Alcohol guidelines for pregnant women: Barriers and enablers for midwives to deliver advice

Lisa Schölin*, Julie Watson, Judith Dyson and Lesley Smith have published:

Alcohol guidelines for pregnant women: Barriers and enablers for midwives to deliver advice

Lisa and Lesley also covered this in The Conversation, also accompanied by a podcast.

The report was funded by:

The Institute of Alcohol Studies.
Alliance House, 12 Caxton Street, London SW1H 0QS
Telephone: 020 7222 4001
Email; Website; Twitter: @InstAlcStud

* - University of Edinburgh

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the Journeying through Dementia (JtD) intervention compared to usual care

Esme Moniz-Cook has co-authored:

Jessica Wright, Alexis Foster, Cindy Cooper, Kirsty Sprange, Stephen Walters, Katherine Berry, Esme Moniz-Cook, Amanda Loban PhD, Tracey Anne Young, Claire Craig, Tom Dening, Ellen Lee, Julie Beresford-Dent, Benjamin John Thompson, Emma Young, Benjamin David Thomas, Gail Mountain (2019) Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the Journeying through Dementia (JtD) intervention compared to usual care BMJ Open doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029207

Common anticoagulant drug as a breakthrough in fight against cancer growth and the associated complications

A collaborative study between two PhD students in the Biomedical Section has appeared on the cover of the September edition of the prestigious journal Thrombosis and Haemostasis and also has been attributed an editorial by the chief editor. This breakthrough study has for the first time shown that the common oral anticoagulant Apixaban is capable of preventing tumour growth and cancer-associated complications. Apixaban, sold under the trade name “Eliquis”, is an oral anticoagulant used to treat and prevent blood clots and to prevent stroke in people with atrial fibrillation. The journal is currently ranked 3rd in the field of coagulation, haemostasis and thrombosis. The editor has commented: "The thoroughly conducted study by Featherby et al[2] adds a new layer to the coagulation–cancer cell connection by highlighting the role of FVIIa both for the release of TF+ microvesicles (MVs) and for tumor cell proliferation, as well as the inhibition of these effects by distinct direct oral anticoagulants."

The two PhD researchers Yahaya Madkhali and Sophie Featherby, jointly demonstrated the unique efficacy of Apixaban in vitro, which is distinct to a number of other common anticoagulants, and they have identified the underlying mechanism. This study further builds on the work published from our research group in March 2019, which also shows the ability of Apixaban to reduce tumour growth in vivo.

This study was initiated in 2016-17 and although funding was declined by UoH, it was later funded Bristol-Meyer-Squibb which included the funding for Sophie, as well as the cost of the consumables. Yahya is currently awarded a PhD studentship from the government of KSA. The two researchers carried out this study as a collaborative endeavour and have already presented their work at a number of international meetings, the most esteemed being the 27th conference of International Society for Thrombosis and Homeostasis (Melbourne, Australia, July 2019). Both researchers have produced multiple publications in 2019.

2nd International Medicine and Health Sciences Researches Congress ( UTSAK )2nd International Medicine and Health Sciences Researches Congress ( UTSAK )

Professor Roger Watson has been appointed to the scientific committe of 2nd International Medicine and Health Sciences Researches Congress (UTSAK)

The development of the Promoting Independence in Dementia (PRIDE) intervention to enhance independence in dementia

Esme Moniz-Cook has co-authored:

Lauren Yates, Emese Csipke, Esme Moniz-Cook, Phuong Leung, Holly Walton, Georgina Charlesworth, Aimee Spector, Eef Hogervorst, Gail Mountain, Martin Orrell (2019) The development of the Promoting Independence in Dementia (PRIDE) intervention to enhance independence in dementia Clinical Interventions in Aging 14, 1615–1630

What factors influence physical activity participation in people with rheumatoid arthritis?

Clare Killingback has co-authored:

Riggs DM & Killingback C (2019) What factors influence physical activity participation in people with rheumatoid arthritis? Physical Therapy Reviews doi:10.1080/10833196.2019.1659562

“If we are serious about nurse retention we must nurture and support our staff”

Jane Wray, Helen Gibson
David Barrett, Analisa Smyth
and Rosie Stenhouse

At this year’s Royal College At this year’s Royal College of Nursing (RCN) International Nursing Conference and Exhibition 2019 (Sheffield Hallam University, 3-5 September), the STaR project team were delighted to share our preliminary findings with an international audience of nursing academics, practitioners and researchers.

Jane Wray hosted a symposium of four papers on “Retention of newly qualified nurses (NQNs) in the UK National Health Service (NHS) on the 2^nd day of the conference. David Barrett presented the findings from the STaR project Rapid Evidence Review, and this was followed by Jane and Helen Gibson (STaR project post-doctoral researcher) on the interview data “Perspectives on support during the transition from student to NQN: Views of students, NQNs, academics and clinical managers”. The third paper was by Dr Rosie Stenhouse (The University of Edinburgh) on “Job Embeddedness: Towards a Theory of Retention in Newly Qualified Nurses/Midwives” and she presented findings from interviews with 23 early career nurses about their experience of the workplace. This work is part of a larger longitudinal study exploring engagement levels, emotional intelligence, resilience and burnout yearly, retention, academic grade and following qualification, pay.  The final one was by Analisa Smythe (Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust) on “A qualitative study of experiences of online peer support for NQNs” – a project also funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing that used focus groups with NQNs to refine an online peer support intervention.

There was lots of interesting comments and questions and it was great to hear from recently qualified nurses in the audience whose experiences appear to be very similar to the ones we reported - further validating our findings. The wider discussion at the end of the symposium focused on workforce and retention and the key message was that if organisations want to attract and retain staff they need to ensure that all staff (not just NQNs) are given the ‘the right support, at the right time and in the right place’ and that ‘if we are serious about nurse retention we must nurture and support our staff’.

Throughout the conference workforce issues including safe staffing, staff shortages and retention were repeatedly referred to. We also attended a symposium led by Judy Brook (City University) on “Development and implementation of an intervention to increase retention and decrease burnout of early career nurses” – another project supported by the Burdett Trust for Nursing.  It was interesting to see how coproduction is being used to develop an intervention to support transition. This team have published a systematic review related to their project and you can find out further information about their work by contacting JudyBrook.

There’s just huge anxiety: ontological security, moral panic, and the decline in young people’s mental health and well-being in the UK

Jo Bell, Marie Reid, Judith Dyson, Annette Schlosser & Tim Alexander (2019) have published:

There’s just huge anxiety: ontological security, moral panic, and the decline in young people’s mental health and well-being in the UK Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare Vol 3(2) doi: 10.4081/qrmh.2019.8200