Research and Development Conference

2025 Research & Development Conference: dates announced

We're excited to share the dates of our 2025 virtual Research and Development Conference: Tuesday 14 October and Wednesday 15 October.

We are still in the planning stages but updates, the final agenda and where/how to book your tickets will be shared here. Please note tickets will not be available to book until July 2025.

In the meantime please make a note of the dates and we hope to see you there.

 

2024 Research & Development Conference, 14-18.10.24

We had a fantastic week hosting our 4th annual Research and Development conference which was facilitated by Sam Topping (Operational Lead for Research and Development, here at HWHCT).

As in previous years the aim of this conference was to showcase some of the fantastic work that's happening in the research world (Monday 14 — Wednesday 16 October) as well as giving staff and local partners from Herefordshire and Worcestershire a platform to showcase their work (Thursday 17 October), and the Launch of the Memorandum of Understanding between our Trust and University of Worcester (Friday 18 October).

HUGE thanks to our brilliant speakers who gave their time to join and inspire us. We couldn't have done it without you. Over 440 free virtual tickets were requested across the week so thank you to those who joined us. Recordings of the event will be uploaded in November so if you couldn't make it please take a listen. 

Sam Topping (Operational Lead for Research and Development)

 

Recordings of the conference are now available below along with presentation slides that we're able to share.

Monday 14 Oct: Strengthening & Conditioning and MSK Focus inc session on behavioural change (10.30am — 1.15pm)

Prof Peter Langdon: Conference welcome and opener

Recording available here:  https://youtu.be/o2XfJ2Yw1iQ

Peter is Peter is Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Birmingham and Honorary Associate Director of Research at HWHCT. 

Dr Claire Minshull: 'The Relative Importance of Restoring Qualities of Strength and Power For Older Populations.'

Recording available here: https://youtu.be/eDDt6YxifVM

Outstanding question and answer from the event: 

Q: Does she have any recommended functional tests for UL. To match STS of vertical jump for LL? 

A: Depends on what you're specifically trying to measure. A constrained (seated) projectile throw (single arm / 2 arms) with med ball of approx 10% of body mass might be appropriate? Lots of descriptions of this test. This link might be useful.

Dr Claire has over 25 years of experience working in academia, the NHS and in leading research roles.  She has designed, led and managed major clinical and non-clinical research trials, supervised PhD students and developed undergraduate and postgraduate courses in exercise and rehabilitation science. Claire has a well-established publication profile in the field of rehabilitation and is Visiting Professor at Leeds Beckett University School of Health. 
 
Claire’s area of expertise means that she uniquely spans the gap between the physiology of conditioning and physiotherapeutic rehabilitation and she founded Get Back To Sport to enable the transference of research findings into enhancing practice.  Get Back To Sport has an international teaching profile and a respect and credibility with clinicians and commissioners. Claire also co-founded Joint Approach as a means to deliver, direct to patient, a scalable and much improved multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for those suffering with osteoarthritic knee pain.  

Prof Danielle van der Windt: 'Development and evaluation of a person-centred intervention for patients with shoulder pain: the PANDA-S programme.'

 

Serena Simmons: 'How patient psychology and behaviour change can transform your practice.'

Recording available here: https://youtu.be/IqxqRXLqX88

Serena has over 30 years of experience working in the field of psychology, is a Chartered Psychologist and Member of the British Psychological Society and the Special Group in Coaching Psychology. She has also been a Senior Psychology lecturer at Nottingham Trent University (UK), for the last 18 years and has engaged in private practice in psychological consultancy and private teaching for over 12 years. She now runs her own successful Positive Psychology Consultancy, The Psychology School (www.thepsychologyschool.co), which specialises in Behaviour Change & Peak Performance which she teaches predominantly in Healthcare settings all over the world.  

Serena is also well known for her work in the area of Forensic Psychology, namely Serial Murder.  Having worked previously for HM Prison Service and Rampton Hospital in a practice position, Serena brings with her a deep understanding of what it takes to truly address Behavioural Change and Peak Performance in all aspects of Life. Featured heavily in the media for her work and in particular profiling, you can also find Serena’s work in the likes of all major newspapers, radio and more recently in specialist documentaries screened on Apple TV, Amazon, SKY, Virgin and UK based terrestrial channels.

