Public Engagement

The first rule of public engagement is flexibility, as we found out when our lecture room was already taken for our session. So we moved outside to by the lake and shared our ideas about public engagement with the ducks!

We talked about five aspects of public engagement: what it is, why do we do it, when should we do it, how should we do it and who should be involved?

What is public engagement?

"Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit." (National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement)

Why should we use public engagement?

- Recruitment

- Feedback

- Funding

- To create a network

- To break down barriers between research, practice and the public

- To ensure research does not become a solitary activity

- To think creatively and to challenge your own assumptions

When should we use public engagement?

- It can be used throughout the research process.

- It should never be seen as an add on: it's part of the research process

How should we engage with the public?

- In a method that fit's in with your research

- Face to face

- Social media

- Think outside the box

Who should be involved in public engagement?

- Public engagement should have mutual benefit for researcher and public

- It's a two way relationship: transmitting, receiving or collaborating 

- Remember that one person can be many things (e.g. a mother, a drinker, a Christian etc). This is important to remember when defining and segmenting your targeted 'public'

I now have a new insight into public engagement in research and intend to use this information in my current and future research practice. On a side note, would anyone be interested in watching a psychology YouTube channel? I'm considering setting one up!

Please leave comments. 

Health research showcase - University of Bath

On the 17th June the Department of Health, University of Bath and the Royal United Hospital held an event, bringing together academics and practitioners in a celebration and sharing of their research. This series of short talks kept the audience engaged, with many interesting questions being asked of the speakers. Having attended all the talks, it was hard to choose a favourite area. So I've summarised the main ideas of each speaker below:

Immunity and breast cancer

Dr. Mark Beresford & Dr James Turner

Beresford began by giving the statistics on breast cancer prevalence, effecting 1 in 9 women and being more common in Western society. Survival rates have improved greatly due to earlier diagnosis, screening and better targeted treatments. Turner went on to explain the potential of neo-adjunct chemotherapy (prior to operation on tumour growth), and research regarding the natural anti-cancer immunity that healthy individuals seem to exhibit. 

When the drugs don't work: pain

Professor Chris Eccleston & Dr Jeremy Gauntlett-Gilbert

Eccleston began with some good news: people are living longer. This was followed by the bad news that the longer we live, the longer we live with painful disease. Treatment needs to involve learning to live with pain, and have a multitude of different treatment options for different people. Gauntlett-Gilbert stated that we need to ask the patient what works in treatment to make improvements in care.

Fighting diabetes with high intensity training

Dr Tony Robinson & Dr Niels Vollaard

Robinson began with some statistics on diabetes, with the cost of the disease being 10% of the NHS annual budget. Vollard focused on how no one is doing enough exercise, spending too much time in front of the TV, becoming 'couch potatoes' (Game of Thones anyone?). High intensity training has been advertised as a way to the same health benefits as sustained exercise in a shorter amount of time. However, due to rest and recovery periods in between bursts of energy, it doesn't quite work out that way! Research has found that all it takes is 10 minutes a week, of 2 intense sprints and recovery 3 times a week. This acts as an alternative to current exercise recommendations.

What is modelling and simulation and what can it offer the NHS?

Dr Carol Peden & Dr Chritsos Vasilakis

Peden noted that the worst time to be admitted to hospital is the weekend or late at night, due to the management of emergencies. However, the hospital system is complex and it is important to consider each step and pathway in the healthcare system. Vasilakis said this can be done using analytical models and computer simulation to conduct 'what if' analysis, to prepare the NHS for most scenarios. 

Does early intervention matter for arthritis?

Dr James Bilzon & Professor Neil McHugh

Bilzon states that sharing knowledge is like a fine wine. It's only useful if someone drinks it, not if it is stuck in a cellar. One of my favourite quotes about sharing research. McHugh then went on to talk about his research of exercise as a treatment for arthritis and also the importance of screening for undiagnosed psoriatic arthritis. 

Improving life for people with dementia and their families

Dr Denise Taylor & Professor Roy Jones

Taylor's research involves speaking to the families of those diagnosed with dementia, to find out their perspectives on medication. Families may see it as a 'cure' when it is not. However, medication may improve social relationships and increase awareness with the environment. Medication for dementia is more about stabilising the individual, rather than improvements. Jones then went on to talk about the research institute for the care of older people (RICE). Of the four drugs that are licensed for dementia, all were conducted in clinical trials at RICE. Taylor also talked about a focus on quality of life. 

No conversation shoud mean no legislation: The calorie labelling of alcohol

If you follow me on twitter, you may have already seen my constant posting about the calorie labelling of alcohol. This is part of my current research as part of my masters degree in health psychology. So why do I care, or more to the point, why should you care about calorie labelling of alcoholic drinks?

Drinking is part of most adults lives, whether it be socially or as a relaxant after a hard weeks work. We think nothing of consuming several alcoholic beverages in an evening at times (myself included!), without really thinking what we are putting into our bodies. These 'liquid calories' do not fill us up like food would, but still have impact on our health and our waistlines!

The European Commission are deciding this year whether to make this labelling on alcohol mandatory. However, there is no evidence to support that these labels will work in practice, meaning that the labelling could cost a lot of money, with little results.

My research is looking into what you want to see on your drinks, what you think will help you make better decisions and what you think will still allow you to enjoy a casual drink, yet still keep in shape and in good health. In my view, legislation should be designed with the populations view in mind. 

No conversation should mean no legislation

If you want your views to be heard please follow the link below to my survey:

https://bathreg.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/calories-and-alcohol

Seminar - An introduction to NVivo10

Having never conducted qualitative research before, and only really having brief experience of coding in my lectures, one of my aims is to learn more about qualitative research techniques. Attending this course on a piece of software called NVivo10 turned out to be very helpful to me, even if I was the only MSc student in my group!

Dr Liz Graveling talked us through the software using her own PhD project as an example. For me, this was extremely helpful, as I find programmes much easier to follow when I am given a 'story' or context to follow. What I like best about using NVivo is that you can code text as well as pictures, which may be of advantage in my dissertation project focusing on the calorie labelling of alcoholic drinks and how best to present this information visually.

Dr Graveling gave us lots of helpful hints and tricks for using NVivo and, even though this was a basic introduction, I am going to explore the programme further and make use of it to help my coding and understanding of themes in my dissertation data. Depending on how this goes, I may even transfer these skills onto my future PhD project.

Thanks to Postgraduate Skills Training for hosting this session.

And also thanks to Dr Liz Graveling.

@LizGraveling

Injury prevention conference

Recently, I had the great fortune of attending the morning session for the injury prevention conference. This was hosted by the Department for Health at the University of Bath. This involved three great talks about how we can make a difference, by applying scientific research to help prevent the occurrence of injuries and the health risks associated with them.

The first talk focused on the role of bio mechanics in running. Dr. Sharon Dixon explained that bio mechanics, things such as joint angles and force of impact, may lead to common running injuries (although many other factors also play a role). Research in this area mainly focuses on measuring foot force, pressure and joint angles following an injury, to see if a retrospective cause can be identified. However, it can be difficult to infer direct causality from these results. Dixon had begun some research, which accidentally ended up in an acquired injury, allowing a unique case study on the bio mechanics of injury. These results showed a distinct change in running movement pattern, which happened even before the athlete reported any problems. This could have interesting applications in terms of elite athletes. I posed the question of how this may apply to preventing injury in recreational runners. Dixon mentioned the equipment becoming more readily accessible in running shops, but suggested the idea of some kind of monitoring mobile app may be an interesting way forward.

The second set of talks focused on psychological stress and injury. Dr. Stephen Mellalieu discussed the psychosocial factors involved in responses to injury and coping in rehabilitation. Professional athletes encounter a lot of unavoidable stress regarding their performance, but also may be dealing with personal stress in their home environment (for example, having a baby). Mellalieu highlighted the three levels of intervention for injury prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary. 

Finally, Dr Carly McKay spoke about how we can change behaviour to modify risk. Effective interventions may exist but if people are not using them, then they have limited applications. When introducing interventions it is important to consider, not only the individual level behaviour of the athlete, but also the behaviour of teams, coaches and spectators. Unfortunately, as we know in the area of health, increasing awareness of an intervention doesn't always lead to changes in behaviour. McKay used the HAPA model to highlight the importance of motivation, self-efficacy and barriers to implementing an intervention. 

Overall, all these talks were fascinating and, although I had an awareness of the psychological side of prevention, I learnt a lot about the biomechanical side of injuries too. 

Thanks to the Department of Health for hosting this event. 

Screening scepticism - A seminar with Dr. James Coyne

We are not sceptical enough as researchers, academics and scientists. Dr. James Coyne introduced himself as a sceptic: scrutinising the quality of evidence in research with a critical eye. Coyne's work mainly focuses on the lack of a solid evidence base for clinical screening and, as a result, access to treatment. Firstly. it was noted that clinical guidelines are notoriously biased to their own provision of services. I personally believe that official guidelines should not be taken as gospel, and be viewed critically, in the same way we view our research. Unfortunately, the world of academia is highly politicized. The way to tackle this is through awareness, scepticism and a critical outlook upon not only the evidence provided by others, but also of your own research. 

As an example, Coyne disputed the notion of distress as the 6th vital sign, often measured as a distress thermometer. However, unlike the other vital signs such as blood pressure for example, distress has a strong psychosocial component. Therefore, is it valid to measure distress in the same way we would with biological symptoms? Of course not. Measures like these seem to disrupt clinical conversations and restrict the patients from expressing their true concerns and feelings. The facts seem to be that, even when distress was 'diagnosed' using these methods, a referral to services was unlikely to improve patient outcomes. Individuals who are already highly distressed are either already receiving services or simply do not want them, preferring to self-manage or use their own social networks for support. The weak link in clinical diagnosis is not detection but completion of referral for those individuals who actually want to access services. 

The notion that doctors are 'not paid to solve problems' but are 'paid to do procedures' is misguided to say the least. 

I entered this seminar, already a firm believer in being critical, but I left wanting to be a true sceptic. 

CRISP - Online debates around food allergy

On the 10th of June I attended a CRISP research seminar. CRISP stands for critical research in social psychology. Today Richard Hamshaw, a first year PhD student, presented some exploratory data he'd collected on twitter. These tweets were in response to a Telegraph article about 100 chefs who contested new regulations about the labelling of allergy information on their menus.
The data was collected following the #100chefs hashtag, with a lot of tweeters also using the food standards agency hashtag #14allergens. We then engaged in some group analysis and critical discussion of social media research.


Topics discussed included:

- The language and customs of twitter
- Context: how do we know what is meant in a tweet?
- Twitter not being a self-contained data set (often with links to other posts or media)
- Respondents having different agendas to the article. The telegraph article focused upon the legislation side whereas tweeters focused on more personal issues relating to their own allergies
- How do tweeters engage with the conversation? Are they following the hashtag or having their own mini conversations?
- Politics of hashtag use: corporations may not get involved
- Responses and replies not being hashtagged: would they be included in the data set
- Differences between comments on a website (which may be moderated) or on twitter, where speech is more free but confined to 140 characters

Again, social media appears to be an interesting data collection tool but may be confusing to researchers who do not know the conventions and 'rules' of twitter. Using social media in research is still in it's infancy but holds much promise. I wonder how long it will take for a mainstream textbook to emerge for guidance on social media research. And how large the book would have to be!

#NSMNSS Twitter Chat - Informed Consent and Ethical Issues in Social Media Research

On the 1st of June 2015, I engaged in my very first twitter chat! Following on from an interesting conference I attended about ethics and social media a few weeks back, I was keen to hear the views of others and get involved in a bit of debate. The conversation moved quickly and (on the whole), I managed to keep up! To see the full conversation, click here.

Here are a few highlights of the conversation:

@SianDoesScience: How people define 'public' is rather subjective I think! #NSMNSS

@was3210 Are celebrities public figures? Is it OK to quote public figures? #nsmnss

@CurtisJessop I agree some profiles are more 'public' than others, but how do you tell?

@SianDoesScience I never read the t's and c's, so does that make me to 'blame' if my data get's used? #nsmnss

@huwcdavies #nsmnss With all the high profile prosecutions no one can be any doubt Twitter is a public platform - like shouting in pub?

@JonMendel there are some things it wouldn't be ethical to do with someone's shouts in pub without consent; same with Twitter #NSMNSS

@was3210 Interesting pub analogy. But what if those in the pub were in a segregated part & they were talking normally #NSMNSS

@SianDoesScience Transparency and respect for the participants is crucial when entering someone's online 'space' #nsmnss

@SianDoesScience IMO social sciences in particular, have a moral obligation to protect their participants from psychological harm in ANY research #nsmnss

@SianDoesScience I think ethics in general needs to be viewed as an integral part of research planning, not merely a boundary to overcome #nsmnss

@Sam_MJ_Waldron Q4. Is it ok to make assumptions about ppl based on what they write online? Which is often not a reflection of real life #NSMNSS

@SianDoesScience IMO ethics is brushed over in universities and not explored. Not a way to set up a new generation of researchers #nsmnss

Thank you to @NSMNSS for coordinating this event and to @was3210 for hosting

A month of TED (1)

As part of my MSc Health Psychology placement, I want to expand my knowledge about health, exploring a variety of different topics, ideas and viewpoints. I decided a fun way to do this would be to watch at least 5 TEDtalks a week for the duration of my placement. A first glance this appears daunting, but I can honestly say I look forward to my daily dose of knowledge. So I thought I would summarize my first month of TED, with each talk explained in a sentence or two. Here we go:


The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling
We underestimate the changes in poverty and economic growth in the world due to our pre-conceived ideas. We know less about health than a chimpanzee!
@HansRosling

How to make stress your friend - Kelly McGonigal
"I've turned stress into the enemy, but I've changed my mind about stress." Stress is bad for your health but if viewed more positively it may not be so detrimental and even be a helpful motivator for seeking social support.
@kellymcgonigal

Teach every child about food - Jamie Oliver
The leading cause of death in the USA is not homicide: it is diet-related diseases. We need to teach children in schools about food to empower communities to fight obesity. 
@jamieoliver

Why do we sleep? - Russell Foster
We need to take our sleep seriously, as it may be linked to cell restoration, energy conservation, memory consolidation and even creativity. "Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together".

All it takes is 10 mindful minutes - Andy Puddicombe
When did you last take any time to do absolutely nothing? We need to stop ruminating and being anxious about being anxious, taking time to change the way we experience our world. 
@andypuddicombe

Why dieting doesn't usually work - Sandra Aamodt
A talk focusing on the benefits of eating mindfully, avoiding self blame for dieting failures and eating intuitively. If diets worked, we'd all be thin already, so it is time for a change.
@sandra_aamodt

The voices in my head - Eleanor Longden
A personal story of Eleanor's experience with hearing voices in a 'physic civil war' and the hope of getting better. "Sometimes it snows as late as May, but summer always comes eventually". A movement away from asking 'what is wrong with you?' to 'what has happened to you?' 

New insights on poverty - Hans Rosling
Some countries are more developed than we think, considering where they started from. The seemingly impossible is possible: we can move away from poverty and, apparently, Hans Rosling can also swallow a sword!
@HansRosling

The conversational racetrack - Elizabeth Stokoe
The way we use language is important and can be seen as a racetrack of many different moments. By focusing in on these moments, we can see where conversation flourishes or falters in communication between professionals and their clients. 
@LizStokoe

How to live to be 100+ - Dan Buettner
90% of how long we live is lifestyle. A society that treats it's elderly with respect and cultures where life has a purpose (iki gai) even in old age, appear to have a longer lifespan.
@BlueZones

Mosquitoes, malaria and education - Bill Gates
More money is invested in cures for baldness than malaria. In the USA you have more chance of going to jail then getting a degree if you have a low income. Change is needed. 
@BillGates

A guerrilla gardener in South Central L.A. - Ron Finley
We live in the land of drive-thrus and drive-by shootings, with the drive-thrus now killing more people. We need to use the garden as a tool for education, transformation and provision, making gardening gangster and a bit more sexy!
@RonFinleyHQ

Life's third act - Jane Fonda
In older age, we are still on a journey towards wisdom and wholeness. By reflecting upon our experiences, we can add meaning and change our relationship to our past. 
@Janefonda

Why some people fin it harder to exercise - Emily Balcetis
Perceiving exercise to be easier, actually decreases the difficulty. "If we find a way to make the world look nicer and easier, it may become so."

Is the obesity crisis hiding a bigger problem? - Peter Attia
We judge and blame people who are overweight, when weight gain may be a symptom of an underlying, more serious issue. Scientific 'truth' is not final, and we need to stop treating 'the bruise' and instead, help people to learn to stop 'walking into coffee tables".
@PeterAttiaMD

Homoeopathy, quackery and fraud - James Randi
Debunking myths, beginning with an 'overdose' of sleeping medication. People are highly suggestible and prone to make assumptions when prompted.

