Our monthly series of lively interactive seminars provide a regular focus for staff, students, clinicians and interested members of the public to connect with current debates on research and evidence and to build scholarly activity. 

Our seminars are free, and open to all. You can find out about upcoming seminars by emailing HSC.News@uea.ac.uk, or following our social media accounts.

All seminars are held online, through your browser with nothing extra to download.

Seminars are also recorded. If you are unable to make the live event and would like the recording sent to you, you can email HSC.News@uea.ac.uk. Past recordings are also listed below.

 

Next year's seminars to be announced shortly.

 

Recent Seminars:

Thursday 24 January

12pm - 1pm

Factors affecting family carers’ anticipatory grief in Motor Neurone Disease

Ana Paula Trucco is an occupational therapist with substantial clinical experience in neurodegenerative diseases. She is a second year PhD candidate at the University of East Anglia (UEA) under Prof Mioshi’s supervision. Her research project is funded by MND Scotland and investigates factors affecting anticipatory grief in family carers of people living with Motor Neurone Disease. Ana Paula has also worked as a research associate at the UEA in dementia and motor neurone disease studies. Motor neurone disease (MND) is a neurodegenerative, progressive disorder with an average life expectancy of 2-3 years. Family carers of people living with MND experience multiple losses during the disease trajectory. These may start before the death of the person living with MND leading to the phenomenon of anticipatory grief and continue during bereavement. Previous studies on grief in non-MND carer populations revealed that unsuccessful adjustment of grieving processes in the early stage can lead to prolonged and complicated grief after the care recipient’s death. However, there are few studies investigating anticipatory grief in MND carers to date.

The aim of this research project is to explore factors associated with anticipatory grief in family carers of people living with MND. Identifying factors affecting this grieving process in this population is important to inform future practice and research. A better understanding of this phenomenon may allow us to target grief from the early beginning and will contribute to better support and accompany carers emotionally during the trajectory of the disease and prevent prolonged grief. In this talk Ana will present the results of a systematic review conducted on factors affecting grieving processes in MND family carers and discuss what previous research has found on factors affecting positively and negatively anticipatory grief, post-death grief and prolonged grief. She will then focus on her current qualitative study which involves interviews with current MND family carers about their feelings during their caring experiences. The talk will end by presenting an outline of the next steps for the research project which aims to analyse data quantitatively from completed carers’ self-reported questionnaires.

 

 

Tuesday 21 February

12pm - 1pm

Developing an online intervention for people who care for someone with dementia online during COVID restrictions using (adapted) experience based co-design

Evidence based co-design (EBCD) is aimed at the development and improvement of new interventions / services. It places the user at the centre of the research process working with their experience and the ‘emotional touchpoints’ they articulate as they interact with a service to achieve improvements. EBCD is considered a robust method suited to modification to meet the specific needs and challenges of different research contexts. It has been used previously in the development of supportive interventions aimed at carers but is less widely used in the context of randomised control trials (RCT). In this seminar we provide an overview of how we used EBDC in the CareCoach programme. We describe the CareCoach programme outlining its scope and ambition then focus on work to date. We describe how we adapted EBDC to overcome the challenges posed by COVID19 and innovated with the ‘Accelerated’ mode of the EBCD where existing trigger material is used to identify emotional touchpoints salient to intervention development / adaption / improvement.

Jane Cross is a mixed methods researcher with a particular interest in developing and testing complex interventions for people with long term conditions. Previous work included PERFECTED, which developed and tested a care pathway for people with cognitive impairment and hip fracture. Currently she Co-leads 2 further NIHR programmes with Professor Chris Fox developing interventions to improve care for people with Dementia and their families. Now in year 2, CareCoach will develop, implement, and test an intervention for carers of people with dementia that aims to improve caregiver self-efficacy, mastery and quality of life.

