{"id":1408,"date":"2020-04-23T12:58:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T11:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-business-innovation\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2021-05-24T15:51:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T14:51:32","slug":"uwe-researchers-real-time-response-to-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/uwe-researchers-real-time-response-to-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"UWE Researchers\u2019 \u2018Real Time\u2019 Response to Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Guest blog: Ben Mitchell, