News Archive
Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences (DNBS) awarded funding to support research in nutrition and childhood leukaemia
Dr Jane McKenzie, DNBS secured funding from Fergus Maclay Leukaemia Trust (FMLT) to support research into childhood leukaemia. The research will be performed at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. The primary aim is to identify factors contributing to undernutrition in children and young people with cancer and to investigate the efficacy of nutritional interventions aimed at rectifying this.
Media, Communication and Sociology Awarded Beltane Fellowship
Oliver Escobar, Media, Communication & Sociology - awarded an Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Fellowship for 6 months for Dialogue Research. Dialogue Research explores the use of dialogue techniques in Scotland, to investigate practice internationally, and to share knowledge. Our approach stems from a critical standpoint that recognises the ambiguity and cynicism surrounding some consultation processes which do not achieve genuine participation opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders.
Breast Cancer Institute Award
Researchers in Physiotherapy and Radiography have been awarded funding for the validation of a multi-faceted screening tool for identifying perceived changes in pain, fatigue, arm swelling and function after breast cancer treatment. Awarded £31,510
Collaborative Medical Research Council (MRC) Funding for Occupational Therapy Researchers
A collaborative project involving Derek Jones from OT&AT and the Universities of Aberdeen and Teeside has been awarded funding from the MRC - Engaging with older people and their carers to develop and deliver interventions for the self management of chronic pain.
Carnegie Funding for Research with the Independent Record Label Industry in Scotland
Mark Percival, Media, Communication & Sociology has received funding from the Carnegie Trust for a small research project - a cross-cultural analysis of independent record labels in Ontario and Glasgow.
Busines, Enterprise and Management funding for Ombudsmen
Researchers in the Conusmer Insight Group are undertaking a training programme for Ombudsmen Schemes and other complaint handlers.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have awarded two Collaborative PhD studentships to a research partnership linking the University of Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University and the National Library of Scotland.
The studentships will utilise the National Library of Scotland’s archive of cartographic publishers, John Bartholomew & Son Ltd., to answer questions on the broad theme of ‘Printing and Mapping the World: the Bartholomew Archive and networks of publishing and geographical knowledge, c. 1830-1980’. The students will be co-supervised by Charles Withers, Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Edinburgh, David Finkelstein, Research Professor of Media and Print Culture at Queen Margaret University, and Christopher Fleet of the NLS Map Library
COPA National Forum of Ageing Futures Group
The Centre for the Older Person's Agenda (COPA) has been instrumental in working with a group of organisations and older people to secure a grant award from the Scottish Government for the formation of the National Forum of Ageing Futures Group. The role of the Futures Group is to stimulate, encourage and produce new ideas on ageing policy, planning and practice across all sectors to the benefit of government through innovative and imaginative policy formation and planning. We hope to create a uniquely Scottish approach to ageing that is positive and addresses particular issues in Scotland. The group will respond proactively to issues as they arise and the solutions created will have come primarily from older people themselves, particularly those whose voices are seldom heard. We seek to make sure that the ageing population is seen as an asset which gives Scotland a competitive advantage.
Exploring the learner experience of ePortfolios for formative and summative feedback in the health sciences
Susi Peacock and Sue Murray from the Centre for Academic Practice (CAP) together with Alison Scott from Radiography have secured funding from the Higher Education Academy: Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre to investigate whether, and in what ways, learners engage with formative and summative feedback delivered through ePortfolios.
Detailed, appropriate and timely feedback is of the utmost importance for all learners. Feedback can improve achievement in knowledge acquisition and skills development, promote deep learning, improve motivation, increase reflective skills and help learners prepare for future learning events. Feedback is particularly important for health science students who undertake activities in the clinical environment which are less structured and predictable than those in the academic setting, requiring students to respond by learning in a highly flexible manner. Interaction with members of the multi-professional team and with clients adds another challenging dimension to the learning process.
Unfortunately, feedback, a resource-intensive activity, is often under-valued by students and sometimes ignored. For health science students it is critical that feedback, as part of the assessment process, is meaningful and clear, particularly when it relates to clinical practice. The learner who receives no interactive feedback from supervisors and tutors or who fails to engage with feedback when it is offered, is less likely to be able to link theory with practice effectively.
We hope to explore, through focus groups, the benefits and barriers of health science learners receiving feedback through ePortfolios and how this compares with their previous experiences of feedback. The project will develop guidelines and case studies for educators to improve learner engagement with feedback through ePortfolios. Our results will be disseminated through a project blog, the HEA, the Centre for Recording Achievement and JiscInfoNet.