How not to be ignorant about the world - Hans & Ola Rosling
People have pre-conceived ideas about the world, from our personal bias and bias in the news covering sensationalist stories which are not the majority. Rules of thumb: most things improve, the gap between rich and poor is not as large as you think and 'sharks kill few'.
@OlaRosling

Are we born to run? - Christopher McDougall
We need to re-find the joy and nakedness in running, as our ancestors used to run mega marathons even in their 70's to outrun prey as a pack. We are designed to sweat, to run and to be compassionate to others in our 'pack'.
@McDougallChris

Why we are need to practice emotional first aid - Gay Winch
We sustain more psychological injuries than physical, but we do not treat them as equal. More emphasis needs to be placed upon good emotional hygiene, and becoming our own best friend. 
@GuyWinch

Got a meeting? Take a walk - Nilofer Merchant
Fresh air drives fresh thinking and creativity, so we should take walking meetings instead of sitting on our behinds. Health and obligation shouldn't be a trade off.
@nilofer

The killer American diet that's sweeping the planet - Dean Ornish
We need to work with food companies to make the healthy lifestyle sexy. (I have my own doubts about this working due to the conflict in interests between health professionals and the food industry)
@DeanOrnishMD

Am I dying? The honest answer - Matthew O'Reilly
When someone is dying, should you lie to comfort them? We underestimate the peace found in the acceptance of death.

How I fell in love with a fish - Dan Barber
A story of Miguel, a biologist in Spain with a sustainable fish farm where success is measured by the thriving bird population . We already produce enough food to feed the world, but it's inequality that causes poverty. 
@DanBarber

The opportunity for adversity - Aimee Mullins
The only disabling thing about disability, is societies viewpoint of it as the opposite of healthy and whole. Adversity is part of your life, not just an obstacle.

Autism: what we know (and what we don't know yet) - Wendy Chung
The autism epidemic may be due to the widening definition and eagerness to label. There is no single cause to autism and there is still so much we have yet to understand. 

The effects of the hangover - Journal Club

In journal club, myself and fellow students review a piece of research. This week we were looking at the alcohol hangover article, adapted from "The alcohol hangover: a puzzling phenomenon" published in Alcohol & Alcoholism by Verster in 2008.

Relating to our own personal experiences, we discussed the hangover in great detail, dispelling myths such as dehydration. This reminded me of a BBC Horizon documentary I had watched recently, with two twins drinking the same amount of actual liquid, but one drinking more alcohol content. The following morning, although the hungover twin felt dehydrated, physically he was just as hydrated as his twin. We also discussed the changes in alcohol metabolising with age and between genders, noting that some people (particular of Asian descent) have a gene which means they tend to metabolise alcohol less efficiently, and have worse hangovers as a result.

There were two main criticisms of the article. Firstly, the style of writing was not consistent. In places, the author was trying to convey a casual tone of voice, but this swerved swiftly into biological jargon (which even I had trouble getting my head around at first!). As an academic, there is nothing wrong in presenting information in a down-to-earth way, but consistency in tone is necessary to avoid confusion. Secondly, although I agree with the authors call for further research, this must be approached with caution, due to the potential role that the alcohol industry itself could play in funding. Having attended a Pint of Science talk about corporate control by Marcus Munafo a few weeks ago, I am definitely more sceptical about research in these areas, as I'm sure a paper about reducing the experience of a hangover would be extremely profitable for the alcohol industry as a whole.

Seminar: An introduction to PsychoPy

A few weeks ago, I had the honour of attending a course on PsychoPy, presented by the creator himself Jon Peirce from the University of Nottingham. Being a novice researcher (and even more novice programmer) I was worried that the session would be beyond me. However, Pierce made the whole session extremely accessible, with the software being designed for budding undergraduate social scientists.

The software essentially allows for the create of computer-based lab experiments, either using programming or using an intuitive builder mode. The programme is called PsychoPy and is free to download. Having had some experience of the software in the session, it was precise but really easy to pick up and explore. 

Download PsychoPy here

I'm extremely glad that, in some universities, they are being taught how to create their own experiments with this software, as this is something I feel I missed out on a bit at undergraduate level. I would urge all budding scientists to download this programme and have a play around. It could be an important tool in your future research.