Can't believe it's the last week of term already

Can't believe it's the last week of term already.  Still lots to try to get finished. Some recent highlights:

Been marking student assignments on the module I run on our MSc Health Psychology programme. Students have to write a case study of a hypothetical person who has a chronic health condition, describe the psychosocial issues they face, then choose and justify a self management intervention that will help them with these issues. Students can choose any condition they wish. Diabetes, HIV and arthritis proved the most popular choices this year.

I've also been writing new modules for the degree restructuring that's currently taking place for next academic year, including: clinical and counselling psychology, applied social psychology and professional skills for psychology graduates. I'm particularly keen on the last of these but finding an assessment strategy that will work for such a large group of students (its a mandatory module) will be a bit of a challenge.

In the last week I've drafted ethics submissions for projects with external collaborators, on the experience of volunteering and of monitoring one's fertility. I'm hoping that dissertation students and/or placement students will work on these in the next six months to a year.

I've also just submitted a research paper on PCOS to a journal - please please PLEASE don't let it be rejected... and have decided to write a blog entry as an excuse to digress from the very long NHS form I have been struggling with...

Bumpass Hell

Ok so the bubble has been burst.

I opened the editor's decision email referred to in yesterday's post. It was a rejection...

Editor's comment:

Thank you for allowing us to consider this work for (name of journal). At this point your paper has been reviewed by one expert reviewer only, who has presented us with a quite brief review. In order to avoid a delay I decided not to invite more reviewers. However, we have subjected your paper to a thorough editorial evaluation.

Reviewer #1: I enjoyed reading the paper which makes a worthy contribution to an under-researched area. Although the paper is well-structured, I have a number of minor suggestions to improve it...

Editor's comment:
Because of an increase in submissions, we can only publish a minority of the manuscripts we receive. Space constraints dictate that that to an increasing extent we may publish only those manuscripts providing significantly novel insights or new perspectives.

Sadly, this means that we are unable to publish many manuscripts of significant quality. I must regretfully inform you that based on the review and our editorial evaluation your paper did not reach a high enough priority to be further considered for publication.

Sob

Emerging from the fog

Haven't had a terribly productive day due to brain fade associated with having a cold (why does it have this effect?), I think/hope I am now emerging from the fog.

I have a big backlog of stuff I wanted to do but didn't get done - mostly following on from the motivational interviewing and Verity/PCOS activities last week. Especially interested in the government's plans to shift responsibility for public health from the NHS to local authorities, and a call fromThe Kings Fund and Centre for Mental Health for greater efficiency in mental health services.

Back in the provinces

Successful couple of days in London, making some good contacts which I hope to follow up on soon.


Was especially intrigued by the complexities of choosing treatment for hirsutism - how women negotiate their way successfully through this minefield is a mystery to me. Am interested to see if there are any decision support aids available.

Also talked to Oriane who works for a company who've developed a novel system to enable women to monitor their menstrual cycles - to take more control over fertility.

Think I am getting a cold - why does this interfere with my ability to think properly?

Still waiting for the raucousness to kick in...

Big smoke for a couple of days

Rather annoyingly had news today that the student I spent half a day designing a personalised programme of retake work for last week didn't bother to turn up for the first scheduled meeting. Wondering sometimes why we bother...


Pleased to get an email today from someone who attended our motivational interviewing day yesterday, and hoping to develop an applied research collaboration as a result.  I always meet people working on interesting projects when I run these events, and it's nice to have a chance to find out more about their work.


Off to London tomorrow for a couple of days related conference activity.


Friday
PCOS UK (health professionals conference) , with topics including:

PCOS, Physical Activity and Insulin Resistance
Practical steps to tackling common dermatology issues
Living with PCOS - developing effective coping strategies
Reducing the quality of life impact of PCOS - top tips for primary care
Research Digest
Cardiovascular risk and PCOS - effective management strategies
The risks and benefits of bariatric surgery in the management of PCOS
 
Saturday
Verity (patient group for women whose lives are affected by PCOS), topics including:


Emotional impact of PCOS - Colette Harris
Get to know your menstrual cycle - Dr Lisa Webber
Alopecia and excess hair - Dr Alison Layton
Being slim with PCOS - Speaker TBC
Weight loss options for PCOS - Dr David Haslam
PCOS and your fertility - Professor Stephen Franks

Staying in a Travelodge so not taking my laptop and therefore no posts.  No offence Travelodge, I just don't fancy leaving it in boot of car all day.

Fog, frost and technical snags

Sent a large part of yesterday on the M6, travelling to and from and meeting with colleagues in the North.  Managed to skip most of the fog and car mishaps, and the visit was well worth while - for me anyway.

I met some healthcare colleagues I'd last seen at the Endocrine Nurse Update event in September.  They were kind enough to show me around their PCOS clinic and let me sit in a for a while.  We also had some early stage discussions about possible applied research collaboration.