Fiona Scheibl is a sociologist with interests spanning organisational and medical sociology. Her recent work has explored how older people and their families navigate decision making around a transition from the community into residential care and decision making in the field of primary care, focusing on how general practitioners make decisions around reducing medications among frail older people to address the problem of polypharmacy. She has expertise in qualitative data collection and analysis in the context of clinical trials and a strong track record of supporting and developing patient and public involvement in research. She is currently leading on qualitative data collection and analysis on the CareCoach project.

 

Wednesday 19 April

11am – 12 noon

The use of social network in public health interventions: a Norfolk case study

Social network research can map social connections affecting access to resources for health and services and collaborative connections with communities. Sara will illustrate her NIHR Local Authority Short Placement Award (LA SPARC) funded social network analysis of the King’s Lynn CHESS project with mothers, families and healthy eating.

Dr Sara Karrar (MBBS) is a public health specialist working at Norfolk County Council, with a role as a Local Authority practitioner in the East of England NIHR Clinical Research Network. Sara has recently completed a NIHR LA SPARC award. She is passionate about promoting evidence-based public health practice and developing collaborations between academics and public health. Sara provides leadership, expertise and strategic work across a range of public health issue. She set up and leads the Parental & Childhood Obesity research group through the UEA Heath and Social Care Partners (UEAHSCP).

I will explain and discuss a local example of using social network research concepts to understand how individuals can be connected to each other in ways that may affect access to health chances, resources for wellbeing, and services. Mapping and understanding social networks can provide a powerful way to review and also build collaborative connections with communities. I will share findings from applying social network research to the public health commissioned CHESS project in King’s Lynn, funded by NIHR Local Authority Short Placement Award for Applied Research Collaboration (LA SPARC) with UEA and ARC EoE teams. The research explored the identification of influential actors for mothers and their families and the relevant community networks. Further information on CHESS: C3 Collaborating for Health | Communities (c3health.org)

 

Community Health Environment Scan Survey (CHESS): a novel tool that captures the impact of the built environment on lifestyle factors

Supporting individuals’ healthy eating requires genuine engagement with communities

References for manuscript

Social Network Analysis Reading list

 

Wednesday 3 May

1pm-2pm

The peculiarity and practicalities of an insider/outsider relationship in an ethnographic research study

The goal of undertaking ethnography as a data collection methodology, allows the researcher to gain the perspective of the insider and to render it meaningful, raise special issues for ethnographers who are also members of the group they are studying (O’Reilly 2009). My research for the Doctor of Education (EdD) required me to observe participants in the field. In so doing, the integration between an insider/outsider relationship through an ethnographic approach is laid out. The presentation illuminates the complex interplay of subcultural integration between experienced paramedics and students. The work draws on the peculiarity of the language, behaviours, values and working practices of paramedics and students, as a subculture and subsequent hidden curriculum are uncovered, whilst establishing the dichotomy between an insider/outsider researcher.
 
 
John has a Doctorate in Education from the University of Hertfordshire and is an experienced paramedic and academic. John has over 35 years’ experience working in the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust whereby he undertook several roles, such as Paramedic, Flight Paramedic on London’s Air Ambulance, Duty Officer, Training Officer and a secondment to the Department of Health working alongside a small team developing the clinical capabilities of the then newly formed, Hazardous Area Response Teams. 
 
John also has 20 years’ experience in academia, initially as principal lecturer, and professional lead at the University of Hertfordshire, where he managed the paramedic team. In this role he led on several National and International partnerships, including Malaysia, Egypt, Norway, and Spain, alongside the development of a master’s programme in Paramedic Science at UH. He now works at Anglia Ruskin University where he is a part-time Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science. 
 
John is a Fellow of the College of Paramedics and has spent 8 years as a council member on the Health and Care Professions Council. John continues to work for the HCPC on their Fitness to Practice hearings and as a HCPC visitor for the Education and Training committee. John has an extensive publication profile which he continues to add to. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Paramedic Practice where he often undertakes peer reviews and continues to contribute to the pedagogy with published articles. 
 
