Tagged / heidi singleton

Congratulations to Heidi Singelton & Steve Ersser

In late August Heidi Singleton led the publication of a Cochrane Systematic Review under the title ‘Educational and psychological interventions for managing atopic dermatitis (eczema)’ [1].  The team conducting this review includes BU’s Prof. Steve Ersser, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust colleagues Dr. Andrew Hodder, former BU staff Prof. Vanessa Heaslip (currently at the University of Salford), and one of my co-authors on a previous project Dr. Dwayne Boyers from the Health Economics Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen.

In their review the authors conclude that in-person, individual education, as an adjunct to conventional topical therapy, may reduce short-term eczema signs compared to standard care, but there is no information on eczema symptoms, quality of life or long-term outcomes. Group education probably reduces eczema signs and symptoms in the long term and may also improve quality of life in the short term. Favourable effects were also reported for technology-mediated education, habit reversal treatment and arousal reduction therapy. All favourable effects are of uncertain clinical significance, since they may not exceed the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the outcome measures used.  Finally, they found no trials of self-help psychological interventions, psychological therapies or printed education. Future trials should include more diverse populations, address shared priorities, evaluate long-term outcomes and ensure patients are involved in trial design.

 

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH

Reference:

  1. Singleton, H., Hodder, A., Almilaji, O., Ersser, S. J., Heaslip, V., O’Meara, S., Boyers, D., Roberts, A., Scott, H., Van Onselen, J., Doney, L., Boyle, R. J., & Thompson, A. R. (2024). Educational and psychological interventions for managing atopic dermatitis (eczema). The Cochrane database of systematic reviews8(8), CD014932. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD014932.pub2

Dr Heidi Singleton receives Sigma Europe’s Emerging Nurse Researcher 2023 Award

Congratulations to Dr Heidi Singleton, who has received Sigma Europe’s Emerging Nurse Researcher 2023 Award.

Heidi Singleton holding a cardboard Google glasses device

Dr Heidi Singleton

The Sigma Emerging Nurse Researcher Award recognises early career nurse researchers whose work has significantly influenced the nursing profession. Dr Singleton won this award for her work combining evidence-based practice with innovative ideas to adapt to the changing nursing landscape.

During her PhD at BU, she researched how technology can improve student nurses’ understanding of complex concepts, such as diabetes. Her work focused on blending real-world practice methods with emerging technologies to develop nursing education in line with how the world is developing and changing.

Other research areas Dr Singleton has explored include how technology can be used therapeutically, for service improvement, mental health and anxiety – especially in children and young people. This includes the psychological impacts of eczema, innovation in nurse-led skin cancer clinics, improving early intervention services, and vaccination and hospital appointment anxiety.

Dr Singleton said: “I feel very honoured to win the Emerging Nurse Researcher Award for the Europe Region. As a new academic, I have looked up to seniors who have demonstrated excellence in their research and publications. It’s a privilege to share my research and that of my brilliant team with the world. Hopefully, this can be a good building block for my future research plans.”