News: January 2019

Enhanced research reporting method to improve patient care

Patients could benefit from improved care and outcomes thanks to new research reporting guidance developed from a study that Bangor University researchers contributed to.

Experts have developed an approach that enables better reporting of findings from the combination of qualitative studies such as information garnered from patient interviews and focus groups.

The study has led to the creation of the first-ever tailored reporting guidance for the methodology, known as meta-ethnography. It will give researchers and healthcare bosses greater confidence in the findings of qualitative studies and, ultimately, aid the improvement of patient care and services.

Publication date: 17 January 2019

Exercise can fast-track your workplace well-being - here's how

Exercise has been found to reduce stress, increase positive mood, decrease anxiety and alleviate depression. But you may not know that the emotional well-being associated with exercise is also linked to key attributes that can help us while we work.

This article by Rhi Willmot, PhD Researcher in Behavioural and Positive Psychology at the School of Psychology is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 17 January 2019

Investigating why oak trees are dying is helping scientists understand how infectious diseases work

British oak trees are under threat from a disease known as Acute Oak Decline. Mainly affecting mature trees, it can kill them within four to five years of symptoms appearing. However, while researchers like myself have been looking into what causes it, and trying to find a way to prevent it, our work has been hindered in part by the fact that we have to follow a set of scientific rules known as Koch’s postulates.

This article by James Doonan, Postdoctoral Research Officer, School of Natural Sciences is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 14 January 2019

Assessing the value of dementia support groups

New ageing and dementia research at Bangor University will soon be underway, with a team from the Bangor Institute of Health and Medical Research in the School of Health Sciences being the only university in Wales to be awarded funding as part of the ESRC-NIHR Dementia Research Initiative 2018.

This programme of work, led by partners at University College London, centres around people living with rare dementias, and will involve the first major study of the value of support groups for people living with or caring for someone with a rare form of dementia.

Publication date: 10 January 2019

Why foraging for free is food for the soul

 In the past few years, there’s been a resurgence in the idea of foraging for food. The practice of hand gathering plants and animals for bait, money or the table has long taken place, but more recently top chefs have been popularising the idea, while urban foragers have told of the lengths they go to to find wild food in big cities.

This article by PhD candidate at the School of Ocean Sciences, Elisabeth S. Morris-Webb, is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 10 January 2019