His research interests lie in paramedic education and development through the culture of professions. His EdD thesis focuses on how and why it appears that student paramedics become enculturated, ‘the process of being socialised in a certain culture’ into the ambulance service. Drawing on a lengthy Ethnography, John spent many hours ‘riding out’ with students and experienced paramedics collecting field notes and interviews. He is currently working with Professor Diane Waller (MBE) co-authoring a book based on his doctoral research findings which is due for publication in 2023. 
In his spare time, John spent 16 years as a voluntary crew member for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed at Tower Lifeboat on the river Thames. He now forms part of the Medical Advisory Committee of the RNLI whose function is to advise the executive team and trustees of the RNLI on clinical/medical matters. He continues to carryout clinical work at Wembley National Stadium, in London.
 

 

Tuesday 13 June

12-1pm

Prison-based research during COVID: the Avoidable Harm Story

Jane qualified as a mental health nurse in 1990. After working in a variety of in-patient secure, prison and community settings she undertook a PhD examining prison-based mental health services, graduating in 2005. She co-founded the Health in Justice Research Network at The University of Manchester which has developed into a multidisciplinary group investigating health and social care at the interface of the health and justice systems. 
Her aim before retirement is to drag the Avoidable Harm in Prison Healthcare project over the finishing line.
 

 

 

Wednesday 5 July

12-1pm

Steps to Addressing Racial Inequity in Palliative Care: Lessons Learnt from the Thinking Ahead Study

Little is known about how current UK policy for end-of-life care planning fits with the social, cultural and religious values and beliefs of ethnic minority communities. However, evidence suggests that healthcare professionals lack awareness, confidence, knowledge and skills in providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care for ethnic minority patients. The ‘Thinking Ahead’ (NIHR HS&DR 17/05/30) research study explored how terminally ill patients from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and their family care givers, think ahead about deterioration, dying and engaging with healthcare professionals to optimise care. Here key findings from the study and the evidence-based resources developed to support healthcare professionals in talking about end-of-life and goals of care for patients and their families will be discussed.

Dr Zoebia Islam, is the Deputy Lead for Research at LOROS Hospice and Associate Professor of Palliative Care and Frailty at the University of Leicester.

Before joining LOROS in 2013, Zoebia was the Heart of England Hub Manager for the Mental Health Research Network and a Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust (BSMHFT). A sociologist by background, over the last 20 years she has contributed to education and research particularly in the area of ethnicity and health inequalities and inequity having managed a number of innovative and high profile projects at the University of Warwick’s Medical School and BSMHFT. At LOROS Zoebia is leading on novel work tackling health inequalities and inequity in end of life care planning experiences of ethnically diverse and minoritised patients and their families. She also Chairs and convenes the national ‘Sawubona – Equity in Palliative Care for All Research Forum’.
 

 

Tuesday 12 September

12-1pm

Anxiety in dementia caregiving: Targeting one factor at a time

Elien Van Hout, MSc, is a final year Postgraduate Researcher in Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is a nurse by background with a Master’s degree in human sexuality. Her research explores mental health, relationship dynamics, caregiving stressors, and underlying psychological processes among family carers of people living with dementia. Elien is specifically interested in which of those factors affect anxiety symptoms among those carers and how best to tailor interventions to target these factors.

There is considerable evidence supporting that caring for a person living with dementia has an impact on the wellbeing of family carers. Hence, it is not surprising that anxiety symptoms among those carers are reported to be higher than the general population, with 32% of family carers of people living with dementia experiencing increased levels of anxiety symptoms. Despite this, anxiety is underexplored in the research to date. When looking at existing carer interventions, we see a similar pattern where most carer interventions are not as effective for anxiety as they are for depression and burden.

In this talk, Elien will provide an overview of her PhD project which aims to explore different factors associated with anxiety symptoms in family carers of people living with dementia. She will specifically focus on the findings of a qualitative interpretative phenomenological study exploring the experiences of and the meaning given to relationship dynamics in female carers taking care of their partner living with dementia. More specifically, the study explored relationship dynamics, how spousal carers relate, interact and communicate with the partner they are caring for, and how carers adapt to changes in such dynamics. The talk will end by presenting an outline of the next step for her project which involves investigating the possible association between such relation dynamics and anxiety symptoms.
 