Writing an outline draft of a paper today and responding to various emails about the Disaster Management research.  We have had a few technical problems and have had to resort to delivering data in person.  I hope everyone is wrapped up well...

Clunky link but: The weekend saw progress with both the leaf clearing and my new home made coat.  Had to stop at the pockets as I was having a bit of a mental block interpreting the instructions. But I've worked it out now and might get it finished next weekend.

Can it really be Friday already?

Where does the time go???

Packaged up some data from my PCOS research and sent it off for independent analysis by my two colleagues Lynne and Rachael.  Will be really interesting to get together and compare our analyses.  Having others look at data you've collected is great as they always spot things you haven't.

Ran through the online coding test I've designed for interns on the disaster management project.  It seems to be working ok so I should be able to post the link to individuals once they've gotten through the literature searching task on SCOPUS.

Prepared a presentation for Monday to talk through with NHS colleagues I am meeting in the North of England.  Looking forward to seeing them again, and sitting in on their clinics.

And for the weekend: if the wind and rain stops I shall mostly be sucking up leaves from the garden.  If it doesn't, I hope to make a Butterick Pattern B5297. It says "FAST AND EASY" - that remains to be seen...

Trying not to be mechanical...

Busy on campus day today:


Earlier part of morning attending the opening of the conference I mentioned yesterday. Inspired by colleagues’ presentations.

Late morning dealing with usual bunch of emails.

Excellent meeting with three co-researchers, to agree who was going to do what regarding two major data sets: women’s experiences with polycystic ovary syndrome, and families’ experiences with assistance dogs. Looking forward to both.

Then pitched the Disaster Management research internship to a pleasantly substantial group of students (and one graduate) who had expressed an interest. Despite the fact that we have no money to offer, it was gratifying to find that several people remained committed to taking the posts up, even after seeing my PowerPoint presentation.

After that it was back to the conference, where it seems that I missed some controversy and impassioned debate. Replace FGM, the associated project, aims to address problems associated with female genital mutilation, on health and human rights grounds. But the term ‘mutilation’ when applied in this context is problematic for some. Essentially the same surgical procedure requested by a white western woman might be deemed acceptable on the basis that it enhances her self-esteem or sexual confidence, yet condemned as abusive and oppressive in a black African woman. Huge issues here as regards how ‘we’ define ‘health’ and individual autonomy.

Meanwhile it all got a bit nasty at the student fees protests in London.  I know some of our students travelled to the event.  Just hope that none were involved, either as perpetrators of the violence, or innocent onlookers.

Which tracks?

Spent morning dealing with enquiries about our motivational interviewing courses.  Delighted that some psychology colleagues will be joining us on the courses in October and November.

Rest of day updating various contacts in relation to my grand research plans.

Also confirmed which tracks I will be attending at the forthcoming Verity conference in November.

Pic: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raccoon_tracks.jpg

Drafting and crunching

Today:



I sent my bit of a paper off to a co-author for checking.


I started drafting a second.


I crunched a lot of data in an Excel spreadsheet.

Lots to say - and do

Had a good meeting today with PhD student and another member of the supervisory team.  Delighted with progress to date and planning a couple of preliminary empirical studies.  Felicity is on course to have lots to say at her end of year Progress Review Panel, which is due early 2011.

Had a brief chat with my co-author about the PCOS paper that's nearly ready  to submit.  We also discussed a bit of research assistant work that's coming up - one related to Felicity's assistance dogs research and the other to ongoing work with Ryder Cheshire Volunteers.

Have also been looking at some data collected from our level two undergraduates, about their vocational identities and career aspirations. 

And now it's ever so dark and I'm glad to be indoors...

Time for a trim

Spent today responding to enquiries about the motivational interviewing courses, and then trying to be ruthless with a research paper I've written on my PCOS research. 

It has a lot of qualitative data extracts in it, and I need to edit it from about 6,000 to 4,000 words.  When I last looked at it I found it impossible to decide which women's words could be cut out.  But if I want to have a chance of changing the way healthcare is offered in similar cases, I need to get at least part of the story published. A shorter paper that gets into print will have infinitely more impact than a longer 'richer' one that never sees the light of day.

Out with the metaphorical scissors I think.

The Joy of GANTT

(or trying to get a quart into a pint pot)

Have been wrestling with Gantt charts all day, trying to programme 4 years' worth of (perhaps rather ambitious) applied research work, for a grant application.  While MS project is a very useful planning tool, it hasn't half made my head go boggle.

I think some therapeutic activity is in order.  This evening I may try to make one of these (view A), from some of this:

Fabric credit: I think this came from cheap fabrics online, but I can't remember and think it is discontinued now :-(

Mapping out my hoped for future

Have spent most of today mapping out plans for a long term programme of research, which I hope will grow out of my current three month research sabbatical. Have been in touch with NHS colleagues in the North of England to meet up and discuss collaboration.  Unfortunately the exact plan is what, in these cash driven days is 'commercially sensitive', so I can't say more at present.

