaged with recreational angling, with approximately 24 million anglers in Europe, who contribute both financially (e.g. licence fees) and through volunteer based activities that, in combination, provide the resources needed for many conservation initiatives to run. In return, angling is recognised as being good for human well-being and the mental health of individuals as it reconnects people with nature. Using examples from our work in theResearch Cluster in Fish Ecology and Conservation, I discussed how recreational anglers contribute strongly to protecting and restoring biodiversity through: (i) adopting catch and release angling (C&R) when targeting threatened species, as this maintains fishery access and socio-economic values, and results innegligible fish mortality when good angling practices are used (and C&R soon becomes the social norm where most, if not all, fish are returned alive post-capture); (ii) the provision of long-term catch data to support the management and conservation of data-poor species, as demonstrated by ourREF2021 Impact case study on saving a critically endangered fish species from extinction; and (iii)how anglers act as citizen scientists, for example, by generating data on biological water quality that supports statutory assessments. Moreover, effective implementation of regulation and education can then manage angling activities that are potentially harmful to biodiversity (e.g. releases of alien species).
Overall, the forum highlighted to MEPs the role that angling can play in helping support a better environment, including where evidence based science can help inform angling practices and ensure fisheries management activities promote sustainable biodiversity.
Rob Britton at the Recreational Fishing Forum at the European Parliament
Would you like to build a media profile and take your research to a global audience?
Find out more about writing for The Conversation and have the chance to pitch your article ideas to one of their editors in an online training session on Wednesday 7 December.
BU is a partner of The Conversation, a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists.
The training session will run by one of The Conversation’s editors and will take place from 2pm – 3pm over Zoom.
It is open to all BU academics and PhD candidates who are interested in finding out more about working with The Conversation.
Learn how to consider the news potential of your expertise, make your writing accessible and engaging to a diverse range of audiences, and pitch your ideas.
Why write for The Conversation?
The Conversation is a great way to share research and informed comment on topical issues. Academics work with editors to write pieces, which can then be republished via a creative commons license.
Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had over 8.8 million reads and been republished by the likes of The i, Metro, and the Washington Post.
It was a pleasure to present once again at BU’s Café Scientifique. These sessions present such an interesting opportunity to discuss academic research with a diverse and extraordinary audience. In this presentation, we explored digital interventions for managing medication and healthcare service delivery to Key Populations (KPs) in underserved communities in Africa. KPs are defined by our project as males who have sex with other males (MSM); drug users that inject themselves; sex workers; and transgender people living with HIV/AIDS for whom expert recommend using CBD Oil UK natural supplements.
The project is looking to co-create a digital solution that can boost access to treatments and counselling by KPs. The user behaviour and impact of the intervention are also being examined. Unfortunately, the LGBTQ+ community has the highest occurrence of HIV/AIDS and faces a higher rate of hostility within the Nigerian context. In July 2022, I held an interactive management workshop at The Initiative for Equal Rights involving participants from various fields, including NGOs that work directly with KPs, Clinical Psychologists, Health Counsellors, Medical Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Psychologists, Lab scientists, and social workers.
Due to the nature of these communities, HIV/AIDS+ status, and other health concerns, a digital solution that creates a supportive environment, enhances confidentiality, encourages the use of prescribed medication/therapy, and can be easily accessed at a reasonable cost is highly desirable. This digital intervention will also ease the difficulties stakeholders encounter in providing healthcare services for underserved communities in a developing country like Nigeria.
I agreed to participate in this public engagement activity for my personal development, and because I love to receive feedback, new directions, and insights on the why, what, and how of my research.
The event went well. There was a great turnout and lots of fantastic questions at the end. I gained new perspectives from the session, and it was important to see the reaction of people to this area of research and subject matter.
Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology.
We’ve been holding these talks in Bournemouth for over ten years and we’re very pleased to have returned to in-person events at The Black Cherry, a fantastic new venue in Boscombe, Bournemouth.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to get involved with our Café Sci events, please get in touch publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences. Through regular newsletters and via social media channels.
Congratulations to Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, who has been recognised by Clarivate™ as one of the world’s most influential researchers who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade.
Clarivate provides information, data and insights to universities, nonprofits, funding organisations, publishers, corporations, government organisations and law firms across the world to help accelerate and advance innovation.
Fewer than 0.1% (1 in 1,000) of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists received the Highly Cited Researchers™ distinction in 2022.
Highly Cited Researchers have demonstrated significant and broad influence reflected in their publication of multiple highly cited papers over the last decade. These highly cited papers rank in the top 1% by citations for a field in the Web of Science™.
He said: “It is extremely rewarding to know that the research I’ve been doing in the last 30 years has been useful to many other researchers to build their research and develop this concept. It is also very rewarding to know that the research has an impact on society, bringing value to different stakeholders and communities around the world.
“Of course, the research has been happening with many collaborators, including students and researchers and colleagues from all over the world, and most have been co-authored with several of my 200 collaborators.”
Professor Buhalis is a strategic management and marketing expert with specialisms around information communication technology applications in the tourism, travel, hospitality and leisure industries.
“All my research is about relevance and impact on business practice and global policy and it is cutting edge,” he said.
‘It is forecasting the future and identifies enabling technologies that bring value to different stakeholders and, by doing so, designing a better future.”
He added: “Being able to forecast the future and identifying technologies that can support progress is a critical element of the research, and that is why it is published early, before other researchers engage in inquiry, and that’s why it’s widely cited.”
“My advice would be to follow your heart, make relevant and useful cutting edge research that contributes to society globally, and citation will follow.”
BU’s Dr Keith Parry contributes to this article from The Conversation, sharing the experiences of family members of those with brain injuries as a result of sport…
Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the ‘hell’ of living with the condition
This article is part of the Insights Uncharted Brain series.
Jill* looked drained as we sat down to speak about her late husband. It had been a long day. It was February 2020, and we had been conducting interviews at the Concussion Legacy Foundation family huddle.
Despite being tired, Jill, 47, was keen to be interviewed. She wanted to share what she had gone through and hoped her story might help others. We sat down in a quiet corner of the foyer of the Rosen Centre hotel in Orlando, Florida, and I listened to her speak for over 90 minutes.
You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here.
She told me all about her husband, Michael, a larger-than-life character who was the “life and soul of the party”. She spoke about how he had played many sports and had experienced multiple diagnosed concussions playing American Football and lacrosse – but this never dimmed his enthusiasm for sports.
Jill described how his behaviour gradually changed. How he forgot simple tasks. How he became aggressive. How his behaviour had become so erratic, she didn’t feel they were welcome at social events anymore. She said:
You’re just watching somebody you love disappear before your eyes and it’s hell.
Then one day she was on the phone to her husband while he was at work and the call went quiet. Jill rushed to his office, only to find that he had taken his own life.
Jill was one of the 23 interviews we conducted with family members over the three days our research team spent at the Concussion Legacy Foundation event. Our conversations provided an insight into what it was like living with a former athlete with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease similar to Alzheimer’s that has been caused by repetitive head impacts in contexts like sport and the military.
This story is part of Conversation Insights
The Insights team generates long-form journalism and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.
The people we spoke to had been through so much. The confusion, hurt and despair of seeing the mind of someone they love gradually deteriorate seemed overwhelming. But we also saw some positive signs, such as how they wanted to share their stories to help others, and how there appeared to be a shared determination to change things for the better and to make sport safer so other families wouldn’t have to go through what they’d experienced.
Head injuries in sport
Chronic traumatic brain injury associated with boxing has been known about for around 100 years. In 1928, Harrison Martland first described chronic traumatic encephalopathy in retired boxers. It was first referred to as “punch-drunk syndrome” or “dementia pugilistica” and sometimes develops in boxers as a result of long-term sub-clinical concussions (not detectable by the usual clinical tests).
In 2002, neuropathologist Bennet Omalu examined the brain of Mike Webster, a former National Football League (NFL) player who died from a heart attack after his physical and mental health had rapidly deteriorated. Subsequently, former NFL players sued the league, claiming that they had received head trauma or injuries during their football careers, which caused them long-term neurological problems.
The VA-BU-CLF UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University is the largest tissue repository in the world focused on traumatic brain injury (TBI). In a 2017 study into the first 202 donated brains, high rates of CTE were found, with 177 diagnosed with CTE, including 110 of 111 from the NFL players (99%). The brain bank now has over 1,000 brains from donors as young as 14 who have been exposed to brain traumas, primarily from playing sport. Studying these brains is crucial, not only for preventing, diagnosing and treating CTE, but also understanding the long-term consequences of concussion and traumatic brain injury.