 

Wednesday 15 November

2.30-3.30pm

Intentional rounding in hospital wards to improve regular interaction and engagement between nurses and patients: a realist evaluation.

Part of the government response to the high profile care failures at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust was to announce the policy imperative of introducing “regular interaction and engagement between nurses and patients” into the NHS. Consequently, “Intentional Rounding” (IR), a timed, planned intervention that sets out to address fundamental elements of nursing care by means of a regular, structured bedside ward round, developed by the Studer Group in the US was introduced in the UK. In this webinar I will present the finding of a NIHR funded realist evaluation to investigate the impact and effectiveness of IR in hospital wards in England on the organisation, delivery and experience of care from the perspective of patients, their family members and staff. It set out to understand how IR works when used with different types of patients, by different nurses with different levels of experience, in diverse ward and hospital settings, and if and how these differences influence outcomes.

Professor Ruth Harris PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons), RN, FRCN, FEANS is Professor of Health Care for Older Adults in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London. She has a clinical background in acute medical nursing and the care of older people. Her research focuses on understanding how complex nursing and interprofessional interventions contribute to healthcare delivery, patient outcome, and patient experience of care, particularly for older people and those with long-term conditions. Ruth is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Nursing Studies. For further information please see: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/ruth-harris

 

Explore our previous seminar highlights listed below.

9 November 2022

What happened in Care homes during the pandemic? Results from three studies

Prof Nancy Preston

Watch the recording

 

10 October 2022

Meeting the healthcare challenges for people with disabilities in Nepal

Adam Barry et al

Watch the recording

 

27 July 2022

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Are we missing a trick?

Dr Karen Heslop-Marshall

Watch the recording

 

29 June 2022

Integrating safety science in clinical simulation to improve performance variability in clinical practice

Ken Spearpoint

Watch the recording

 

23 May 2022

How experienced professionals show empathy in sensitive healthcare conversations: Insights & evidence from conversation science

Prof Ruth Parry, Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication and Culture, LOROS Hospice Leicestershire and Rutland

Watch the recording

 

6 April 2022

Language(s) for health: challenges and opportunities in a multilingual world

Dr Maria Garraffa, Associate Professor in Speech and Language Therapy, UEA

Watch the recording

 

3 February 2022

Nurses' Contributions to Mental Health Research

Dr Sheri Oduola, Mental Health Nurse and Lecturer in Nursing Sciences, UEA

Watch the recording

December 2021

Clinician driven innovation in the NHS

Dr Peter Young

Watch the recording

 

18 November 2021

Student PT experiences of integrating a Biosychosocial approach on clinical teaching

Dr Rachel Chester and Prof Nicola Spalding

Watch the recording

 

20 October 2021

A Critical Analysis of Practice Education in Health and Social Care

Dr Jane Hibberd

Watch the recording

 

1 September 2021

Diversity leadership in healthcare: A question of care, quality and safety

Prof Laura Serrant OBE

Watch the recording

 

21 July 2021

Lost voices in research: Including adults with capacity and communication difficulties in ethically-sound research

Dr Karen Bunning and Dr Anne Killett

Watch the recording

 

10 March 2021

Systems transformation of the communication and language pathway in the early years model in Greater Manchester: Working from the inside out using video-based coaching with leadership teams.

Deborah James, Professor of Educational Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University

Watch the seminar

Download the presentation slides:

System Transformation of the Communication and Language Pathway in the Early Years Delivery Model in Greater Manchester

 

10 February 2021

HSC Placement Innovations in Response to Covid-19

Charmaine Chandler, Dr Lisa Taylor, Kelly Walker and Emma Ferris

Watch the recording

Download the presentation slides:

Physiotherapy Virtual telehealth placement presentation

Peer Enhanced E-Placement (PEEP) An Innovative, technological and Pedagogical Model presentation

 

26 January 2021

Did Lockdown 1.0 change lifestyle behaviours? Findings from the COVID-19 health and wellbeing tracker study.

