Tag Archives: Centre for Health Psychology

MSc Health Psychology Graduates Talk at the Stoke-on-Trent Health Literacy Group Meeting

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The Health Literacy Group (Stoke-on-Trent) hosted an event on 24th June 2016 at Keele Hall. The event was organised by Mike Oliver from the Stoke-on-Trent Council Public Health Team who is also a current MSc Health Psychology student at Staffordshire University.

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Mike Oliver facilitating discussions during the Health Literacy event

‘From Ideas to Action: Update and Moving Forward’ encouraged attendees to share ideas and good practices for promoting health literacy for people living in Stoke-on-Trent.

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Jo Protheroe, delivering her keynote speech

Jo Protheroe, Chair of Health Literacy UK, and Lesley Mountford, Director of Public Health for Stoke-on-Trent, were keynote speakers at the event. They shared health literacy statistics and examples of how health literacy can influence a person’s ability to maintain good health.

After the keynotes there were eight presenters who showcased examples of health literacy initiatives and good practice in Stoke-on-Trent. One of these presenters was our Sarah Higgins, who shared her findings on nutrition label health literacy from her research conducted whilst on the MSc Health Psychology course.

Sarah commented: ‘It was wonderful to hear about so many successful health literacy projects in Stoke-on-Trent and to share my research findings with the group. The passion and motivation to influence health literacy in the area is truly inspiring!’

After the presentations group discussions took place to discuss the examples of good practice as well as feedback on future actions to promote health literacy. For more details please follow the Stoke-on-Trent City Council Twitter account (@SoTCityCouncil) and the #HLStoke hashtag.

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 Staffordshire University – The Home of Health Psychology

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Funded Bursary for a Trainee on the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology at Staffordshire University

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The Department of Psychology & Centre for Health Psychology at Staffordshire University are delighted to announce a second funded student bursary for Staffordshire’s highly successful Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology Programme.

The bursary has been provided by Stoke City Council and is worth £16K per annum for two years. The trainee will be working within the Safe and Healthy Communities Team, and will be providing academic support into two areas of work: healthy urban planning and public mental wellbeing. The successful applicant will join a team working with Dr. Daniel Masterson, a graduate from Staffordshire University’s Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology, and a registered Health Psychologist, who is currently working at Stoke City Council as a Senior Researcher.

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Dr Rachel Povey

Dr Rachel Povey, Co-Director of the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology said: “We are very excited about this new bursary. This bursary will not only result in strengthening our existing partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and but will also provide an exciting opportunity for a health psychology trainee to gain their competences in an applied environment.”

How to Apply: Further details about the bursary and the application process are available here (click here). Please note that the closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon on Thursday 14th July 2016.

For further information about this exciting opportunity please contact Dr Rachel Povey (r.povey@staffs.ac.uk).

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

“Like being in a foreign country”: Communication Issues for People who have had Strokes

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Dr Rachel Povey

Trainee Health Psychologist Louise Clancy together with her supervisor Dr Rachel Povey (Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology) are conducting research into the experiences of stroke patients with communication difficulties. Louise, whose placement is at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, has already conducted a systematic review and an interview study to examine patients’ communication difficulties, and is now recruiting for a quantitative study which looks at the differences in people with and without communication difficulties after having a stroke.

Communication difficulties after having a stroke are very common with about a third of stroke patients having problems with communicating including speaking, reading and understanding what other people are saying (known as aphasia). The interest for this research came from Louise’s experiences of working in a stroke rehabilitation setting both in the UK and Australia.

Louise explains: “via working in stroke care settings and conducting research in this area I have observed the physical, emotional, cognitive and social challenges faced as a consequence of stroke and have become passionate about facilitating the voices of this group in being heard”.

The findings from all three studies will be used to inform future training programmes for healthcare professionals who work with people with post-stroke aphasia.

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The systematic review was completed, together with Dr Greg Norris, a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, and looked at communication interventions developed for healthcare professionals working with patients with post stroke communication difficulties. The findings showed that these interventions were beneficial to staff and patients, although time and financial constraints are common issues which can be a key barrier to attending training. The interview study aimed to explore in depth the experiences of staff-patient communication within inpatient stroke care settings. Louise interviewed patients and carers as well as healthcare professionals in order to get an overall view of the issues.  The interviews gave an excellent insight into the issues faced by all three groups, with communication issues for people with stroke being likened to “being in a foreign country”. The final piece of research is being conducted using an online questionnaire and is aiming to look at the differences between people with and without communication difficulties after having a stroke.

Louise is conducting this research with the support of Dr Lyndsey Hall-Patch (Clinical Neuropsychologist) and her Academic Supervisor Dr Rachel Povey. If you have had a stroke, and would like to be a part of this interesting study, please go to: http://bit.ly/22gYrg0 to find out more details.

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Health Psychologist, Dr Amy Burton, reports on her Change Exchange visit to Uganda

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Health Psychology in Action: Global Health

Our Health Psychologist, Dr Amy Burton, spent some time working in Africa at the beginning of April. Amy was selected by The Change Exchange to work as a Behaviour Change Consultant for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology partnership with Kitovu Hospital, Uganda. The Change Exchange is funded by The Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) in association with the Department for International Development (DFID) and The Global Health Exchange. The project places behavioural scientists into health partnerships to evaluate and seek to improve projects aimed at changing healthcare practice in low and middle income countries.

Amy blogs on her experiences:

I heard about The Change Exchange project in two ways: a recent issue of The Psychologist and a visit to Staffordshire University by Jo Hart, one of the project leads. As a recently qualified and HCPC registered Health Psychologist I was keen to put my skills into practice and was excited about the challenge of taking myself out of my comfort zone by working in a low income country (something I have never done before!). Over 45 psychologists applied for the project and I was one of the lucky few to be chosen to take part.

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The Change Exchange Team

My first encounter with the rest of the team was a group meeting on a rainy March day in Manchester. This was my first opportunity to hear about the project I would be working on and to meet my colleagues Nisha Sharma and Fiona Gillison. We were appointed to work with an RCOG project based in the Masaka region of Uganda. The Excellence in Obstetric Skills Course trains local health workers in essential skills with the aim of improving care for mothers and babies and reducing the incidence of obstetric fistula (the development of a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder often caused by prolonged obstructed labour that results in women being incontinent).

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Kitovu Health Care Complex

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The Fistula Ward

As behavioural scientists, Nisha and I were keen to understand how behaviour change techniques were being employed within the course. We therefore spent some time observing the RCOG obstetric skills course and the “train the trainer” course (to teach Ugandan health care professionals how to teach their colleagues obstetric emergency skills) and coding them for known behaviour change techniques. We had the opportunity to be ‘practice’ patients and learnt a lot about obstetric care!

We were also interested in how the Ugandan health care professionals perceived the course and what barriers they felt they would experience when putting their new knowledge and skills into practice. To explore this we conducted four focus groups with the course delegates to learn about their experiences and ideas.

Amy and Nisha with the RCOG Faculty and 'Train-the-Trainer' Graduates

Amy and Nisha with the RCOG Faculty and ‘Train-the-Trainer’ Graduates

In addition, I travelled with Nisha and the RCOG clinical lead to visit several previous delegates in their health centres and witness how the behaviours learnt on the course were being put into practice. This was an eye opening experience and gave me the opportunity to see first-hand how health centres work in Uganda.

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A Health Centre in the Masaka District

I am currently working with my colleagues at The Change Exchange to produce an interim report for the RCOG based on the data we collected during our visit. Nisha and Fiona will be returning to Kitovu in June to conduct more work with the RCOG and hopefully put some of our report recommendations into practice. I am sad to not be returning to Kitovu but I will continue to be involved with the project from the UK.

Working on this project has been an exciting, enlightening and eye opening experience and I very much hope to have more opportunities to put my health psychology and behavioural science knowledge into practice in low income countries in the future.

Interested in Health Psychology?

Come along to one of our MSc in Health Psychology Open Afternoons (Click here for details) or visit one of our Undergraduate Open Days (Details & book your place here).

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Follow the Psychology Department’s latest research news via @StaffsPsych and clicking on the #StaffsPsyRes hashtag.

New paper exploring the effectiveness of mindfulness for reducing stress in health care professionals

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Dr Amy Burton and Dr Sarah Dean (Senior Lecturers in Health Psychology) have been working in collaboration with an MSc Health Psychology graduate, Catherine Burgess, and researchers at the University of Leeds to explore the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions for reducing stress in health care professionals.

With the proposal of a move to a 7 day Mar16 AB Mindfulness Review 1NHS service hitting the headlines there are growing concerns about the impacts this may have on the quality of patient care. Many health care professionals already feel overworked, stressed and at risk of burnout with a recent survey highlighting that 81% of doctors and specialists are considering early retirement due the impact of stress on their sleep, relationships and physical health (Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, 2015). It is therefore vital that we identify successful ways to reduce stress levels in the caring professions.

Mindfulness is one approach to reducing stress and is a simple form of meditation that encourages the stressed person to focus on the present moment and acknowledge and accept their thoughts and feelings. For this research the team identified and reviewed nine published studies that have tested the value of using mindfulness interventions to reduce stress in health care professionals. The results of this review indicated that mindfulness interventions significantly reduced stress levels in this group.

Mar16 AB Mindfulness Review 2However, there were problems with the studies that indicate the need for more work in this area. Many of the interventions were very time intensive and drop out was common due to work, family and other pressures. This suggests that the mindfulness approach is not always possible within current health care environments without additional support. Furthermore, the quality of some of the reviewed studies was poor and very few explored whether the reduced stress levels reported were maintained long term. The team propose that more high quality research is needed before clear conclusions about the value of this type of intervention for reducing stress in health care professionals can be drawn.

Details of the full paper:

Burton, A. E., Burgess, C., Dean, S., Koutsopoulou, G., & Hugh-Jones, S. (2016). How effective are mindfulness-based interventions for reducing stress among healthcare professionals? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Stress and Health.

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

Follow the Psychology Department’s latest research news via @StaffsPsych and clicking on the #StaffsPsyRes hashtag.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Health Psychology staff, students and graduates present their research at the 2016 MHPN Conference

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Staffordshire University has once again illustrated why we are the #HomeOfHealthPsychology at the Midlands Health Psychology Network Conference. The event, held at Kings Hall in Stoke-on-Trent on the 25th February 2016, was attended by 3 members of staff and over 20 current students and graduates from Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology. Our Health Psychologists and trainees made a huge impact at the conference presenting in half of the talks and displaying several research posters.

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Our current MSc in Health Psychology students enjoying the MHPN Conference

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Aimee Cooke with her poster at the MHPN Conference

Contributors included: current MSc Students, such as Aimee Cooke who presented her poster on vestibular rehabilitation interventions; Professional Doctorate students, including Katrin Hulme who presented the experience of chronic cough; and graduates, including Rebecca Rushton who presented on her MSc research exploring the effectiveness of personality and the theory of planned behaviour for predicting intentions to attend for cervical screening. Rebecca found the conference a fantastic opportunity to put into practice the skills developed during her time studying for the MSc Health Psychology: “Having the opportunities to develop my presentation skills during the MSc prepared me to present at the conference. Although I was apprehensive it has provided me with invaluable experience”.

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Rebecca Rushton presenting her research in the Kings’ Hall, Stoke

A trip to the conference was built in to the MSc Health Psychology teaching programme to ensure all current students had the opportunity to attend. MSc student Suha Ahmed really enjoyed the experience: “I learnt a lot from the conference and particularly enjoyed learning about all the different areas where Health Psychologists work and conduct research. I also found it useful to watch the presentations and pick up tips to help me develop my own presentation skills and enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to other health psychologists in person and ask questions about their research. I absolutely loved it!”.

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Rebecca Lawrence-Higton presenting her research at the MHPN Conference

The MSc students also valued the opportunity to learn about research conducted by our own Professional Doctorate students. For example, Mike Oliver particularly enjoyed the presentation by current Professional Doctorate student Alison Killen: “I thought Alison’s presentation was really thought provoking.  The points about gratitude as a means to promote wellbeing was interesting, and the ‘gratitude diaries’ sounded like a practical way to take the theory into practice.  Set in the context of ageing and loneliness which are receiving more and more attention, I think the work provides an example of how health psychology could make a big difference in society”.

Some of our current and past Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology students

Some of our current and past Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology students

Our MSc Health Psychology Course Director, Dr Amy Burton, was impressed by the professionalism, confidence and health psychology knowledge shown by our current and past students: “three of my current and graduate project students presented at the conference this year and all were passionate about their research. They used skills developed throughout the MSc to network with, and answer questions from, other health psychologists and trainees from throughout the Midlands – I’m confident they all have an exciting career in Health Psychology ahead of them”

Current MSc Student presentations:

Cooke, A., & Burton, A. Vestibular Rehabilitation: Impact upon Quality of Life and Physical Daily Tasks. A Mixed Methods Approach. (Poster)

Current Professional Doctorate Student presentations:

Killen, A., & Macaskill, A. Using a gratitude intervention to enhance well-being in older adults.

Highton, F., C., O., & Clark-Carter, D. The experience of vision impairment diagnosis and its prognosis on health related quality of life.

Hulme, K., Dogan, S., Parker, S., & Deary, V. “Chronic cough, cause unknown”: A qualitative study of patient perspectives of idiopathic cough.

Sumodhee, D., & Payne, N. Healthy eating beliefs and intentions of mothers and their adult children: An intergenerational transmission perspective. (Poster)

Health Psychology MSc Graduates and Staff presentations:

Higgins, S. J., & Semper, H. The effects of nutrition label format on healthier dietary choices: A forced choice eye-tracking study. (Poster)

Hope, K., & Sherman, S. Perceptions of cervical cancer and screening among older women – A work in progress. (Poster)

Hughes, M., Burton, A., & Dempsey, R. Using photo elicitation to explore quality of life in people with paraplegia and chronic pain.

Rushton, R., & Dean, S. Predicting cervical screening intentions using personality and the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Lawrence-Highton, R., & Burton, A. Looking at things from a positive point of view: an IPA on the exercise experience of individuals with positive body image

The Midlands Health Psychology Network

The MHPN hold a one day conference in February every year which is attended by around 100 members from across the Midlands and is a forum for health psychologists to share clinical and research experiences, information, knowledge and training. Existing members include MSc students, doctorate students, chartered health psychologists based at local NHS sites and regional universities, third sector employees, senior and early career academics, health practitioners and pharmacists. To learn more about the MHPN please visit the website: www.mhpn.co.uk.

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

MSc Health Psychology Graduate wins National BPS Prize!

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We are very pleased to announce that our own MSc in Health Psychology graduate Sarah Higgins has won the UK-wide award for ‘Outstanding MSc Thesis’ awarded by the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology. The competition for this award is stiff with course leaders from across the UK nominating the best MSc thesis from their cohort of students.

Sarah Higgins‘ thesis was entitled ‘The effects of nutrition label format on healthier dietary choices: A forced choice eye-tracking study’ was nominated by her supervisor Dr Heather Semper and course leader Dr Amy Burton as she achieved the highest mark in the 2014-15 cohort, and the work was of exceptional quality. Sarah completed her MSc in Health Psychology alongside a full time job as a Psychology Technician at Staffordshire University, and achieved a Distinction overall for her Masters’ degree.

Sarah Higgins presenting a poster version of her study at the Midlands Health Psychology Network conference in Stoke-on Trent on February 25th 2016.

Sarah Higgins presenting a poster version of her study at the Midlands Health Psychology Network conference in Stoke-on Trent on February 25th 2016.

Sarah’s thesis explored whether hybrid labels, which combine text values and traffic light colours, could improve the selection of healthier dietary choices and the attention to health-related nutrients. She used an eye tracker to investigate the label formats with 48 healthy participants. The analyses showed significantly lower correct selections of healthier dietary choices for colour-only vs. hybrid label formats. The colour-only and hybrid label formats were processed faster than the text-only label formats, with reduced fixation counts and fixation dwell times. For all label formats the percentage fixation dwell time was significantly greater for fats and sugars than other nutrients.

Supervisor Dr Heather Semper said “Sarah’s thesis was exceptional, and we are very pleased that she has won the award and very proud of her. She clearly worked very hard on the project and the topic is novel and interesting. We are currently in the process of writing this study up for publication in a peer reviewed publication. She has a very bright career in health psychology ahead of her”.

The award will be presented at the Division of Health Psychology’s Annual Conference in Aberdeen in August 2016 (http://ehps2016.org/) where she has been invited to present the paper in an oral presentation.

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

 

MSc Health Psychology Open Afternoons 2016

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The Centre for Health Psychology are running a series of popular open afternoons (click here for a flyer) for Psychology Graduates interested in completing the MSc Health Psychology at Staffordshire University.

Health Psychology is the study of psychological processes and their application to health, illness and health care. Qualified Health Psychologists work in a number of health and academic settings including:

  • Patient assessment and support
  • Clinical intervention and health behaviour change
  • Student and health care professional education
  • Health related research
  • Health promotion and public health

The MSc in Health Psychology at Staffordshire was the first MSc Health Psychology programme in the UK to be accredited by the British Psychological Society and maintains an excellent reputation nationally. Our students have access to a dedicated base-room within the multi-million pound BPS_logo_176_tcm44-79214Science Centre, a thriving psychology visiting speaker programme and journal club as well as high-level teaching from academics who are active researchers and Health Psychologists.

Staffordshire University's £30 million Science Centre, home of the Psychology Department

Staffordshire University’s £30 million Science Centre, home of the Centre for Health Psychology

We think our course is great – but you don’t have to take our word for it. Our students and external examiner think it’s great too! Our MSc achieved 100% student satisfaction in the latest Post Graduate Taught Experience survey and has been highly praised by our external examiner: “The quality of teaching shines though in the student performance.  A range of teaching methods and assessments are used that will have a positive impact on the student experience, performance and transferable skills.”