Further information about the project including our project blog is available at:
http://www.qmu.ac.uk/eportfolio/research.htm#L1
ESRC Funded Research on the mediating effect of language and literacy skills on the cycle of disadvantage – following five year olds into adulthood
Professor James Law and Dr Robert Rush, Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research have been working on an £90k study, funded by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) to research the extent to which children with readily identifiable language difficulties go on to have persistent difficulties in adulthood. The research found that on the one hand, the measurement of receptive language performance at five years is a good predictor of subsequent performance across a number of domains in adult life . On the other hand, not all children with early language problems are set on a negative trajectory and the study identified clear factors that are associated with positive outcomes, many of which are potentially malleable (i.e. preschool attendance and parental reading).
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Funded Symposium on Women’s Reading in the 19th Century
Professor David Finkelstein is featured in an AHRC funded symposium exploring the reading patterns of women in the 19th century. The purpose of this symposium is to consider the different ways in which nineteenth-century female readers reacted to the texts that they encountered, in particular within different institutional and social groups, such as prisons, schools and literary networks. The symposium will consider the textual matter that women read, and the spectrum of responses to reading that they recorded; these range from compliant devotion to furious resistance. Such responses tell us not only about women as readers , but also about the cultural conditions in which nineteenth-century women became readers.
Speech Researchers contribute to groundbreaking research to pinpoint the gene behind language disorder
Scientists have identified the first clear link between a gene and a common language disorder. The CNTNAP2 gene is also implicated in autism and could represent a crucial genetic link between the two disorders. Dr Jocelynn Watson and Dr Ann Clark are part of the SLI Consortium which provided the families and blood samples which underlie this breakthrough research.
Simon Fisher and his team at Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics found through family studies that variations in CNTNAP2 were linked to specific language impairment, a disorder affecting up to 7% of children. Their research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The work could eventually help thousands of families affected by the condition which causes delayed speech, poor comprehension of language, and an inability to link words into grammatical structures and sentences.
Evaluation of the Mentally Healthy Workplace Training Programme
Professor Maggie Nicol has secured £40k funding for an Evaluation of the Mentally Healthy Workplace Training Programme, aimed at managers to encourage good practice in promoting positive mental wellbeing, and prevent mental health problems and support those with mental health problems. The methodology includes the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data primarily through the use of telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews and online focus groups. The project will be undertaken by a collaboration between the Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research at Queen Margaret University, the Employment Research Institute at Napier University and Progressive.
A Bottle a Day Keeps the Wrinkles Away
For the first time, scientists can prove that Deeside Mineral Water actually slows the signs of ageing and does so 50% more effectively than other tested waters on the market.
In the first of two new research studies, Deeside Mineral Water was rigorously tested against other major international market leading brands of bottled water. The study was undertaken by scientists at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh and confirmed that Deeside Mineral Water is 50% more effective than other waters tested in suppressing free radicals.
Dr Mary Warnock, lecturer in Dietectics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences at Queen Margaret University explained “Free radicals are harmful to the body’s cells and contribute to the ageing process. Reducing free radicals helps protect cells from damage. Deeside Mineral Water has some very unusual properties and we know that people have been drinking it for its curative benefits for centuries. The results from these tests are very exciting. They show that something as simple as Deeside Mineral Water, a Scottish product, could be effective at protecting the body and skin from the harmful effects of free radical damage.”
The study, carried out on women aged between 18 and 52, also showed a reduction in the average number of wrinkles when a litre of Deeside Mineral Water was drunk daily over a period of 12 weeks. Again this is due to skin hydration, one of the single biggest factors in the ageing process. The test results showed that by drinking Deeside Water, the skin was plumped up, leading to fewer wrinkles.
Play@Home
Professor Tom Mercer, Research Professor Health Sciences has been successful in securing £150,000 from NHS Health Scotland to undertake a research evaluation of the National roll-out of the play@home programme. The aim of the play@home programme is to educate parents in safe, beneficial ways of handling and exercising their babies and to encourage regular participation in physical activity by children.
Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences Research to determine public and health professional knowledge of the role of vitamin D and folic acid and attitudes towards supplementation
A team of researchers in DNBS are leading innovative resarch to explore the knowledge of the public of the role and importance of vitamin D and folic acid for health; and the public and health professionals attitudes towards dietary supplementation. The findings of this research will be used to inform health promotion work in relation to both of these nutrients.
Commissioned Review on the Ageing Nursing Workforce
The Royal College of Nursing in Scotland commissioned Prof James Buchan, Fiona O’May and Dolly McCann of Queen Margaret University to review the available evidence on, and implications of, the ageing nursing workforce in Scotland. The report was published on 3rd December 2008 and received widespread media coverage.
Key facts from report:
- The NHS retirement age for most nurses is 60 – 65 and older nurses are generally considered to be those over 50.
- Many nurses are required to work shifts at some time, the job is often stressful and can carry a heavy physical workload.
- Age profiles for acute, mental health and community nurses all peak in the 40 – 50 age band, but community nursing has the highest age profile.
- One in three nurses working in the NHS community sector, e.g. health visitors, school nurses and district nurses is aged 50 or over and as they are more likely to be able to retire at 55, three out of ten community nurses will reach retirement age within the next 10 years.
Organisational Performance Management in Scottish Higher Education Institutions
Dr Peter Falconer, Reader in the School of Business, Enterprise and Management has recently secured a small research grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland to undertake a study of Organisational Performance Management in Scottish Higher Education Institutions. The research fieldwork is planned for the early part of 2009 with the project scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2009.
MCS Awarded Filmmaking Contract by East Lothian Council
Media Communication and Sociology have been awarded a contract by East Lothian Council to produce streaming video content for their tourism website and an Exhibition Show Reel, incorporating a Homecoming East Lothian Legacy Theme, for use at national and international trade shows.
Qualitative study of acquired hearing loss- British and American perspectives
Christine de Placido, Audiology has been carrying out a qualitative study of acquired hearing loss in adults, in particular, focusing on how people adapt to hearing loss and the part rehabilitation services play. Funding was secured from the Carnegie Trust to enable attendance at the Summer Intensive Aural Rehabilitation Conference(SIARC) at the Callier Centre, at the University of Dallas. This enabled a comparison of services in the United States with services offered in Scotland. The results showed that although cultural differences played a part in the participants attitudes to hearing loss and rehabilitation, there were common themes across the two groups. An abstract has been submitted to the American Academy of Audiology and it is hoped that data will be presented at their next conference which will be held in Dallas in April 2009. With support from the staff at the Callier Centre, Christine plans to run the first Scottish SIARC at Queen Margaret University in July 2009
Regulation and Inspection of Public Services in Scotland
Professor Richard Kerley was awarded a research contract by the Accounts Commission for Scotland to explore the potential impact on the ACS of changes in regulating and inspection of public services in Scotland. The Crerar Review , published in 2007, recommended major changes to the landscape of bodies and organisation in Scotland involved in inspecting and scrutinising public bodies. The Accounts Commission has been asked by the Scottish Government to co-ordinate changes in this scrutiny regime and Professor Kerley has the remit to help them review the implications of this for existing and soon to be created public bodies.
Professor Kerley also gave key note addresses on a proposed Local Income Tax for Scotland and Single Outcome Agreements for Scottish Local Government at conferences organised by Holyrood Magazine at the end of last year.
Organisational Performance Management in Scottish Higher Education Institutions
Dr Peter Falconer, Reader in the School of Business, Enterprise and Management has recently secured a small research grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland to undertake a study of Organisational Performance Management in Scottish Higher Education Institutions. The research fieldwork is planned for the early part of 2009 with the project scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2009.
Health Services Research Initiative funding for Nursing
A collaborative project between Jean Harbison and colleagues in Napier University and NHS Lothian is entering its final stages. The £20K study is funded by the Health Services Research Initiative and explores how community nurses contribute to the delivery of anticipatory care. A further Health Services Research funded project between Jean Harbison and colleagues at Stirling University and NHS Lothian is its initial stages. The team will study the judgements of risk and referral decisions of healthcare professionals related to early sexual activity amongst teenagers
The effects of fat and carbohydrates on satiety
Professor Marie Reid has been invited to give a keynote presentation in the New Year on 'The effects of fat and carbohydrates on satiety', at a conference on Satiation and Satiety in London. This will be hosted by the British Nutrition Foundation which will form the basis of a policy briefing paper. She is also awaiting the outcome of a number of grant applications to research councils, including one to the ESRC on South Asian mothers and daughters' attitudes to body image and eating behaviours, with colleagues from Chennai, India. Her fourth paper with her PhD student Sarah Williams entitled ‘Understanding the experience of ambivalence in anorexia nervosa: The maintainer's perspective’ is in press in the international journal 'Psychology and Health'.
Health Professional Mobility in Europe
Professor James Buchan is a scientific director on a new multi country EU funded study on the impact of health professional mobility in Europe. Working with colleagues at the WHO European Observatory on Health Systems, he will be helping direct the overall study, which will include case studies in a range of countries across the EU. The research findings will be targeted at policy makers at country level and within the EU itself. Professor Buchan will be participating in early planning meetings with country researchers and EU policy makers in early 2009.
In addition Professor Buchan is currently acting as an external expert member on a short life Workforce Planning Strategy Group, for the Department of Health and Children in Ireland.
Circle project helps school children get best support
A group of academics, led by Professor Kirsty Forsyth, Occupational Therapy, have brought together parents, teachers and therapists in a piece of ground breaking funded research which will improve the support that children with mental and physical disabilities receive at school.
For the last three years, a multidisciplinary team of occupational therapists, speech therapists, and physiotherapists have worked with teachers and academics in a bid to break down communication barriers which have prevented children maximising their educational opportunities.
The research, now called the Circle Project, aims to find ways to improve communication and understanding between teachers and therapists so that children with mental and physical disabilities can engage more effectively with the primary school curriculum.
Wish You Weren’t Here? Demographic Change and the Family Business
Research in family business at Queen Margaret University was highlighted in a keynote speech by Claire Seaman at the recent Scottish Family Business Association seminar in Glasgow in early December.
Research with family businesses in East Lothian, being carried out by Claire Seaman and Stuart Graham in collaboration with the Scottish Family Business Association, formed the basis of the presentation, which looked at the pros and cons of demographic change in a family business context. These were then explored in an interactive session working with businesses from the Glasgow area.
In response to industry demand and fast-changing economic conditions, family business research in East Lothian has focused upon both individual family businesses and organisations involved in the wider policy environment.
Diet phone- a novel concept of diet monitoring using mobile phone devices
Project developed by Michael Clapham and Ken Aitchison, Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences.
Presently there is great interest and need to measure what people are eating with issues of: obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases high up the public health agenda. In Scotland almost two-thirds of men (64%) and more than half of women (57%) are overweight with 22% and 24% respectively being clinically obese (Scottish Health Survey, 2003). Statistics also show that one in five 11 and 12 year olds were obese in Scotland last year.
To collect dietary intake data from individuals is complicated, costly and time consuming. The current method of “diet diary” usually lasts for a period of 3 to 7 days and involves writing down a full description of everything one eats in a booklet. This method is intrusive in that the diary should be completed at each eating opportunity causing embarrassment, especially with children, and therefore often not completed except by the highly motivated.
The “Diet Phone” concept uses mobile phone technology to collect dietary intake data. Based on the complete food database published by Food Standard Agency (FSA) a downloadable database has been developed enabling the use of the mobile phone interface to navigate lists and record food items consumed with a simple drop down menu. The first version of the software has been developed to allow the food items to be recorded and then the data is sent to a central computer, in real time enabling analysis of the dietary intake of each individual “phone”. The next step for the QMU team will be to carry out extensive validation trials based on the comparison with the currently used systems.
Following validation, the software will be downloadable onto any modern mobile phone enabling accurate recording of the dietary intakes.
The Diet Phone will provide a cost effective and reliable method to monitor dietary intakes. It will allow a larger number of people to be surveyed on a regular basis providing a valuable tool for numerous areas of Health and Leisure industries:
- Health care industry - as a reliable, cost efficient and user friendly way of monitoring patients diet by clinicians. E.g. diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular
- Leisure industry – as a tool of communicating with a personal nutritionist or trainer
- Professional sport and exercise – as an easy to use and precise diet recording device
- Marketing tool for food and drink manufacturers
Research tool for Governmental agencies and organisations
Public management and reform and its impact on the UK's national museums and galleries
Dr Peter Falconer, Reader in the School of Business, Enterprise and Management, is conducting a study of public management and reform and its impact on the UK's national museums and galleries. This research builds upon research previously conducted on the national museums and galleries sector and seeks to form the basis for two academic journal articles to be completed in the summer of 2009. The initial findings from this research will be presented at a School of Business, Enterprise and Management research seminar on 4th May 2009.
HOPES European Collaborative Network
HOPES (How to Progress European Solidarity) is an action centred social policy research network involving academics from 8 European countries.
Having initiated and developed the network Dr. Marion Ellison, Media, Communication and Sociology, leads this collaborative research group of academics with a common interest in trans-national social securities, trans-national solidarities and the organisation of social protection within an integrated Europe.
HOPES deals with the emergence of contexts and strategies to counter commonly experienced problems of European solidarity within an enlargement agenda. The purpose and agenda of HOPES is to undertake research, which mirrors the concept of an integrated Europe that offers a new spatial architecture of social citizenship as a guardian against the unregulated impact of a globalising economy. The aim is to inform, influence and contribute to the development of trans-national social policies in Europe in areas such as Social Security, Health, Education, Employment, Housing, Children and Families Policy as well as integrative support for Migrants and Refugees.
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