 

Tuesday 15 Oct: Psychiatry - Psychosis focus (10.30am — 1.15pm)

Recording for the whole of this session is available here: https://youtu.be/oxW93hhuaMI

Prof Matthew Broome: ‘From Delusions to Early Intervention, Bullying, and Youth Mental Health’ 

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Broome_Oct_24_Hereford.pdf [pdf] 7MB

Matthew studied as an undergraduate at the University of Birmingham, where he graduated with degrees in Neuropharmacology and in Medicine.  After working as a junior doctor in the University Hospitals in Birmingham, he moved to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to undertake training in postgraduate psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital, and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.  After attaining his MRCPsych, Matthew was clinical research fellow and subsequently Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, where he undertook his first PhD. During this time, he helped the development of novel Early Intervention in Psychosis services in South London, and specifically the OASIS service for those who may be in the prodromal phase of illness.

In 2006, Matthew was appointed as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Warwick and, in 2013, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.  He remains affiliated to St Hilda’s College and is a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford.  In 2017, he returned to the University of Birmingham to take up his current post. In parallel to his University role, Matthew is Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist to the East Birmingham Early Intervention in Psychosis service, part of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, and is NIHR CRN West Midlands Clinical Research Lead.

Prof Joanna Moncrieff: 'The RADAR trial: results and reflection'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Tuesday 15 October Joanna Moncrieff.pptx [pptx] 13MB

Joanna is a psychiatrist and academic. She is Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London and a leading figure in the Critical Psychiatry Network. She is CI on the RADAR study which her talk will cover.

Dr Jodie Russell: 'Communicating Ineffable Experiences: a way forward with phenomenology'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  The Language of Mental Disorder Jodie Russell.pptx [pptx] 3MB

Dr Jodie Louise Russell is a research fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham in the Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare (EPIC) project. She researches cases of epistemic injustice among young people with psychosis and is interested in applying intersectional, feminist approaches and phenomenology to better understand experiences of mental disorder. Previously, she was a Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and worked on applying topics in philosophy of mind to philosophy of psychiatry by, namely, drawing out implications from models of mind for our understanding of mental disorder.

 

Wednesday 16 Oct: Dementia focus (10.30am — 1.15pm)

Recording for the whole session is available here: https://youtu.be/zlU38f_pHCk

Dr Emma Wolverson: 'Inpatient Mental Health Wards for People with Dementia- can we create an evidence base?'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Mental Health Wards for People with Dementia- EW Oct 24.pptx [pptx] 3MB

Emma is Clinical Psychologist & Professor in Ageing and Dementia at the University of West London. Emma is Research Lead for Dementia UK and has worked with people with dementia and their families within the NHS since first qualifying as a psychologist in 2008.

Jessica Roebuck , Stakeholder Engagement Manager, RDN Coordinating Centre (RDNCC), NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN).

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Join Dementia Research Jessica M (3).pptx [pptx] 4MB

Adam Smith: 'Bridging Generations: Inviting Older Adults with Dementia to Research.' Sadly Adam was unable to join us. Thank you to Jessica for stepping in at the last minute. Adam is Programme Director for ‘Dementia Researcher’ a worldwide early career dementia researcher support service run by University College London. Having previously worked within the NHS and at the Department of Health and Social Care, for the last 13 years he has exclusively worked on improving the lives of people living with dementia, undertaking research, and leading initiatives such as Join Dementia Research and Enabling Research in Care Homes. Now his time is focussed on trying to attract more people to the research field, and improving collaborations and support to ensure researchers are retained on this important topic.

Prof Vanessa Raymont: 'How biomarkers are changing dementia research and treatment'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  HWHCT R&D conference talk_161024.Prof Vanessa Raymont pptx.pptx [pptx] 31MB

Vanessa is: an Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford; R&D Director, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust; Associate Director, Dementias Platform UK; Joint Deputy Chair, NIHR Dementia Translational Research Collaboration; NIHR Clinical Research Network Dementia Lead, Thames Valley and South Midlands; Honorary Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Centre for Dementia Prevention, University of Edinburgh.

 

Thursday 17 Oct: What’s happening in Herefordshire and Worcestershire? (10.30am — 1pm)

Dr Natasha Lord: 'Implementing a Digital Life Stories Project on an inpatient dementia ward: Initial findings and reflections'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Worcester life stories presentation October 2024 final.pptx [pptx] 3MB

Recording available here: https://youtu.be/pWNDmPYuR3A

Natasha is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Lead for Older Adults at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust; Chair of the Faculty of Psychology of Older People (FPOP); Chair of the Accreditation Committee – Quality Network Older Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services. 

 

Saff Davies: 'Exploring links between hearing loss and Dementia in adults with Down Syndrome'

View the recording here: https://youtu.be/5tuDM9pj4Ec

Community Learning Disability Nurse, South Worcestershire Community Learning Disability Team, HWHCT

Community Research Engagement Projects: 

• REACH* Worcestershire: 'Using community co-production to develop a framework for research engagement.' 

