Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
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See you there.
After completing the second year of my Biological Sciences course I wished to gain some formal research experience so I applied to be a Student Research Assistant with the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre at Bournemouth University. Understanding the significance of dementia related problems, I was excited and proud to get involved with research on such a problematic and widespread condition, and to work alongside Professor Jane Murphy.
The project aim was to evaluate the impact and use of a learning resource and training video produced by the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre. I was provided with a well-structured plan for my 4-week project. Principally, this involved collating data from a questionnaire regarding the resource’s usefulness, analysing the results using qualitative methods, and producing a report of the results.
I got stuck in quickly and within hours I had already mastered aspects of Excel and Word I had never used previously. As the work began to develop momentum, data analysis became the next task to be executed. My course has always prioritised quantitative data analysis due to the nature of data usually obtained, and I had no prior experience working with qualitative data. By the end of the third week I had delved into various approaches in the field of qualitative research, and had conducted a thematic analysis of over 400 questionnaire answers.
Prior to this experience, the research process was alien to me. However now I have knowledge of the different stages involved and the fundamental organisational skills required, which has really helped me plan and develop ideas for the independent research project in my final year. I have really enjoyed the project and have developed incredibly useful skills as well as learning about nutritional care for people who have dementia.
On Tuesday 17th April 2018, the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) were invited to join Health Education England (HEE) to showcase the Dementia Education and Learning Through Simulation 2 (DEALTS 2) programme at ‘Dementia 2020: The Next Phase’ in London. The event, hosted by Govconnect, provided an opportunity to consider progress on the ‘Challenge Dementia 2020 Implementation Plan’ assessing whether commitments have been meet so far. Commitments of the plan aspire to make England the best country in the world for: dementia care and support; for people with dementia to live; and to conduct dementia research.
In 2016, HEE commissioned a team from Bournemouth University (BU) to develop and evaluate DEALTS 2. DEALTS 2 is a simulation-based dementia education programme for staff in acute hospitals across England. It is based on an experiential learning approach, placing hospital staff into the shoes of a person with dementia, to facilitate a positive impact on practice. The training is mapped against a selection of core competencies for staff with regular contact with people with dementia (Tier 2) and underpinned by the Humanising Values Framework a philosophical lens originally developed at BU. The team, Dr Michelle Heward, Dr Michele Board, Ashley Spriggs and Prof Jane Murphy, delivered DEALTS 2 as a train-the-trainer model across England in 2017 to 196 trainers from 13 HEE Local Education Boards, and are continuing to evaluate the impact on practice.
The DEALTS 2 programme was showcased as a case study at the Dementia 2020 event in a presentation given by Jan Zietara the Head of Programme Delivery for HEE. Dr Michelle Heward represented the ADRC at the event which provided an opportunity to connect with members of key organisations involved in delivering the Implementation Plan for Dementia 2020, as well as people with dementia, caregivers and individuals interested in dementia care and support more broadly.
The event was co-chaired by George Rook an advocate who himself lives with dementia, and Rachel Thompson the Professional and Practice Lead for Dementia UK. Throughout the event a range of speakers updated the audience on progress including: Jeremy Hughes CBE, Chief Executive, Alzheimer`s Society; David Nuttall, Deputy Director – Dementia Policy, Department of Health; and Dr Charles Alessi Senior Advisor and Lead for Dementia, Public Health England. It has to be said though that Suzy Webster who is a caregiver for her mother who has dementia gave the most heartfelt speech reminding us that policy is necessary but it is now time to see action on the ground to improve care and support for people with dementia – not a dry eye was left in the house!
Discussion on the day focused on celebrating the small steps forward that have been taken, whilst being mindful that there remains some way to go to meet the commitments outlined in the plan by 2020.
The end of 2017 brought about the start of the second successful ERASMUS funded project for Dr Ben Hicks (psychology lecturer and member of ADRC) and Professor Wen Tang (Head of Creative Technology Department). Working alongside European partners from Slovenia (Alzheimer’s Slovenia), Greece (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Spain (Alzheimer’s Castellon and the University of Valencia) and Turkey (Alzheimer’s Turkey), the two year project aims to develop an e-platform that raises awareness and promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance the autonomy of people with dementia and their care partners.
The first meeting was held in Castellon, Spain, at the Universitat Jaume 1 on the 18-19th December 2017 and was attended by Ben and Natalia Adamczewska (ADRC). Over the course of two days, the proposed research plan and outcomes of the project were discussed in more detail and tasks were assigned to each of the European partners. This included establishing an Advisory Group of people with dementia, care partners and practitioners to inform the development of the project as well as conducting a review of best practice within this field.
Although it is only early days, there was a real buzz around the meeting, as the partners discussed the project and the potential beneficial impact it could have for people living with dementia across Europe. The second meeting for the project team is planned for April/May 2018.
If you would like further information on the research please contact Ben on bhicks@bournemouth.ac.uk
You are cordially invited to this lunchtime seminar which is open to all BU staff.
Please feel free to bring your lunch.
Wednesday 24th January 2018
1 – 2 pm
B407, Bournemouth House, Lansdown Campus
The NIHR is the UK’s major funder of applied health research. The NIHR develops and supports the people who conduct and contribute to health research and equally supports the training of the next generation of health researchers. The NIHR CRN Study Support Service helps researchers set up and deliver high quality research to time and target in the NHS in England.
We are fortunate to have two Research Delivery Managers from the NIHR CRN Wessex, David Higenbottam and Alex Jones coming to BU who will be presenting a seminar about the network, funding opportunities and forthcoming strategic plan for 2018, followed by Q & A session.
Please email Michelle O’Brien (mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you are planning to attend. See you there!
Biographies
David Higenbottam
Has worked in research since 2012.
2012 – 2014 South Coast DeNDRoN Network Manager.
2014 – to date Research Delivery Manager for Divisions 2 and 4 (Division 4 includes dementia as one of its specialities).
Alex Jones
Worked for Hampshire & Isle of Wight CLRN from July 2013 – April 2014.
Division 5 Assistant Portfolio Manager then Portfolio Manager April 2014 – December 2017 (Division 5 includes ageing as one of its specialties).
Currently Acting Research Delivery Manager for Division 5.
Wessex CRN
The Wessex CRN was formed in April 2014, its geographic footprint is Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Dorset and South Wiltshire. It comprises 12 partner NHS organisations and 10 clinical commissioning groups. Research specialties are spread across 6 Divisions.
Half day seminar
open to BU Staff, Clinicians, PGRs and PGT Students
Implementing service development in healthcare – an introduction to Normalization Process Theory (NPT)
On Wenesday 7 February 2018 in B317, Bournemouth House, Lansdowne Campus at 13.00, there will be a half day seminar introducing an approach to exploring implementation of service developments in healthcare.
To book your place and/or to find out more information please contact
Dr Mike Bracher
mbracher@bournemouth.ac.uk
Six of the ADRC PhD students gave short presentations of their plans and findings at the end of year ADRC Christmas seminar held on 12th December. They included the following:
Yolanda Barrado-Martin : Process evaluation of a Tai Chi exercise intervention to prevent falls among older people with dementia.
Raysa El Zein : Dietary intervention study using coconut oil to evaluate effects of ketone metabolism in older adults.
Christopher Hilton : The role of attention in spatial (dis)orientation in people with early signs of dementia.
Joanne Holmes : An exploration of the factors that affect the extensive meal experience for cognitively active elderly living in residential care.
Mananya Podee : Improving holiday accommodation and service provision for people with dementia: An exploration of needs and expectations.
Vladislava Segen : How does ageing affect ability to recognise places, stay oriented & navigate successfully?
It was a highly successful afternoon with lots of good discussion and challenging questions posed for our students. Well done to everyone who presented and we look forward to hearing more about your great work in due course!
Dr Samuel Nyman, Psychology Dept and Ageing and Dementia Research Centre, is currently an NIHR Career Development Fellow. He was recently invited to present at the NIHR’s annual meeting for the NIHR faculty in
Leeds (14-15/11/2017). The focus of the meeting this year was, ‘Future Training for Future Health’.
Samuel was invited to present on his own personal career journey to date, and then join the discussion panel to discuss future challenges alongside Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health), Dr Louise Wood (Director of Science, Research and Evidence, Department of Health), Professor Dave Jones (NIHR Dean for Faculty Trainees), Professor Ashley Adamson (NIHR Professor in Public Health Nutrition, Newcastle University), and Dr Katherine Sleeman (NIHR Clinician Scientist, King’s College London). It was great to network with other NIHR fellows, and to have stimulating discussions around what aspects facilitate career development and the future challenges and opportunities ahead for health research including Brexit.
The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC)’s Dr. Mike Bracher presented initial findings from baseline data collection for the INSCCOPe (Implementing Nutrition Screening in Community Care for Older People) project, at the poster session of the 2017 BAPEN Annual Conference (22nd November 2017).
Led by ADRC co-lead Professor Jane Murphy, the project aims to improve screening and treatment of malnutrition for older people in the community, by exploring how best to implement service improvements for nutrition screening and treatment for malnutrition in older people.
The aim is to maximise scalability and cost effectiveness of a new procedure for screening and treatment of malnutrition in the community, by providing an evidence base to support implementation across wider settings within the health service.
At baseline (T0), the project (using a combination of questionnaires and telephone interviews) demonstrated:
Work is currently underway to implement suggested changes to implementation of the procedure identified from data collected at T1 (two months following implementation of the new procedure through training sessions with staff).
Following this, the third and final data collection point (T2 – 8 months following completion of training) will take place, after which the project will be evaluated. If successful, findings from the INSCCOPe project will inform rollout of the new procedure across Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Click here to view/download the poster
or
Click here to go to the INSCCOPe project page
On Friday 15th September, ADRC’s Dr Samuel Nyman presented a poster at the annual falls conference held in the UK organised by the British Geriatrics Society.
Dr Nyman presented on behalf of BU MSc student Renuka Balasundaram, who was the lead author on a Fusion-funded quality improvement project, “Evaluation of the Otago Exercise Programme at Christchurch Day hospital”
[link to http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2017/07/05/experiences-from-a-fusion-investment-funded-student-research-assistant-project-aiming-to-improve-the-quality-of-local-nhs-care/].
Working closely with the falls prevention team, Christchurch Day Hospital, Renuka evaluated the exercise programme delivered there and made recommendations on how to improve adherence with the use of behaviour change techniques. There was much interest in this work and the effective collaboration between physiotherapists and psychologists to improve patient care for older people.
Dr Samuel Nyman, Yolanda Barrado-Martín and Iram Bibi from the Psychology Department and Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) attended the 31st edition of the European Health Psychology Society Conference in Padua (Italy) from 29th August to 2nd September 2017.
European and International researchers met in Padua on this occasion to learn about projects under the theme “Innovative ideas in Health Psychology”. Dr Samuel Nyman and Yolanda Barrado-Martín had an oral presentation each entitled: “Systematic review of behaviour change techniques used to increase physical activity among people with dementia” and “Acceptability of a tai chi intervention for people living with dementia and their informal carers”. Dr Samuel Nyman was also in charge of chairing the session “Physical and cognitive function in later life” in
volving these two presentations. Those attending the session showed their interest in the topic and asked questions about ways of facilitating people living with dementia’s participation in exercise interventions. This was a great experience for Yolanda who presented for the first time her PhD pilot results to an international audience.
Participation in EHPS Conference was a valued addition in knowledge regarding interventions, exercise, behaviour change techniques, adherence to interventions, and relationship of patient and care givers. Titles of few among many interesting sessions are highlighted; “Mechanisms and adherence in interventions for patients with chronic disease,” “Caregiving and relationships in health,” “Methods for building better behavior change interventions,” “Dyadic regulation processes to promote health and well-being in romantic couples,” Developing and evaluating interventions to promote physical activity: issues in special settings and populations” and “Behaviour change theory and interventions in implementation research.” Iram Bibi found that the Poster presentations were also a great learning experience and an opportunity to socialize with scholars from around the globe.
Jane Murphy from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) was invited to join the ‘Fifth Annual Wessex Clinical Research Network Ageing Research Meeting’ on 13th September 2017 at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. There were a wide range of interesting and insightful presentations by clinicians of mostly NIHR funded research in ageing including frailty, dementia and neurodegenerative disorders and stroke. The Specialty National Lead for Ageing, and Lead for Ageing and Dementia Theme NIHR CLAHRC Professor Helen Roberts chaired the morning session followed by Dr Divya Tiwari, Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex Ageing Specialty Lead who chaired the afternoon session.
Martine Cross, The Research Delivery Manager for Ageing at the Wessex CRN presented a key update on projects and plans. Please note that Martine will be coming to BU and for academics with an interest in ageing research and considering applying to NIHR, it would present an ideal opportunity to meet Martine and know more about the Wessex CRN and discuss your plans.
For expressions of interest to join the meeting, please email Michelle O’Brien, ADRC administrator (adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk) and we will send further details.
Jan Wiener, Ramona Grzeschik and Chris Hilton represented the Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at the 40th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP) 27–31 August 2017 in Berlin and the 20th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP) 3-6 September 2017 in Potsdam.
The ECVP is an annual meeting that brings together researchers from Psychology, Neurosciences, Optics, Computational Sciences and more. Besides vision, other modalities are represented as well as their interaction (multisensory perception). The conference of the ESCoP is being held once every two years. The society’s mission is “the furtherance of scientific enquiry within the field of Cognitive Psychology and related subjects, particularly with respect to collaboration and exchange of information between researchers in different European countries”.
Ramona represented the ADRC at both conferences with her ESRC-funded project on Dementia-friendly environments. In particular, she presented a poster with the latest results of her wayfinding experiment where she investigated the route learning abilities and eye movements of young and old participants.
At the ESCoP conference, Jan gave a talk on “What can eye-tracking tell us about the cognitive mechanisms underlying successful navigation?” where he introduced a couple of experiments that investigated eye movements during route and place learning in Virtual Environments.
Chris presented his results at the ESCoP as well. His poster titled “An exploration into the effects of ageing on general control of attention during route learning in a complex environment.” escribed his experiment using a natural looking virtual environment called “Virtual Tübingen”. He investigated attentional engagement during a route learning task in young and old participants.
Do you have an interest in people living with Cancer and Nutrition?
Then read more about the important activities of the Cancer and Nutrition NIHR infrastructure collaboration.
Since its establishment in 2014 the collaboration has sought to better enable a wide community of interested parties to bring together the high quality research being carried out in cancer together with the highquality research being carried out in nutrition, so that each can add value to the other in the interest of patients and the public.
There are 5 workstreams : Workstream 1: Patientsand Public, Workstream 2: Professional Workforce – training and capacity building, Workstream 3: Research – building an infrastructure and action plan to tackle the evidence gap, Workstream 4 characterising nutritional status in cancer – the Tookit, Workstream 5: commercial sector and industry,
Professor Jane Murphy from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) leads ‘Workstream 2: Professional Workforce – training and capacity building’ and is a member of the Steering Committee.
The activities accomplished in Phase 2 are presented in the following report just published and more details about the collaboration can be found on the website.
Website Link
http://cancerandnutrition.nihr.ac.uk/work-streams/
Please contact Jane: jmurphy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like to know more or have any questions or queries.
Professor Jane Murphy, Joanne Holmes and Michelle Board supported by Michelle O’Brien hosted the launch of the online version of the workbook ‘Eating and Drinking Well: Supporting People Living with Dementia’ at the Royal College of Physicians, London on 27th June 2017. Attended by leading stakeholders across health and social care, charities including age UK, hospices, WRVS and housing organisations, this impact event explore how good nutrition and hydration can be improved for people living with dementia.
The ADRC was delighted to welcome Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England who gave an inspiring keynote speech concentrating on the importance of nutrition to ensure dignity in care. He was passionate about the need to raise the profile of good food and nutrition amongst politicians and policy makers to enhance and maintain quality of life for many older people receiving social care. Other speakers included Jan Zietara, Head of Operational Delivery, Health Education England (South) who talked about current work and new developments to enhance the knowledge and skills of the health and social workforce with particular focus on initiatives for dementia education and training. Finally, Kathy Wallis, Senior Programme Manager, Nutrition in Older People Programme, Wessex Academic Health Science Network highlighted the projects, resources and tools undertaken to address the growing concerns of malnutrition (undernutrition) in older people living in the community.
Helped by a lovely afternoon tea, there was active and lively discussion by all participants about how the workbook could help improve the delivery of nutritional care for people with dementia across a range of health and social care sectors. All were very supportive of the training tools and left the event with lots of ideas and identified actions to put into place that would be followed up by the team!
The workbook stems from research funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing. The workbook is freely downloadable from the website:
http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/nutrition-dementia
It is designed to be used in conjunction with a training film, also available via the website.
Health Education England (HEE) has commissioned Bournemouth University to deliver a new ‘‘Train the Trainers’ enhanced education programme called ‘Dementia Education and Learning Through Simulation’ 2 (DEALTS 2). This builds on previous work undertaken in 2013/14 by HEE to ensure healthcare professionals understand and can deliver key competencies according to the Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework at TIER 2 (Skills for Health and Health Education England, 2015).
Prof Jane Murphy, Dr Michele Board, Dr Michelle Heward and Ashley Spriggs from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) delivered the first pilot session in Oxford on 10th May 2017. This interactive day was really well received and included attendance by Jan Zietara, Head of Operational Delivery, HEE; Jacqueline Fairburn-Platt, Associate Dean Quality Improvement, HEE Thames Valley as well as Dementia and Quality Improvement Leads. Over the next 2 months another 12 sessions will be delivered to trainers across the HEE regions in England. The delivery of the programme will be evaluated as well as the roll-out across England by the trainers themselves to staff to understand the impact the education is having on practice for the delivery of dementia care. In June the early evaluation work will be supported with the help of a Student Research Assistant, Laurie Emerson. Laurie is currently a final year psychology student in Faculty Sci Tech.
Natalia Adamczewska and Yolanda Barrado-Martín represented the Psychology Department and Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at the Third Edition of the EU Falls Festival in Amsterdam on 8th and 9th May 2017. The theme of the congress was: Developing Collaborations across Professions and throughout Europe.
This festival brought together over 200 professionals from multiple disciplines (such as Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Psychology and Technology) working under a common target: The prevention of falls amongst older adults. It was a great opportunity to see how different countries in Europe, but also researchers in America, represented by Dr. Robin Lee, US Lead Home and Recreation Team; and Australia, represented by Kim Delbaere, Falls Balance and Injury Centre, NeuRa; are working under this objective, the resources different countries invest on this and the different approaches used from different disciplines. A variety of interventions were presented from educational to exercise, and a debate was organised regarding the relevance of the role of technologies to prevent falls and support research.
Falls are the first external cause of death amongst older adults which explains the importance of researchers, practitioners and policy makers working together. Members of the World Health Organisation and the European Commission were also attending this meeting and sharing their views on the relevance of falls prevention.
Yolanda’s PhD project looks into the acceptability and adherence of participants living with dementia to a Tai Chi exercise intervention. Adherence to falls interventions was one the main concerns of the congress, however, the experiences of those living with dementia remain mostly under-explored.
Natalia focuses on the psychological adjustment to falls in her PhD project and she looks at fall-related PTSD. Various interventions presented at the festival could possibly be applied in order to enable participants to cope with psychological consequences of falling, such as virtual reality treatment presented by Jeff Hausdorff that he originally developed for fall prevention in idiopathic fallers.
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