Tagged / CWLTH

Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH)

BU research, Research Centres, Uncategorized

The next CWLTH Research Seminar and Centre Meeting will be at 14:00-15:00 on Wednesday 13th November 2024.  Dr Steve Trenoweth (Principal Academic in Mental Health Nursing and CWLTH Workstream Lead for Mental Health and Psychosocial Care) will speak about ‘New directions in mental healthcare: international perspective’.  Steve will be drawing on his experiences of working with colleagues and CWLTH members at Bern University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland.  The second half of the meeting will be an opportunity to reflect on CWLTH activities and future plans.  All are welcome to join this event.  Click HERE to join the meeting and for more information contact CWLTH@Bournemouth.ac.uk.

DNS staff share their virtual reality research at AHSN Wessex

BU research, innovation, Research Centres, Research news, research staff

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

BU research, Research Centres, Research news

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

Research Seminar: Exploring the theory practice gap surrounding young people who self-harm

BU research, Research Centres, Research news

The first in a series of interdisciplinary research seminars run by the Centre for Wellbeing and Long Term Health (@CWLTH) and the Centre for Science, Health,  Data Communication Research (@SHDCResearch) was framed around the partnership formed through a match-funded doctoral studentship between DHC and BU. Andy Sweetmore is researching early-interventions for children and young people who self-harm; he works 15 hours a week clinically as a specialist nurse practitioner within the Closer2Home CAMHS community intensive treatment team.  

L-R Dr Claire Young, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Service Lead; Dr Phil Morgan, Head of Nursing, Therapies and Quality; Morad Margoum (Interim Service Director DHC) Andy Sweetmore (CAMHS and BU) Professor Ann Luce (BU)

The aims of the symposium were to: 

  • To explore what the clinical evidence means in the context of working with young people who self-harm, for our local healthcare services 
  • To discuss the assumptions about self-harm and what actions can be taken 
  • To gain insights into joint research working between DHC and BU 

 Morad Margoum, Intermin Service Director (DHC) and on the supervision team, welcomed the symposium delegates, comprising mental health experts and practitioners from across Dorset, school nurses, academics from the Bournemouth University mental health team.  

Andy then reported on his systematic literature review, conducted covering publications from January 2004 to March 2024. The inclusion criteria encompassed children and young people aged 4 to 25 years, in educational or primary care settings, and studies reporting self harm outcomes. Definitions of self-harm underpinned the work: 

  • Self-harm, defined as self-poisoning or self-injury regardless of intent, is associated with an elevated risk of mental health conditions and is a strong predictor of suicide (Iyengar et al. 2018; Mughal et al. 2019).  
  • Self-harm was previously associated with depression and pervasive emotional dysregulation, however, occurs in almost every mental health condition, including anxiety, anorexia nervosa and schizophrenia (Harris et al. 2022). 
  • Suicide is the predominant cause of mortality among females aged 15 to 19 globally and is a pressing public health concern (Liu et al. 2022). 

 The review highlighted a significant gap in robust, high-quality studies on self-harm interventions within educational and primary settings. The limited evidence base suggests potential benefits of school based interventions, but further research with rigorous methodologies is required. It was noted that Iatrogenic harm was not discussed.   Interventions to support mental health conditions in any environment carries inherent risks, with Foulkes & Andrews (2023) finding that mental health support within schools may not be as effective or safe as initially presumed. Recent literature (Andrews et al. 2022; Harvey et al. 2023; Montero-Marin et al. 2023), also indicate potential post-intervention deterioration in school-based interventions. Even if only a small fraction of adolescents are adversely affected within a school, the widespread application of these interventions could result in significant harm to thousands, underscoring the importance of assessing even minor adverse effects at scale. Despite the NHS strategy of moving mental health initiatives rapidly into school, these interventions may make some young people worse. There isn’t one therapy which an evidence base points to that  can reliably say will be effective, which offers limited treatment options for those who are trying to ensure a standardised provision. 

Expert speakers offered their insights, followed by a panel discussion to seek comment, clarification and a focus for the lively debate that followed. The next steps include disseminating the insights and findings from the symposium to inform the prospective CAMHS clinical transformation plan, which aims to develop innovative approaches to supporting children and their families, as well as the broader strategy to address self-harm within local mental health services.  

Andy Sweetmore is a match funded DHC/BU doctoral student, supervised by Dr Heidi Singleton (DNS) Professor Debbie Holley (DNS) and Professor Ann Luce (FMC)

Heidi and Debbie research as part of Centre for Wellbeing and Long Term Health (@CWLTH) and Ann the Centre for Science, Health, Data Communication Research (@SHDCResearch)