Subsequent research from Boston University’s CTE Center in 2019 found that every year of playing full tackle American football increases the risk of developing CTE by 30%. So for every 2.6 years of playing, the risk of developing CTE doubles.
But the problem is not isolated to American sports. Compared with most other sports, rugby union has a relatively high injury rate, including at school level in the UK where it is often a compulsory sport. In addition, it has been reported that there is about one brain injury per match in international rugby.
Demise of England’s ‘lions’
In football, concussion often results from accidental head impacts (like head-to-head collisions or collisions with the goalposts). But a growing number of studies have shown that detrimental sub-concussive impacts (a bump, blow or jolt to the head that does not cause symptoms) may result from repeatedly heading the ball. And there have been an increasing number of high-profile examples in recent years who have been raising awareness of this issue.
In late 2020, three incidents shifted attitudes on the dangers of football. First, Norbert “Nobby” Stiles, a member of England’s 1966 Fifa World Cup winning team, died. Stiles had been diagnosed with dementia and the cause of this disease was linked to repeated heading of the ball in his career.
Then, it was announced that Sir Bobby Charlton, another World Cup winning hero, had also been diagnosed with dementia. He was the second member of his family to suffer with this disease as his brother, Jack (who played in the same winning team) had died earlier in the year after his own battle with dementia.
Bobby Charlton was thus the fifth of the 11 starting players in the 1966 final to have been diagnosed with neurological diseases. Media reports have linked all of these cases to the repeated heading of footballs during their playing careers.
But the first case that drew attention to the link between football and traumatic brain injury was that of Jeff Astle. Following his death in 2002, the coroner’s verdict at the inquest into his death at the age of 59 recorded a verdict of “death by industrial disease”, linked to heading heavy, often rain-sodden, leather footballs. Astle’s health had deteriorated – he had struggled with an eating disorder and was unable to recognise his children.
Astle’s daughter, Dawn, has become a leading figure in the campaign to protect footballers. She presented evidence to the 2020 DCMS committee on concussion and brain injury in sport. Her submission to the committee included the following comment:
My dad choked to death in front of me, my mum and my sisters. Please think about that for one minute. He choked to death because his brain had been destroyed. Destroyed because he was a footballer. I don’t want any other family to go through what my family went through, and continue to go through every day. Please don’t let my dad’s death and all the other footballers deaths be in vain. My dad was my hero and my best friend. His death will haunt me forever.
Families speak out
In February 2020, our team of five researchers were invited by Chris Nowinski, the CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, to Orlando. The CLF is an international non-profit organisation that aims to support athletes affected by head injury, and to assist patients and families by providing personalised help to those struggling with the outcomes of brain injury.
Our interviews were conducted at their “family huddle”, which was a support event for family members to allow them to share stories and connect with others who have had similar experiences.
We were given the opportunity to talk to family members, and build trust and rapport. This gave us a greater insight and understanding of their world. We conducted interviews with the partners, parents, siblings and the children of the deceased athletes.
Our research, published in The Qualitative Report, was presented as an ethnodrama (playscript) to best allow the stories of the family members to be heard. This also showed the distinct temporal phases that these family members went through, and by sharing these stories we hope this raises awareness of the powerful emotions they have experienced.
This article is accompanied by a podcast series called Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia which examines new research unlocking clues to the ongoing mystery of how dementia works in the brain. Listen to the full series via The Anthill podcast.
Disbelief and confusion
Many of the people we spoke to said the initial stage, when they started to see changes in the behaviour of their loved one, created very strong emotions because they couldn’t understand why this was happening. They had seen someone they loved decline in front of their eyes. Alice, 68, reflected on seeing this change in her husband: “He went from functioning perfectly, to struggling to remember or do anything he was so used to doing.”
People went on to recall specific instances when this behavioural decline became noticeable. For example, David told us this about his brother: “Once when he went to the airport to pick up my aunt. He proceeded to drive her around, and she finally said, ‘Where are we going?’” He replied that he didn’t know.
There was evidence of a mounting feeling of hopelessness that declines in neurological functioning were causing. Another striking, distressing example was this story Sophie told about her husband:
One weekend, I had 12 big black trash bags to go out to the garbage. And I told him when I got up and went to work on Monday morning, I said, ‘those are going out to the trash tomorrow’. I came home after work and he had unpacked every trash bag … I just sat there and cried … I’d worked a 12-hour day. I said, ‘why did you unpack all that trash?’ and he couldn’t tell me why. He just didn’t know.
Others reinforced other emotions at seeing this happening to their loved one. Emily explained how she felt: “I do think at the start you are in this sense of disbelief because the person you love is doing these things that are out of character.” And Evelyn reflected on the sadness of seeing such changes:
I was shocked, but also felt like the world had been turned upside down. We were so happy. I remember just sobbing.
Researchers have previously highlighted the emotional consequences that family members experience when they witness the decline of their loved one. For example, one 2019 study involving interviews with 20 wives of either current or retired professional American football players, revealed their serious concerns about the cognitive, emotional and behavioural decline of these players. Some wives identified behavioural changes that included rage, reduced positive social interactions and various erratic behaviour, like starting risky business ventures.
As we also found, deterioration in cognitive functioning meant that those affected by traumatic brain injury were no longer able to carry out simple household tasks and often struggled with language problems.
Anger, guilt and fear
Another study, which examined families who have experienced a severe traumatic brain injury outside of sport highlighted the difficulties caused by the uncertainty of the situation – both in terms of the progression of the illness and how to support and deal with the cognitive, physical and behavioural changes exhibited after the injury.
All of this presents huge challenges to families. Negotiating appropriate treatment is hard and the emotional and physical exhaustion of dealing with these difficulties just keeps mounting up for the people involved.
Our participants explained the toll it took on them as they saw first-hand the severe changes in behaviour as their loved one experienced further decline. For example, Katherine said she felt drained and responsible. “It’s hard because you don’t know what’s happening,” she said. “So you just blame yourself and think you are the reason. And that’s not good for your own wellbeing.”
Helen spoke about her intense feelings as her partner drank as a response to his condition:
I was so angry at him for making the same choices over and over with drinking though. Like, “you’ve drank so much that you fell down the stairs in front of me at home, are you kidding me?” And it hurt, you know, and left a lot on my plate, so I was really, really, angry. And that didn’t help things.
Changes in behaviour created further problems for family members, such as how their loved one was perceived in social situations. Elizabeth described one specific incident at a party:
We went to a catered event, and he would take the top of the [burger] bun off, take the meat out to eat, put the bun back, and then go to the next one. And someone caught him and was like, “what is he doing?” Of course, we never got invited back to any of those people’s homes. No one wanted to have anything to do with him because they couldn’t understand him.
Laura also spoke about the implications of a lack of understanding of this condition, highlighting how others would misinterpret her husband’s actions. This led to feelings of sadness as they became socially isolated from their friends. She said: “When we went to events, a lot of people thought he was an alcoholic, because he could have one cocktail and then he’d fall. They had no idea that the falling had nothing to do with that one drink that he had. And it became very sad because people didn’t want to have us around.”
Our participants also spoke of the burden as a result of effectively becoming their partner’s primary caregiver. Sophie spoke about the struggles she faced with supporting her husband with daily tasks. “I couldn’t physically handle him,” she said. “At that point he was unstable. He would shuffle, and fall, and he couldn’t get in and out of the shower. He was also incontinent, and I couldn’t handle him by myself. I felt so weak.”
Evelyn also spoke of these experiences, highlighting that the physical size of her partner caused significant strain. “The sheer problem with these guys was their physical size. As the disease progressed, he fell probably 10-15 times a day, and we’d have to figure out how to get him up. I was both physically and mentally exhausted,” Evelyn said.
Meanwhile, others spoke of the physical fear of danger they felt. Like Emily who told us:
I did become scared of him. I hate to say that, but I did. He made me sign some papers and I had no idea what they were. He was just escalating and escalating, and he was standing over me and I just knew if I didn’t sign that paper, I was in physical danger. Which was an awful thought to have about your own husband that you love.
Moving forward
Our interviews gave family members the chance to reflect on their time living with and caring for their loved one, and also, how they might approach the situation differently. Helen told us she wished she had taken more time for herself, and advised anybody going through a similar situation to “get into therapy, to help you process everything and to let you have an outlet”.