If this sounds like the course for you, or if you just want to find out more about Health Psychology, then we’d love to meet you! We have Open Afternoons taking place in 2016 which are designed to provide you with a wealth of information about the MSc in Health Psychology. Learn more about the modules covered in the course, meet the registered Health Psychologists who teach on the course, get advice on the application process and have a look around our Centre for Health Psychology situated in our Science Centre.

Open Afternoon Dates:

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 (2-4pm)

Wednesday 6th July 2016 (2-4pm)

Wednesday 17th August 2016 (2-4pm)

Book your place: Please contact Dr Amy Burton, MSc Health Psychology Course Director (amy.burton@staffs.ac.uk). Note that places are limited so booking is essential.

Health Psychology is one of the latest branches of Psychology to be given professional status by the British Psychological Society (BPS). Completion of the MSc in Health Psychology is the first step towards gaining Chartered Health Psychologist status and registration with the HCPC as a Health Psychologist. For more details, see our Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology and the Division of Health Psychology web pages.

New Research into Stereotypes of Ageing funded by Staffordshire University

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Dr Amy Burton

Dr Amy Burton and Dr Sarah Dean, Senior Lecturers in Psychology, have been successful in securing funding from the Staffordshire University REF2020 research scheme to explore ageing stereotypes. Amy blogs on their research plans:

In the UK there are currently 10 million people aged 65 and above and it is predicted that this will reach 19 million by 2050 (Cracknell, 2010). Average life expectancy has increased steadily but healthy life expectancy has not matched this, meaning additional demands are being placed on services such as the NHS (Cracknell, 2010). It is recognised both within academic literature (e.g. Reed, Stanley, & Clarke, 2004) and in the work of charities (e.g. Age UK, 2013) that research is crucial to understanding the experiences of older adults in order to break down the barriers preventing them from active participation in society and healthy ageing. Such research will have a substantial impact on the health and well-being of older adults.

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Dr Sarah Dean

Dr Burton’s research into barriers and facilitators to physical activity in older people with sight loss highlighted an important psychological concept in need of further exploration (Burton, Clancy, & Cowap, n.d. Under Review). During focus groups participants frequently used examples of negative self-directed stereotypes to justify reduced participation in physical activity (e.g. ‘Young adults, rather than 70 or 80 year olds […] they are the ones that really need all of the exercise and can actually do it’). Stereotype Embodiment Theory proposes that age stereotypes can be internalised by individuals across the lifespan (Levy, 2009). Such self-directed stereotypes have been implicated in reductions in cognitive functioning and physical health (Levy, 2003).  Furthermore, evidence suggests that attributing illness and functional decline to old age and holding the belief that ‘to be old is to be ill’ is associated with negative health outcomes and reductions in health maintenance behaviours (Beyer, Wolff, Warner, Schüz, & Wurm, 2015; Stewart, Chipperfield, Perry, & Weiner, 2012).

Dr Burton and Dr Dean will be using the REF2020 funding to further explore and define the ageing stereotypes held by people living in the UK and how self-directed stereotypes impact on health and wellbeing outcomes for older people.

Drs Burton and Dean are members of Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology, a centre of excellence for teaching and research in health psychology, and are course leaders for Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

 

Me-Therapy: A new online mindfulness-based resource for people dealing with cancer

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Dr Rachel Povey

Trainee Health Psychologist Szilvia Vas together with her supervisor Dr Rachel Povey, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at Staffordshire University and member of the Centre for Health Psychology, are recruiting participants to trial their new mindfulness-based online resource “Me-Therapy”.

Me-therapy was originally conceptualized by Miss Vas and developed together with Dr Povey as a resource for improving body image and managing physical changes associated with cancer. The trial is being conducted jointly with CancerCare US, and is free for anyone who would like to take part.

“Participating in this online program is a unique opportunity for anyone facing cancer, as it gives men and women the chance to work through some of the body-image changes that they might be struggling with during or after treatment,” says CancerCare Social Work Internship Programme Director, Maria Chi. “The program provides tools to help people become more mindful of the present moment and how their thinking patterns directly affect what they’re feeling.”

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www.me-therapy.org

Me-therapy was inspired through Miss Vas’ work at the Douglas MacMillan Hospice in Stoke-on-Trent. The programme includes video clips, audio resources and mindfulness exercises to teach participants how to challenge unhelpful thoughts and behaviours that characterize negative body image. Participants are also provided with direct email support as they are provided with trained “body image buddies” to better address users’ unique needs.

Participants must be 18 years of age or older. To register, visit www.Me-therapy.org

For more details of this trial, please visit the Cancer Research UK website.

Staffordshire University is home to the Centre for Health Psychology, a centre of excellence for teaching and research in health psychology. For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages: