BU Research Blog

December 27, 2021

New BU paper on digital tools for diabetes

Featured academics, innovation, international, open access, Publishing, Research news, Student Engagement, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to BU PhD student Nurudeen Adesina on the publication of his systematic review. Nurudeen together with Huseyin Dogan in the Department of Computing & Informatics, Sue Green in the Nursing for Long-term Health Centre, and Fotini Tsofliou in Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) appeared in print just before Christmas with their paper ‘Effectiveness and Usability of Digital Tools to Support Dietary Self-Management of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review‘ [1].

This new paper highlights that advice on dietary intake is an essential first line intervention for the management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Digital tools such as web-based and smartphone apps have been suggested to provide a novel way of providing information on diet for optimal glucose regulation in women with GDM. This systematic review explored the effectiveness and usability of digital tools designed to support dietary self-management of GDM. A systematic search of Medline, Embase,
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, and Scopus using key search terms identified 1476 papers reporting research studies, of which 16 met the specified inclusion criteria. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the ErasmusAGE Quality Score or the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018. The findings show that the adoption of digital tools may be an effective approach to support self-management relating to healthy diet, health behaviour, and adherence to therapy in women with GDM as a usable intervention. However, the four authors argue that there is a lack of evidence concerning the effectiveness of tools to support the dietary management of GDM. Consideration for ethnic specific dietary advice and evidence-based frameworks in the development of effective digital tools for dietary management of GDM should be considered as these aspects have been limited in the studies reviewed.

Reference:

Adesina, N.; Dogan, H.; Green, S.; Tsofliou, F. Effectiveness and Usability of Digital Tools to Support Dietary Self-Management of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review. Nutrients 2022, 14, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14010010

January 26, 2015

Lunchtime Research Chat!

BU research, Public engagement ssquelch

Hello!

Thank you to everyone who attended the first of a series of Lunchtime Research Chat’s on the 22nd January, it was a very interesting half an hour with Professor Janet Dickinson and will be repeated again at the end of february with the date and speaker still to be confirmed.

Professor Janet Dickinson from the School of Tourism gave us all a very interesting insight into her research on Collaborative Travel Apps, Reciprocity and the Internet of Things. For those of you who turned up to this talk and those interested in Februarys run, this will be repeated, and again be 30 x FREE indivdual Papa Johns pizza for the first 30 audience members.

Not only will this be repeated, it will also have a new name…………………..14:Live

So look out on the Research Blog and the student portal events page for updates on the date, time and speaker of the next 14:Live, I look forward to seeing you all soon.

January 20, 2015

Lunchtime Research Chat with Janet Dickinson

Public engagement ssquelch

Collaborative Travel Apps, Reciprocity and the Internet of Things

Here is a reminder that a Lunchtime Research Chat will take place this Thursday on the 22^nd January from 2pm lasting 30-45mins with questions at the end. Janet Dickinson from the School of Tourism, will be talking about some of her fascinating research.

Janet has summarised her research below:

As cities become increasingly connected, both people and objects can connect to the internet to transmit and receive information. This is the “Internet of Things”. Smartphone technology can help identify current and anticipate future patterns of behaviour and, with its social networking capabilities, allow users to imagine collaborative opportunities. This has led to the development of collaborative travel apps designed to enable activities like lift sharing. However, two projects working with community based travel collaboration apps identify significant challenges to people accessing forms of travel assistance.

Collaborative travel apps depend on users to offer help, but they also need users to ask for or accept help. Feelings of indebtedness inhibit app use since they threaten a user’s status, power and freedom of action with respect to the donor of help.

This talk will explore the challenges of reciprocity in travel collaboration. Also, the emergence of the Internet of Things, with its more anticipatory systems, prompts a reappraisal of current internet based collaborative communities, which raises questions about the human regulation of reciprocal arrangements.

Sounds great right! So make sure you get yourself down to the refectory for this exciting chat whilst loosening an extra buckle or two, because there will be Tokens for the first 30 audience members to exchange for a 1 x FREE Papa Johns indivdual pizza after the talk, see you there!

For more details, click here.

November 12, 2013

Mobile Apps in Research Summit – The worlds of apps and academic meet to discuss the potential for future research

Public engagement eloring

The Mobile Apps in Research Summit is the first event in the country to bring together developers, funding bodies and academics to examine the use of mobile apps in research. This event will take place on the 4^th December at the University of Birmingham and costs £15 (the programme and registration site can be found here).

It will feature apps from universities from all over the UK, case studies, demos and discussions focusing on mobile apps for academic data gathering and mobile apps as products of research, both as tools for professionals and for public engagement.

Speakers are also being invited from institutions and companies across the UK, and representatives from funding bodies will attend, including research councils.

Registration also includes a lunch, refreshments and access to sessions. Please ensure that you print your booking confirmation email and bring it along with you to the registration counter on the day of the event.

If you have a disability, specific access requirements or any special dietary requirements please contact Samuel Harrup Walter by email to s.h.walter@bham.ac.uk immediately after booking.

Tagged / mobile apps

New BU paper on digital tools for diabetes

Lunchtime Research Chat!

Lunchtime Research Chat with Janet Dickinson

Mobile Apps in Research Summit – The worlds of apps and academic meet to discuss the potential for future research

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