Dr Felix Naughton

Watch the recording

1 December 2020

Decolonising COVID

Dr Katherine Deane

Watch the recording

 

17 November 2020

Social dimensions of disaster impact: tracing the parallels between extreme climatic events and the pandemic crisis

Prof Roger Few, ClimateUEA Hijack

Watch the recording

 

19 October 2020

Making the invisible, visible: The evolution of specialist nursing in the UK 

Prof Alison Leary, Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling, London South Bank University

Watch the recording

 

22 September 2020

Social care personal assistants: who are they, what do they do, what potential do they have for offering person-centred care and are there any downsides?

Dr John Woolham, NIHR SSCR Senior Research Fellow, Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King's College London

Watch the recording

 

January 2020

Narrative Healthcare– Is it time we taught poetry and prose to all healthcare students?

Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness

Watch the recording

December 2019

Implementing Digital Interventions: My 13 Year Journey

Zarnie Khadjesari, Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

13 November 2019

Volunteering in health and social care - the potential, the challenge

Dr Jurgen Grotz, Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research, UEA

 

29 October 2019

Intuitive Eating: empowering children and young people to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies

Katie McGhee, Senior Lecturer in Child Health Nursing & Deputy Director of Education, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

2 July 2019

Patient Involvement in the Assessment of Pre-registration Adult Nursing Students Practice

Dr Nickey Rooke, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

19 June 2019

Apathy Subtypes and their Impact in Neurodegenerative Disease

Dr Ratko Radakovic, Senior Research Associate (Motor Neurone Disease), School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

22 May 2019

Facilitating Implementation of Evidence-based Interventions - from Art to Science

Prof Nick Sevdalis, Professor of Implementation Science & Patient Safety, Director of the Centre for Implementation Science at King’s College London

 

10 April 2019

'What's going on in his head?’ The story of his own traumatic brain injury and recovery

James Piercy, Communication & Engagement Officer, John Innes Centre

 

19 March 2019

Why Me? Why would anyone want to give their time to Patient and Public Involvement in Health Research? What is it in the first place and what is it good for?

Dr Jurgen Grotz

 

21 February 2019

Childhood Immunisation: Achievements and Challenges

Helen Bedford, Professor of Childrens' Health, UCL, Great Ormond Institute of Child Health

 

30 January 2019

The wrong kind of knowledge and the wrong kind of knower? An exploration of the status of knowledge in the experience of Healthcare Assistant (HCA) transition to Registered Nurse

Dr Kevin Bryant, King’s Teaching Fellow, Associate Tutor in BioSciences, School of Health Sciences, UEA

12 December 2018

Community Health: Physical activity, Health inequity and marginalised groups

Dr Sarah Hanson, Lecturer in Nursing Sciences, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

21 November 2018

Evaluating the costs and benefits of health care from a patient's perspective: getting to the heart of the matter"

Professor Jennifer Whitty, Professor of Health Economics, Norwich Medical School, UEA

 

5 November 2018

N-of-1 Design PPD Training. undertaking within-person investigations

Dr Felix Naughton

 

1 November 2018

The Power of Volunteering

Colin Rochester: Rediscovering Voluntary Action: how we challenge the dominant paradigm

David Horton-Smith: Voluntary Associations: how we change the world

Jurgen Grotz: Beyond tokenism and tick box approaches: how we govern the NHS

 

31 October 2018

Full and equal equality: what consensus can there be in the case of people labelled as having an intellectual disability under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

Marcus Redley, Senior Research Associate, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

17 October 2018

Developing new methods to evaluate complex health interventions: analysing context, texts and disruptions

Dr Jamie Murdoch, Research Fellow in Process Evaluation Methodology, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

11 July 2018

More than just the facts: What roles can scientists play in shaping policy?

