Alumni News Health and Wellbeing Edition 2022 by University of Suffolk

ALUMNI NEWS Health and Wellbeing Edition 2022

Contents

ONTENT

Contents

Forward

Interview with Dr Paul Driscoll-Evans

Hear from the team

Institute of Health and Wellbeing

The Integrated Care Academy

CPD and postgraduate study

Get involved, stay connected

Health and Wellbeing — an important area of distinctiveness for the University of Suffolk As our University grows and develops, our role as a provider of the future workforce in health and social care alongside the upskilling of the current workforce, grows with it. Health courses have been a core part of the University of Suffolk’s portfolio since our inception and many of you reading this will be alumni from one of those courses. We have recently been much more strategic in our intent to see health and wellbeing in its broadest sense as an area of distinctiveness for the University. Our 2020– 2030 strategy and vision states that ‘we will be recognised for the major contribution we make to the health and wellbeing of the people in our region and acknowledged for lasting social and sustainable economic transformation’. Given the last two years of the COVID pandemic, the focus on the health and wellbeing of our population has increased and here at the University we want to grow the part that we play to improve population health for all. This edition gives you some insights into how our course portfolio is developing enabling us to increase opportunities for future students; you will see how our facilities are being transformed to ensure that our students study in world-leading, learning and teaching simulation suites; and you will hear more about our partnerships with the Integrated Care System, with Suffolk Mind, with our local hospices and other healthcare partners, as we develop our new Integrated Care Academy set up to support education, research, innovation, leadership

Forward

FORWARD and workforce development in areas such as mental health, palliative and end-of-life care, and living well into old age. Some of these partners will also be moving to be based on our campus and will be providing services such as counselling and psychotherapy to our community as well as providing placement opportunities to our students. This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to our community in a tangible and meaningful way. Furthermore, our investment in the wider health and wellbeing research agenda, including public health and digital health, continues to place us at the cutting edge of initiatives supporting better population health and ensures our impact is longlasting and sustainable. We have appointed three new professors to lead our research and have a number of new visiting professors working with us from the wider health and social care sector who all share our goals and passion for improving the health of our population. I hope that you enjoy reading this issue and are proud of how your university continues to support health and wellbeing for all. Professor Helen Langton Vice-Chancellor and CEO

INTERVIEW WITH DR PAUL DRISCOLL-EVANS Dr Paul Driscoll-Evans, Dean of Health and Sports Sciences

clinical skills facilities in the country; I am particularly excited about launching student-led clinical services in the future through our Living Well Centre and the newly installed diagnostic radiography imaging suite. As part of the launch of the new facilities we have revised our Learning Beyond Registration (LBR) provision so we will be delivering more CPD opportunities than ever in the coming year and I welcome alumni returning to the University of Suffolk to further develop their skills. For more details about our new LBR provision, view our Health, Wellbeing and Integrated Care brochure.

Interview with Dr Paul Driscoll-Evans

Hello Paul, tell us about you and your role at the University of Suffolk Hello! I have worked for the University since 2008, having previously worked in the NHS as an HIV-specialist nurse; I have really enjoyed my time here in Suffolk, it has been a great experience to work at the University as it has grown and gained independence. In my current role as Dean I have operational and strategic responsibility for the School of Health and Sports Sciences, growing our provision and impact on the local community and ensuring our students have an excellent experience while studying with us.

How will the new facilities change how both our undergrad and postgrad students study? The new Health and Wellbeing Quarter will transform the student experience of our undergraduates, with the best equipped

How do you think this impacts on our alumni community and how would you like our alumni to be involved? As our health provision grows, so do the opportunities for our alumni to become more involved in the University. In addition to credit and non-credit rated LBR courses we also have a thriving service user and carer forum which is always looking for new members, and we would welcome alumni involvement in this group. In addition, we always welcome past students to return and speak to our current students and act as professional role models/mentors; if any alumni are interested, please do email me directly on p.driscoll@uos.ac.uk. I would love to hear from you.

Dr Ruth M Strudwick, Associate Professor

Hear from the team

HEAR FROM THE TEAM integrated care environment when they qualify, and I also supervise four PhD students. As professional lead for Radiography here I have overseen expansion in the course

I am Ruth Strudwick and I am an Associate Professor and the Professional Head for Radiography and Interprofessional Learning in the School of Health and Sports Sciences at the University of Suffolk. I am a Diagnostic Radiographer by background, I have been a lecturer since 2003, and before that worked as Clinical Lecturer at the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and as a Diagnostic Radiographer at the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. I teach on several courses at the University and I am the course leader for the Interprofessional Learning (IPL) programme which includes all Pre-Registration Health and Social Care students. I’m currently developing an integrated care core curriculum which will be delivered to all health and social work students at the University, equipping them to work in an

provision, with an increase in numbers of pre-registration students to 80 on the BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography course and 20 on the BSc (Hons) Therapeutic Radiography course. A pre-registration masters Diagnostic Radiography programme is currently under development with the first intake of 20 students planned for January 2024. In terms of postgraduate courses, there are now five Post Graduate Certificate programmes in Specialist Diagnostic Radiography subjects and the MSc Professional Practice: Advanced Radiography Practice has recently been approved. It is exciting to see the development of the Health and Wellbeing Quarter, particularly for Radiography, as we will have a fully functioning X-ray suite, picture archiving communications system (PACS) and a virtual environment for radiotherapy (VERT) which can be used for teaching and research. It is also pleasing to see our radiography postgraduate provision growing in response to national and local needs.

Dr Sam Chenery Morris, Associate Dean

Hello, my name is Sam Chenery-Morris. This salutation, hello my name is, is a simple introduction that all health care staff should use to initiate conversations with their clients, service users or patients. It sets the tone to promote positive communication and compassionate, person-centred healthcare. It is also important for students to know who is teaching them and for staff to role model effective behaviours. From this preamble, you will guess that my background is in healthcare. I am a nurse and midwife. I joined the University in 2006 as a lecturer in Midwifery and have thrived here. I have been supported to complete a Masters and PhD and I am currently the Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching,

Hear from the team

and Student Experience in the School of Health and Sports Sciences. My career in education has now been longer than in clinical practice. However, I could not do my current role without knowledge and experience of practice because most of our courses combine theory and clinical placements. Our Nursing, Midwifery and other Health and Sports courses rely on communication with clients. Students develop their communication skills in our new clinical simulation suites. They practice skills, ask questions, learn from and with one another in our safe environment before going into

practice. As they progress in their studies, their knowledge and skills increase in content and complexity. On completion of their course most of our students work in graduate roles in local NHS Trusts as nurses, midwives, radiographers, paramedics and more. Their care makes a real difference to the people of Suffolk and beyond. Experienced health alumni support our new students in clinical practice too. As the University has grown, we have been able to offer more postgraduate courses. This has meant some former students are able to join us as academics with the knowledge, experience, and qualifications to teach the next generation of graduates. Embodying the seemingly ‘little things’ such as welcoming salutations, effective communication and sharing the relevance of knowledge to practice. We are a talented team and welcome any alumni who may be thinking about where their career might lead them. Are you interested in postgraduate study, or would you like to share your knowledge as a lecturer? If so, please get in contact.

Hello, I am Dr Gavin Devereux, and I am an Exercise Physiologist in the School of Health and Sports Sciences. I am the Head of Sport and Performance, which includes degrees in the subject areas of sport and exercise sciences, physiotherapy, and public health. I teach across a number of degrees, publish research in health, sport and exercise sciences, and have provided consultancy expertise in those same disciplines, including work in Formula 1 motor racing.

I am looking forward to teaching our students in the new Health and Wellbeing Building, as it will provide new practical learning opportunities. I am particularly looking forward to welcoming the first ever intake of BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy students, as we plan to create some great shared learning experiences with those studying sport science and other courses. The new building and its facilities will also provide better opportunities to work with those that would benefit from being more physically active, through to competitive sport teams in our region. This should provide new opportunities for our students to gain fantastic work experience on campus. We already have research active academic staff and PhD students that are recognised as leading experts in their field of work; we aim to cement our status as a centre of expertise for health, exercise and sport sciences, for the benefit of our students and the broader community.

Hear from the team

Dr Gavin Devereux, Associate Dean

INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND WELLBEING Professor Valerie Gladwell, Director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing

research is timely, relevant, useful and enhances the evidence that can lead to changes in practice to create innovation and solutions within Health and Wellbeing. The Institute of Health and Wellbeing officially launched on the 30 March 2022. We have had great success attracting funding for a range of projects including the evaluation of the North-East Essex Diabetes Service, exploring Continuity of Care for Childbirth, and developing a Sleep Satisfaction Scale.

Institute of Health and Wellbeing

I am Professor Valerie Gladwell, and in September 2021 I took up the post of Director of the Institute for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Suffolk. I work alongside Professor Colin R. Martin who is the Clinical Director, who works closely with our NHS partners. This is a pan University Institute whose mission is to provide a supportive, multidisciplinary environment to bring together diverse partnerships to deliver applied research, knowledge exchange and innovation in health and wellbeing across the human lifespan. Our aim is to increase Health and Wellbeing research within the University, Suffolk and beyond. It is very important to us that this

I am extremely passionate about enhancing lifelong health, helping people to achieve, thrive and flourish by utilising the five ways to wellbeing: be active, take notice, give, connect and learn. My particular focus is the use of physical activity, whether by deliberate activity or by stealth. I am keen to explore how to decrease physical inactivity throughout the community, by enhancing and developing assets in the community and by creating active environments both indoors and out, with a special interest in how nature can help increase wellbeing and physical activity. I co-led the evaluation team for a local delivery pilot in Essex which was a whole system approach to tackling physical inactivity funded by Sport England. My research has investigated how the environment shapes physical activity, particularly the natural environment (“Green Exercise”). The workspace is another

Institute of Health and Wellbeing

important environment on which my research has focused. My work has explored the use of physical activity to break up sedentary time with a particular focus on balance and strength (the “forgotten” guidelines), as well as using nature within the working day to reduce stress and potentially improve sleep. I believe that a pragmatic whole system approach is needed for healthy ageing and to reduce non-communicable disease. As a true team player, I am keen to collaborate and enjoy developing and working with multidisciplinary stakeholders and partnerships. Our current partners include Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Mind, Active Suffolk, BT, Essex County Council, Suffolk GP Federation, ESNEFT, North-East Essex CCG, West Suffolk CCG, Healthwatch, SNEEICS, and Centre for Sustainable Health. We are excited to be moving into the new Health and Wellbeing Quarter, part of the development at our Waterfront campus, where we will be housed alongside the Integrated Care Academy. For more information, visit uos.ac.uk/IHWB or contact us on research@uos.ac.uk

THE INTEG CARE ACA Professor Chantal Ski, Director of the Integrated Care Academy I’m Professor Chantal Ski and I am delighted to introduce the Integrated Care Academy (ICA) to our alumni community.

The Integrated Care Academy

On 26 June, the ICA celebrated it’s one year milestone! The ICA has initiated, designed, delivered and evaluated programmes to bridge the gaps between health and social care. We achieved this by working closely with, and bringing together, the resources and skillsets of our four founding partners: University of Suffolk, Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, Suffolk County Council and Healthwatch Suffolk and others from the voluntary and community sector, such as Suffolk MIND and local hospices.

Starting locally, our programmes that advocate more integrated approaches between health and social care have extended regionally, nationally and internationally. These offerings include an MBA specialising in integrated care, and MA in Professional Practice in integrated care, professional leadership courses designed to foster a specialist-skilled integrated care workforce that have been tailored to those working in our integrated care systems. Without a doubt our workforce is our greatest asset. At the ICA we aim to boost local talent through our core programme of workforce transformation and development. A couple of our newest endeavours are an integrated care apprenticeship, and a workforce planning and transformation development programme. This will include a Workforce Development Hub to redress

The Integrated Care Academy

GRATED ADEMY the significant challenge of workforce shortages by updating outdated staffing models that fail to take account of new technologies and integrated care. As we solidly work toward recovery, the ICA has an extensive programme of research that includes a palliative care and end-of-life consortium of 15 partners across the region working toward identifying and solving some the most challenging endof-life issues. With no standard treatment for long COVID, we are aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of patients diagnosed with long COVID in a randomised clinical trial evaluating an Optimal Health Programme that offers person-centred education and support.