Meantime however, have also taken calls expressing interest in attending our next short course in motivational interviewing.  Am slightly concerned that the links for booking places are still not up on the cu online shop.  I have been assured that someone is working on it, but if you had hoped to book and can't see this link, please email me directly.

Coventry University
Introduction to Motivational Interviewing
Next course
Thursday 28th October 2010, The Graduate Centre, Coventry University

Thinking...

After a yesterday making lots of phone calls and trying to set up meetings, in connection with continuing professional development courses, I have decided to have a day devoted to thinking and organising my ideas.

I think I'd have been rather surprised when I set out on an academic career to find that so little time would be available to sit and think deeply about things - but that's how it has turned out.

So today, instead of giving in to the tyranny of email and short term targets, I am going to really concentrate on what I want to achieve in my PCOS work for the next three years, so that I have a truly coherent set of plans to discuss with potential collaborators.  I already have a long list of possibilities, so it's just a question of dreaming up the best possible outcome to aim for.  Wish me luck...

Jam tomorrow

.
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Progress to date on sabbatical objectives...? hmmm

Spent morning reading and commenting on a draft PhD thesis chapter.  A fascinating area of research: the history and scope of animal based therapies. 

Spent afternoon drafting some continuing professional development programmes around health behaviour change, for health professionals.  Then in discussions about what professional bodies we should apply to for accreditation or endorsement of these.

May seem unrelated to my PCOS work, but coming up with externally funded courses like these, and marketing them successfully, is ultimately very important in creating time and funds for applied research activities. I am hoping that generating income towards our departmental targets will help me raise the funds I need personally to attend next year's Disaster Management conference. So I' hoping for jam tomorrow...

And I made a bid to supervise another PhD student this afternoon - hoping I am successful as the proposed project uses interpretative phenomenological analysis - one of my favourite research approaches.

I was also delighted to hear from someone running a specialist PCOS clinic, who'd attended my talk to the Endocrine Nurse Update last week. The very person I was hoping to catch up with over lunch but managed somehow to miss.  Am hopeful that this will lead to a fruitful and mutually beneficial collaboration.

Picture credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malnalekvar.jpg

Psychosocial support needs in polycystic ovary syndrome

Nice visit to Stratford upon Avon today to speak at the Endocrine Nurse Update about psychosocial support needs in polycystic ovary syndrome.

I also heard some presentations that got me thinking.  While much of the biochemistry and physiology went over my head, I was struck by case presentations focused on endocrine cancers.

I thought I'd have a look at what work has been done on the psychosocial impact of these conditions (for example, multiple endocrine neoplasias), and indeed on supportive interventions. Although there have been calls for more work in this area, not much seems to have been published yet.  Perhaps one for a student on our MSc Health Psychology to look at researching for a dissertation project...

Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Stratford_Armouries_Elephant.jpg

Almost but not quite...

Half of today spent reviewing an application for funding to the National Institute for Health Research "Research for Patient Benefit" scheme. Very time consuming, but a good refresher given that it's the same scheme I hope to be applying to myself at the end of my forthcoming research sabbatical.

Also ALMOST finished my presentation for the Endocrine Nurse Update later this month.

Cluj-Napoca Final Day

Last day of the conference today. 

Another great keynote: Michael Murray began with a story about his last trip to Romania, (in the early 1970's) in which he and his 'hippy' companions were swiftly escorted back over the border by the army. 

He went on to take us on a brief critical tour of health psychology's past, before making suggestions for future developments.

We also had the closing ceremony with lots of thanks and roses, plus a trailer for next year's conference in Crete.

I was fortunate to be awarded a poster prize for my work on PCOS - so even I got a flower to take home on the plane :-)

Now to see if there's enough space left in my suitcase to permit another trip to that great fabric shop on Bulevardal Eroilor...

Cluj-Napoca Day 3

Met an old friend today from way back (postgraduate days at Queen’s, Belfast). Brendan was giving a talk in the 9 am slot “Thinking critically about men’s health promotion”. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to that session, but hoping to catch up with him at some point during the conference.

The most interesting presentation I attended today was a paper by Maria del Rio Carral, from the Research Centre on Health Psychology, University of Lausanne. Maria described her PhD research, using a novel “activity focused” methodology. She and her colleagues are attempting to develop context-rich models of subjective wellbeing, based on the mundane daily activities people engage in. Definitely want to take this one further by reading their publications.

I also presented one of my posters today:

Percy, C., Gibbs, T., Potter, L. & Boardman, S. (2010) Role of a support group for women with polycystic ovary syndrome. I’m the rather pink and windswept one in today’s picture.