News: October 2017
What causes marathon-runners and other extreme sport enthusiasts to catch colds?
Participants in this year’s Snowdon Marathon (28 October), described as one of Europe’s toughest, have been invited to help with research at Bangor University’s School of Sport Health & Exercise Sciences . Exercise physiologists at the School want to identify why some runners appear to be more susceptible to falling ill or feeling poorly after running a marathon or taking part in other endurance activities, while others remain well.
Publication date: 28 October 2017
Implementing Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) - Implementation Guidance
ASPIRE: Accessibility and Implementation in UK services of an effective depression relapse prevention programme. An implementation guidance website has been developed using the findings from the ASPIRE project.
Publication date: 20 October 2017
Can psychology help football academy players to maximise their potential?
Sports psychologists from Bangor University have teamed up with Manchester City Football Club to identify and understand the psychological characteristics that help young academy players to fulfil their potential. Over the next four years, Manchester City’s academy players will be tracked as part of this unique research project. City’s coaches have already identified the psychological characteristics that they believe are key to talent development, and these will be monitored and regularly assessed. The extent to which they predict improvements in performance levels during this time will be evaluated.
Publication date: 20 October 2017
Volunteering is a way of life for Elan
Eighteen year old Elan Môn Gilford, from Llanfairpwll, a first year Sports, Health & Exercise Science student is one of only 20 people worldwide to have received a Diana Legacy Award for her volunteering. The Diana Award is given out in Diana, Princess of Wales’ name to young role models who are selflessly transforming the lives of others. The Award recognises young people who are going above and beyond their daily lives to create and sustain a positive change.
Publication date: 13 October 2017
Lifetime Contribution recognised
Gwerfyl Roberts, a Senior Lecturer at the School of Healthcare Sciences has just received a Lifetime Contribution Award at More than just Words 2017 . The More than just Words Showcase Event recognises and celebrates the importance of Welsh language provision in health, social services and social care, and the exceptional achievements of individuals and teams.
Publication date: 11 October 2017
Monumental arts project changing perceptions in Welsh care homes
An arts participatory project involving 122 care homes across Wales (nearly 20% of the total) has brought fundamental changes to the way staff view some of their most vulnerable residents. This was one of the key findings of an evaluation of Age Cymru’s cARTrefu project and presented to ministers and AMs at a special celebration in the Senedd today (Tuesday 10 October 2017).
Publication date: 10 October 2017
A popularity contest in the robotic petting zoo - ESRC Impact Acceleration Award
Merel Bekking, a designer and artist, started her artist-in-residency in the Social Brain in Action lab this week. This residency is funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Award to Emily Cross and Ruud Hortensius.
Publication date: 10 October 2017
Investing in warmer housing could save the NHS billions
British weather isn’t much to write home about. The temperate maritime climate makes for summers which are relatively warm and winters which are relatively cold. But despite rarely experiencing extremely cold weather , the UK has a problem with significantly more people dying during the winter compared to the rest of the year. In fact, 2.6m excess winter deaths have occurred since records began in 1950 – that’s equivalent to the entire population of Manchester. Although the government has been collecting data on excess winter deaths – that is, the difference between the number of deaths that occur from December to March compared to the rest of the year – for almost 70 years, the annual statistics are still shocking. In the winter of 2014/15, there were a staggering 43,900 excess deaths , the highest recorded figure since 1999/2000. In the last 10 years, there has only been one winter where less than 20,000 excess deaths occurred: 2013/14. Although excess winter deaths have been steadily declining since records began, in the winter of 2015/16 there were still 24,300 .
Publication date: 5 October 2017
Research reveals how housing improvements can lead to health benefits
Warmer homes can improve the health of social housing tenants and reduce NHS service use according to health economists at Bangor University. Working with Gentoo housing association and Nottingham City Homes, Health Economists at the University’s Centre for Health Economics & Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) evaluated the costs and outcomes associated with social housing improvements and found a link between warmer homes and improved health for social housing tenants and reduced NHS service use.
Publication date: 5 October 2017
Five-country survey of carers highlights continuing delays in dementia diagnosis across countries
Today, at the 27th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Berlin, Prof. Bob Woods ( Bangor University , Wales, United Kingdom) presented the top line results of a five-country survey on the experience of 1,409 carers of a diagnosis of dementia.
Publication date: 3 October 2017