Author Archives: Niroshan Siriwardena

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Improvement science and methods seminar series: experimental methods in health research

The latest seminar in the ‘improvement science and methods’ seminar series covered non-randomised experimental designs and was given by director of CaHRU, Niro Siriwardena.

The seminar included discussion of pre-experimental (uncontrolled before-and-after) designs and quasi-experimental designs such as time series, interrupted time series and non-randomised control group designs, including the advantages and disadvantages of these methods for quality improvement and complex interventions.

Presentation: ‘Experimental methods in health research’

A chapter on ‘Experimental methods in health research’ by Professor Siriwardena is also included in the recently published second edition of ‘Researching Health’, a textbook for health researchers.  The book includes qualitative and quantitative methods employed in researching health, contemporary issues such as research ethics, comparative research and the use of mixed methods, and how to disseminate health research.

 

 

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Online communities and social networking platforms for computerised therapies

A new study investigating how computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) can be enhanced through the use of social networking platforms was published in the British Journal of General Practice in December 2012.  This qualitative study, funded by the EPSRC and conducted by members of the CaHRU team, Jo Middlemass, Dr Zowie Davy and Professor Niroshan Siriwardena, explored patient and practitioner perspectives on CCBT programmes for insomnia (CCBT-I) which would included social networking.

The objectives of the interview study were:

  • To explore patient and professional perspectives, attitudes, expectations and beliefs towards online health care programmes;
  • To identify participants’ preferences for content, style and information disclosure to health professionals or fellow sufferers;
  • To investigate barriers and facilitators of access, use and adherence to CCBT with a focus on sleep problems and insomnia.

Two meta-themes emerged as key to enhancing uptake and adherence to a potential new CCBT-I package: the need for trust (in the programme, in the patient-professional relationship and in online peer support) and the functionality of the CCBT-I package, with potential users expressing a preference for it to be interactive, individualised and easily navigable.

The findings from the interview study have been incorporated into a novel online CCBT-I package which is currently undergoing testing, designed by a team led by Professor Shaun Lawson who leads the Lincoln Institute of Social Computing (LiSC) with co-investigator Dr Conor Linehan, both based in the School of Computer Science, University of Lincoln.

The study was published in the Br J Gen Pract December 2012; 62 (605): 642-643 with the full-length article available through open access: Middlemass J, Davy Z, Cavanagh K, Linehan C, Morgan K, Lawson S, Siriwardena AN. Integrating online communities and social networks with computerised treatment for insomnia: a qualitative study of service user and primary health care professional perspectives. Br J Gen Pract 2012; 62:e840-e850 doi: 10.3399/bjgp12X659321.

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University of Lincoln/NHS Health Research Forum

The latest Research Forum took place today on 7th November in the Board Room in Bridge House. The Research Forum takes place three times a year and is an opportunity for colleagues to present studies conducted in Lincolnshire or undertaken by the county’s researchers. The meeting  began with a light lunch and included NHS staff, university staff and students, and colleagues interested in health and social care research.

The presentations were:
• Programs to promote physical activity among children and adolescents: A case study of the Team Bath Tribe
Project presented by Dr Harriet Koorts, LCHS NHS Trust.
• An exploration of how a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach can support decision making in advanced
heart failure; an action research methodology presented by Rachel Gavin, Heart Failure Complex Case Manager, LCHS
NHS Trust.
• Achieving change in older people’s services: Effective prevention?’ presented by Karen Windle, Reader in Health, CaHRU, University of Lincoln.

The three studies were excellently presented and well received by attendees. There were some excellent questions generated and ably responded to by our speakers.

If you wish to attend future meetings, please contact Victoria Hill at Victoria.Hill@lincs-chs.nhs.uk

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Influenza as a trigger of cardiovascular events and the potential for influenza vaccination to prevent them

A further study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, points to a link between influenza as a trigger of cardiovascular events, while presentations given in the past week in Toronto suggest that influenza vaccination might prevent such events.

Charlotte Warren-Gash and colleagues at the London School of  Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, have published a new study, “Influenza Infection and the Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction in England and Wales: A CALIBER Self-Controlled Case Series Study”, which provides further evidence that influenza rather than other respiratory infections, trigger heart attacks. This is accompanied by an editorial in the same issue of the journal by Niroshan Siriwardena, “Increasing Evidence that Influenza is a Trigger for Cardiovascular Disease”.

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Community and Health Research Unit at SAPC and RCGP Annual Scientific Meeting, Glasgow

Members of the Community and Health Research Unit from the University of Lincoln recently attended the combined Society of Academic Primary Care and RCGP Annual Scientific Meeting in Glasgow where they were selected to give five oral presentations on some of the team’s current research into cardiovascular disease, adult vaccination and insomnia treatment. The conference provided a wonderful opportunity for junior and senior members of the team to present work at an international conference. 

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