Driven by shared learning and understanding, co-production leads the way across all our programmes. At the ICA we don’t just talk and talk, our newly developed ICA Co-production Hub listens to the voices of seldom heard groups and ensures its projects, programmes, courses and research are responsive to community needs, and aim to achieve maximum impact locally, across the region and beyond. At the ICA we offer short courses in ‘integrated care co-production’ tailored specifically to those working in integrated care systems. This is just the beginning of new, smarter ways of joined-up thinking driven by consumers, citizens and communities. Get in touch with us if you would like to find out more on ICA@uos.ac.uk.

CPD AND POSTGRADUTE STUDY The School of Health and Sports Sciences offers a range of high quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for individuals and organisations working within the Health and Care sector. All our courses are practicebased and impact-driven in order to support high quality teaching and learning, providing opportunities to improve health and care delivery in the region and beyond. Our CPD portfolio is continually updated to respond quickly to national and local initiatives and has been designed to be delivered in a flexible way with a range of delivery patterns. For full details on CPD in Health, Wellbeing and Integrated Care, visit uos.ac.uk/HWIC

Five postgraduate certificate programmes in specialist diagnostic radiography subjects

CPD and postgraduate study

Postgraduate Certificate in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Postgraduate Certificate in Paediatric Imaging Postgraduate Certificate in Computed Tomography Postgraduate Certificate in Radiographic Reporting of the Chest and Abdomen Postgraduate Certificate Advanced Practice and Reporting in Computed Tomography Colonography

Postgraduate Loyalty Scheme All graduates of the University of Suffolk (including UCS) are entitled to a loyalty reduction on selected postgraduate course fees. The Alumni Postgraduate Loyalty Scheme has been developed to support and encourage alumni students to progress to full or part-time postgraduate taught or research programmes at the University, including PhD study. The University of Suffolk is proud to offer a 25% reduction on postgraduate course fees for Academic Year 2022/23. For more information, visit uos.ac.uk/alumniloyaltyscheme

MA Professional Practice: Integrated Care The MA Professional Practice: Integrated Care programme is a bespoke postgraduate degree, aimed at supporting the evelopment of inspirational leaders within the integrated care system. The course is an opportunity to build on existing knowledge of health and care that will enhance your daily professional practice as a leader of integrated services. It will also enable you to embed academically informed, evidence-based performance in the workplace — changing attitudes and perceptions and encouraging new approaches that support health and care delivery.

CPD and postgraduate study

Spotlight course

Contemporary practice denotes a distinctive shift towards integrated care solutions meeting the needs of people, stakeholders and governance requirements. This course is designed to provide learning which promotes inclusive, values based and sustainable care delivery, in a political and evidenced-based context. This Masters programme is designed to enable students to contextualise, lead and transform integrated services to enhance quality outcomes for people, professionals and organisations. Students will develop enhanced leadership, coaching skills and critical understanding of public health and care complexities, in both a regional and national context. Working together with other students will provide an opportunity to generate understanding and explore professional experiences to enrich learning and insights from the health and care arena. This course will be delivered via a blended approach to offer support and flexibility to complete the programme. Find out more about the course

GET INVOLVED, STAY CONNECTED The Alumni Blog

Alumni Stories

The Alumni Blog is an opportunity for our graduates to share what they have learned with our current students. Contributing to the Life At Suffolk Blog, our Alumni bloggers produce posts which help students to navigate uncertainty, find their potential and achieve their goals as we ask our Alumni “What would you have liked to

We regularly catch up with our graduates to find out what you have been up to since graduating and where you are now. The Amazing Alumni Stories aim to celebrate your success, inspire future graduates and encourage current students. Contact alumni@uos.ac.uk if you are interested in getting involved.

Get involved, stay connected

have been told when you were a student?” Contact alumni@uos.ac.uk if you are interested in getting involved.

Social media We now have 4 new linkedIn pages for our Alumni. Suffolk Business Grads Health and Sports Science Grads Engineering, Arts, Sciences and Technology Grads Social Sciences and Humanities Grads

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