Dr Andrew Atkin, Lecturer in Behavioural Epidemiology, School of Health Sciences

 

13 June 2018

Places and Spaces: learning about re-learning, in home-based rehabilitation, for people with aphasia

Dr Ciara Shiggins, Academic Fellow, School of Health Sciences

 

31 May 2018

The INSPIRED COPD Outreach ProgramTM: From research and proof-of-concept to spread and scale-up across Canada

Prof Graeme Rocker, Professor of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

23 May 2018

Supporting the health and wellbeing of the ambulance sector workforce: the UK and beyond

Prof Kristy Sanderson, Professor in Applied Health Research, School of Health Sciences

 

18 April 2018

‘Behaviour that Challenges’ (BtC) in dementia: can we prevent ‘diagnostic overshadowing’ in research, practice and policy?

Prof Esme Moniz-Cook, Professor of Psychology Ageing & Dementia Care Research, Faculty of Health Science, University of Hull, Consultant Clinical Psychologist (Hon), Humber NHS FT, Clinical Lead – Dementia; Division 4, Yorkshire and Humber LCRN, Founder chair now co-chair INTERDEM.

 

21 February 2018

Improving Dementia Care in General Hospitals

Prof Martin Orrell, Director, Institute of Mental Health, Head of Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology University of Nottingham

 

31 January 2018

Evidence-based practice “on-the-go”- using the Viatherapy app to support clinical decision-making in upper limb rehabilitation after stroke

Dr Nicola Hancock, Lecturer in Physiotherapy, Researcher with the Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Alliance, ABIRA, School of Health Sciences, UEA

13 December 2017

Body balance with light touch - human individuals and pairs and robots

Dr Leif Johannsen, Senior Lecturer - Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

8 November 2017

Enabling Person-Centred Care: Developing the Support Needs Approach for Patients (SNAP) with Advanced COPD

Dr Morag Farquhar, Senior Lecturer in Nursing Sciences (Adult), School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

18 October 2017

Mobile Health (mHealth) Technologies to promote smoking behaviour change

Dr Felix Naughton, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

20 September 2017

Living with Dementia and My Passion for Research Involvement

Wendy Mitchell

Visit Dr Wendy Mitchell's blog

Follow Dr Wendy Mitchell on X (formerly known as Twitter)

 

3 July 2017

Development of the Brachial Assessment Tool (BrAT) a new patient-reported outcome measure for Brachial Plexus Injury

Bridget Hill. PhD, MAPA, Research Fellow, Epworth Monash Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, Melbourne

 

28 June 2017

'Talking for Walking': Reproducing Body Normality in a Turkish Rehabilitation Hospital

Dr Dikmen Bezmez, Marie Curie Individual Fellow, Norwich Medical School, UEA

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Koc University, Istanbul

 

21 June 2017

Dr Alpar Lazar, Lecturer in Dementia and Complexity in Later Life, School of Health Sciences

 

24 May 2017

Dementia diagnosis in primary care: Who is undiagnosed, why are they undiagnosed and does it matter?

Dr George Savva, Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences

 

26 April 2017

Drawing on social connection in ageing and dementia: understanding what helps people maintain social inclusion

Prof Fiona Poland, Professor of Social Research Methodology and Dr Linda Birt, Senior Research Associate, School of Health Sciences, UEA

 

15 March 2017

Exploring implementation fidelity within complex behaviour change interventions: a journey from physiotherapy to public health research

Dr Elaine Toomey, Health Behaviour Change Research Group, National University of Ireland Galway

 

9 March 2017

How do people with dementia and their carers make assistive technology work for them: innovation, personalisation and bricolage

Dr Grant Gibson, Lecturer in Dementia Studies, University of Stirling

 

February 2017

Concussion in Sport: toward a better assessment

Dr Michael Grey, Reader in Rehabilitation Neuroscience, School of Health Sciences