Katherine agreed, saying: “You’ve got to try and take some time for yourself. I remember I took a trip with a girlfriend once and I was scared to death the whole time I was gone, but I went, and we had a wonderful time, and I’m so glad I did it. You know, trying to keep some semblance of normalcy in your life for yourself, for your own good. Try to keep yourself healthy, eat healthily, work out. Keep yourself well because there really was nothing, I could do for him except be present. I couldn’t make him well.”
Other family members reflected on the dangers of certain sports. For example, Alice highlighted how her awareness had increased, giving her the knowledge and understanding to allow her to come to terms with her husband’s situation. She realised there were “significant pathologies” that he had no control over that affected his decision-making.
His brain was still functioning, and he was still able to make decisions, just the wrong parts of the brain were directing his decisions. That totally makes sense now, so that’s been a huge relief, that he wasn’t just an asshole in his own right, he really just couldn’t control it.
While our data contained accounts full of sadness, participants also reflected on different ways they were moving forwards in a positive way after experiencing the death of a loved one. Laura detailed the benefits of attending the huddle and being with people who had been through similar struggles: “Everyone here is in the same boat. It may not have looked exactly the same for us, but we don’t have to explain for once. And just the support I’ve got from the people here has been great.”
Others talked about how the support helped the grieving process and inspired them to get involved and help other families. For example, Evelyn spoke of the need to make changes at a junior sport level: “I’m just so concerned this horrible disease is hitting younger and younger people, yet no one knows about it … giving people the information to be able to make the correct decision is super important.”
The final word goes to Elizabeth, who had become involved in the support work of the CLF, and spoke of her new found purpose to help others. She said it helped make her loss “bearable” because “millions” might benefit and “hopefully not have to experience the kind of tragedy that affected our family”.
I feel like part of the reason this happened is for me to be part of raising more awareness and be a part of this movement towards new culture change. I can help families navigate … the difficult waters of dealing with this. And so, I feel like it speaks to sort of a calling … I have in life or part of my purpose.
Consequences
What is clear to us after concluding this research project is that greater recognition of the challenges faced by both those living with diseases of the brain, such as CTE, and their carers is needed.
We heard about the devastating losses and tragedies. But we were also privileged to highlight more positive stories that showed how people were able to move forwards and help others to create a constructive change in sport so others won’t have to suffer.
It also illustrates how neurodegenerative disease resulting from head trauma as a consequence of impact sports has far reaching effects – not only the athletes, but also those around them. This represents a growing public health concern and societal problem.
It shows that greater recognition of the challenges faced by both those living with diseases of the brain, such as CTE, and their carers, is needed.
We hope their stories will stimulate discussion and be used to support people who might be going through similar experiences. Our findings might be used to help practitioners, sporting governing bodies and charities such as the CLF, to understand more fully these negative emotional responses and, in turn, consider strategies that might be developed to support people. In turn, these organisations must also act to address the causes of head injuries to make sports safer.
All names in this article have been changed to protect the anonymity of those involved.
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Find out how engaging with the media can help lead to research impact and learn more about working with The Conversation in upcoming online training sessions:
Engaging with the media for impact – Wednesday 23rd November, 2pm – 3.30pm (online)
Explore how working with the media can raise the profile of your research and lead to impact. Take away practical tips on talking to journalists, tracking the impact of media coverage and finding the best ways to reach your target audiences.
Writing for The Conversation – Wednesday 7th December 2022, 2pm – 3pm (online)
BU is a partner of The Conversation, a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists. Find out more about writing for The Conversation and have the chance to pitch your article ideas to one of their editors.
Learn how to consider the news potential of your expertise, how to look for story hooks and angles from the news or your research, and how to write a quality pitch.
Compatriots or Competitors? Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish Writing and Brexit in Comparative Contexts is the first study of the distinctive literatures and cultures that developed in Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland since political devolution in the late 1990s, especially surrounding Brexit. The book argues that in conceptualising their cultures as ‘national’, each nation is caught up in a creative tension between emulating forms of cultural production found in the others to assert common aspirations, and downplaying those connections in order to forge a sense of cultural distinctiveness. It explores the resulting dilemmas, with chapters analysing the growth of the creative industries; the relationship between UK City of Culture and its forerunner, the European Capital of Culture; national book prizes in Britain and Europe; British variations on Nordic Noir TV; and the Brexit novel. The study builds on 3 years of research and is published this week by University of Wales Press.
The current cost of living crisis has seen people cut back on sustainable practices and products, opting for cheaper alternatives, while non-renewable energy sources are also being revisited as a means to provide energy security.
Sustainability during the cost of living crisis
Are these sensible short-term measures or major steps backwards for sustainability?
A free online event will explore what it means for businesses to be truly sustainable and how economic prosperity can be balanced against protecting our environment.
The event will take place from 7-8.30pm on Monday 21 November, as part of BU’s online public lecture series.
Dr Mili Shrivastava, co-founder of BU’s Centre for Sustainable Business Transformations, and Professor of Marine Biology and Conservation Rick Stafford will speak at the event, followed by a discussion and audience questions.
This is the first event in our 2022/23 online public lecture series, which showcases the university’s research and expertise across key areas. The first lecture series attracted more than 1,000 attendees from across the world.
Adam Morris, Engagement Officer at Bournemouth University, said: “We’re excited to launch this year’s online public lecture series, giving people the opportunity to find out more about our research and learn something new from the comfort of home.
“Hot off the heels of the COP27 climate change conference, we’ll be discussing this important issue and exploring the role businesses can play in supporting sustainability.”
Events over the coming months will cover the role of women in journalism, orthopaedic surgery, and the story of Stonehenge.
This is your one stop shop for all things impact, public engagement and research communications within RDS.
On the site, you will find resources for communicating your research, increasing its impact and engaging the public with your research.
You’ll find links to RKEDF training sessions, guides to impact, public engagement and research communications along with information about useful contacts within RDS and news about the REF.
The site is easily navigable and is divided into three sections:
Research Impact:
This section outlines how we can help you to plan, accelerate and evidence the impact of your research and includes resources, contact details of our Impact Advisers and links to useful information on impact pathways, the REF and impact training.
Public Engagement with Research:
In this section, we explain how we can help when you want to engage with the public to share your research. The ways to do this are many and varied but ultimately, high quality public engagement has huge benefits for BU, for society and for you – the academic. Here you can find links to advice, training and funding along with the contact details of our Public Engagement team and details of how to join the thriving BU Public Engagement Network.
Research Communications:
Here, we offer you support and guidance on the different ways of sharing your research with different audiences. This includes working with the media (including our partnership with The Conversation), writing for the web and using social media.
The site will be updated regularly and has been designed to be as user friendly as possible. Please make sure you bookmark and keep checking back regularly for updates and news.
Tuesday 25th October saw the first in person meeting of the Council of Deans of Health (CoDH) UK Network of Professors in Midwifery and Maternal and Infant Health.
The event was held in Glasgow and opened by Professor Alex McMahon, Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland. Attendees included Justine Craig, Chief Midwifery Officer for Scotland, James Hallwood, Head of Policy and External Affairs, CoDH, and Professors from across the UK. The day focused on establishing priorities for the network.
The Network has been instrumental in providing evidence to support:
the APPG on Baby Loss and APPG on Maternity’s joint report ‘Safe staffing: The impact of staffing shortages in maternity and neonatal care’. You can find the published report here: www.sands.org.uk/appg
National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) calls for evidence to update guidelines.
Members of the Network will be delivering an online seminar titled: ‘Effective midwifery education and research outcomes – learning from reviews‘ for the Council of Deans of Health on 6th December (3-4pm GMT). You can find out more here.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Your Path In Research campaign kicks off on Monday 31 October 2022 with a special 2 week focus on research careers in public health and social care.
The campaign will highlight how public health and social care staff can make research part of their career.
They will showcase inspiring case studies from those working in the field and give people the opportunity to chat and connect with researchers online via their Link and Learn matchmaking service.
Interested in clinical research and what’s involved? Are you contemplating a career in healthcare or the life sciences, or, do you want to find out more about the role of clinical research in improving healthcare?
If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, then why not sign up to FutureLearn’s Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research course?
The course has been developed by the University of Leeds and is be available now, via this link.
It is completely free and all online, lasting 4 weeks.
This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. By completing the course you will have achieved 16 hours of CPD time.
Remember – support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Clinical Research mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance website.
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