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.

Degree redesign, "assistancedogblog" and motivational interviewing

Typical mishmash academic day today...

Degree review meeting again - to discuss the principles that will underpin the redesign of our undergraduate psychology programmes.

Also had my first look at the blog our PhD student Felicity has started to record progress on her research study on the psychosocial impact of assistance dogs.

Finally confirmed some dates for our next Introduction to Motivational Interviewing courses, which will soon be bookable via the Coventry University online store:

Thursday 30th September 2010

Thursday 28th October 2010

Image courtesy of wiki commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LiquoriceAllsorts2003.jpg

Back to more mundane things

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Here_comes_rain_again.jpg

Back from Eastern Europe to a very wet and miserable West Midlands.  Not the most exciting of days, but an interesting item in Nursing Times which has been drawn to my attention:

Motivational interviewing 2: how to apply this approach in general nursing practice

Must remember to cite this when talking to Endocrine Nurses later this month - and follow up on room bookings for our next Motivational Interviewing training day.

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 4

OK - getting a bit tired now - standing by a poster for an hour at a time is quite wearing on the feet.  You can probably tell this by the look on my face in today's picture.

The paper that made the greatest impression on me today was the Keynote, by Prof. Mircea Miclea, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Prof Miclea discussed in detail the Computer Mediated Psychotherapy intervention that he and colleagues have developed: paxonline.  What makes it distinctive is that it is multi-user platform, creating a community of learning that includes patients, family physicians and psychotherapists.  It also offers a stepped care intervention, designed to meet patients' needs at the point of initial help-seeking, rather than assuming that all people with mental health problems will want to, or be able to access face to face psychotherapy.

Although it's in Romanian, and won't go online until later this month, I think I'll have a look and run it through Google Translate.

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.

Cluj-Napoca Day 2

Conference proper started today, with a provocative keynote from Michelle Fine from the Graduate Centre, City University of New York. Taking the conference theme "Health in Context" seriously, Prof. Fine talked about her work in participatory action research, and the commitments that underpin her approach.

She cautioned us of the dangers that (psychological) science is being recruited for a particular kind of nation building - one that increases the gap between richest and poorest. She argued that 'circuits of dispossession' need to be recognised and challenged by health psychologists' work, and gave us some homework to do:

Both Spain and France report social problems and deprivation among Roma people living on their soil. France has 'repatriated' dozens of Roma , and intends to continue - citing crime statistics as a justification. Spain has invested significantly to include Roma and address inequalities. Prof Fine suggests we treat this as a natural experiment. Let's all see how these divergent responses translate in to social and health outcomes in the years to come.