Slides from the presentation are available here:  Branwen and Sarah Presentation.pptx [pptx] 4MB

Recording available here: https://youtu.be/y4NhLBtvrI0

• CLeaR* Herefordshire: 'What we heard from communities in Herefordshire about Research.'

Slides from the presentation are available here:  131024 CLeaR Project Herefordshire Presentation.pptx [pptx] 7MB

Recording available here: https://youtu.be/wnprltilJXw

*REACH: Research Engagement and Community Health           *CLeaR: Community Led Engagement and Research

Worcestershire speakers:                                                                                                      Branwen Bingle, PhD, is the Community Research Training Lead for Worcestershire VCSE Alliance. A qualified teacher with a PhD, an MA Ed in Applied Linguistics and a PG Diploma in Voluntary Sector Management, Branwen has over 20 years’ experience of partnership development, social science research and course design in a range of settings. Branwen is also a Communities Officer for Wychavon District Council, where she supports VCSE organisations and the development of community assets.

Sarah Wilkinson is the Community Research Engagement Lead for Worcestershire VCSE Alliance. She has a MSc in European Policy having spent several years working in international institutions before returning in the UK. Sarah also has a background in secondary teaching and experience working with disadvantaged communities and people with a learning disability.

 

Friday 18 Oct: Launch of the Memorandum of Understanding between our Trust and University of Worcester (10.30am — 1pm)

View the recording here: https://youtu.be/KHZtdoYufdw 

Hear from speakers from the University of Worcester and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust discussing what this agreement means to them and the type of work and opportunities that we can expect to see moving forwards.

We will then hear from:

Dr Kath Gordon-Smith: 'The Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN) sample and True Colours online mood monitoring.'

Outstanding question and answer from the event: 

Q: Pregnancy. Study how easy to get into treatment mother and baby units near home etc'

A: We haven’t looked at this as part of our research which has a focus on the aetiology of mood disorders, but the charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis have been campaigning for a number of years for more Mother and Baby units and have carried out research comparing the different types of care for postpartum psychosis in the UK  Campaign for Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) | Action on Postpartum Psychosis ; Research updates and publications | Action on Postpartum Psychosis

Katherine joined the University of Worcester in October 2015 previously working as Postdoctoral Researcher within the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University and then as a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.

The broad aims of her research are to investigate genetic and other factors that may contribute to the aetiology of bipolar disorder and other related mood and psychotic illnesses, such as schizoaffective disorder and postpartum psychosis.

She was one of the co-founders of the Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN), a group of researchers, clinicians and research participants in the UK involved in investigating the underlying causes of bipolar disorder. More than 7500 participants have been recruited to BDRN, which is one the largest sample of individuals with bipolar disorder in the world. Katherine works closely with BDRN research champions, research participants with lived experience of bipolar disorder, who have provided expert advice and input into the BDRN research programme and True Colours.

Katherine is also Deputy Chair of the Health and Science Research Ethics Panel.

Dr Catharine Rose: ‘You weren’t who I expected to meet’: Researchers within Communities.'

Dr Catharine Rose is a Research Fellow who joined the University of Worcester in 2023. She is currently working with a team, led by Prof. Eleanor Bradley, engaged in the evaluation of a series of innovative health-related programmes run by local stakeholders. These include two preventative health outreach services commissioned by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board targeting underserved local communities. She is also working on an evaluation of a programme developed by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust to empower clinical teams to initiate change.

  Catharine is a BPS Chartered Psychologist and was awarded her PhD in health psychology research from the University of Birmingham in 2022. Her research interests are focused on community health and development. Prior to joining the University of Worcester, Catharine ran a research and evaluation consultancy for over a decade, providing services to local and national clients in the public and VCSE sectors.  

Thomas  Morton: 'Crossing the Line: Providing personal care in the context of families affected by dementia.'

A: It's a tricky one - there are both types of group, groups dedicated specifically to dementia and groups that are mixed e.g. for older people at risk of social isolation, that are likely to include people with dementia but aren't exclusively for them. 

Thomas joined the Association for Dementia studies (ADS) in December 2018. He is a Research Associate, working on projects that investigate how community-based interventions for people affected by dementia, such as groups and activities, can be helped to sustain long-term. He specialises in realist research, an approach that seeks to trace cause and effect in complex human systems, using both qualitative and quantitative data.

Thomas has a background in teaching and journalism, having worked as both an A level teacher and a newspaper journalist prior to returning to the field of psychology and developing a passion for research. He has previously worked on research into the experiences and uses of online mood monitoring of those with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, with the University of Worcester's Mood Disorders Research Group. He has also conducted original research into perceptions of the role of control in workplace stress as part of his Psychology MSc. 

There was an opportunity to ask questions along with a round table discussion.

 

HWHCT assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in materials circulated and/or content presented by speakers during this conference.