Self efficacy enhanced

Nine students from our MSc Health Psychology (and one final year BSc Psych student who was VERY welcome) attended our recent workshop introducing motivational interviewing.  As part of the evaluation process, we measured their self assessed confidence in a range of knowledge and skills, pre and post training.  Nice positive changes observed, and lots of interest in further training.

More workshops coming soon, including:

Cognitive behavioural therapy techniques applied to health behaviour change.

Intermediate and advanced motivational interviewing - health promotion, primary prevention, long term conditions, substance misuse, working with groups, dealing with dyads, brief opportunistic interventions.

Intervention mapping - developing theory driven, evidence based programmes using proven health behaviour change techniques - especially relevant to public health.

Tick tick tick

Have just finished some marking on the Health & Lifestyle Management course - to meet our new super-fast feedback turnaround time - and it's the end of the working week already.  Students have said some nice things about their experience of the Health Behaviour Change module we offer, which includes the following: 

Motivational interviewing knowledge and skills refresher

MI with sent clients, with groups, in rehab settings.

CBT refresher

Lay-led and peer-led health behaviour change interventions

Classifying health behavioural change interventions

Publicly funded health behaviour change programmes in the UK and beyond

Intervention mapping : health behaviour change programmes in the UK and beyond

Key ethical issues in research on health and lifestyle management

Key ethical issues in practice in health and lifestyle management

The different roles played by professionals working in health and lifestyle management

Diversity awareness issues working in health and lifestyle management

Meanwhile - I have a new(to me via ebay) shed AND it's potato day at Ryton Organic Gardens tomorrow - my joy is complete...

Happy day - but mysterious

Great meeting today with colleagues to discuss some research collaboration.  Decided on the scope and shape of a future project - which must remain a mystery until we have secured some funding...

Some snowdrops have appeared in the garden as well.

Health and lifestyle management

Teaching again today on 305HLM Health behaviour change, on the BSc Hons Health & Lifestyle Management Programme.

We were discussing employment opportunities and what our graduates could contribute to multidisciplinary teams in various settings.

Examples of interesting jobs we discussed included:

PhD studentships, e.g. http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ABZ072/fully-funded-environmental-sciences-phd-studentship/

Rehab support workers, e.g. http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.cgi?selection=912602438

Low Intensity Worker (IAPT), e.g. http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.cgi?selection=912601336

Smoking cessation advisor, e.g. http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.cgi?selection=912597565

Some disappointment was expressed at the starting salaries...

Unrelatedly - I bought a second hand strimmer on ebay to start clearing the allotment with.

Marketing motivational interviewing

Have been asked by a senior colleague for some quotes from our Motivational Interviewing course evaluations, which can be used to market the courses:

"This was very insightful and applicable outside of work also - helpful for reflective practice."


"I found it really interesting and I gained a lot from it. I would be extremely interested in taking it further, so if you could keep in touch with any potential opportunities or further training I would very grateful."

I also signposted her to the poster presentations I made at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2010, and the European Health Psychology Society conference in September. The poster be viewed at this link.

Have just noticed that the online shop link for the course doesn't mention that it is approved by the CPD centre at the British Psychological Society, so must get this sorted out today.

Foraging

Another slightly taxing but (hopefully) productive day, split between more detailed project planning and marketing activities.

The online shop links for our motivational interviewing courses went up yesterday, just around the end of the business day, so I am now able to take bookings.

Now before it gets dark I must go outdoors and fill up the bird feeders with nigella - there are some rather cross looking goldfinches swarming around the garden who will expect their breakfast long before I surface in the morning.

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 :-(

Jam tomorrow

.
.

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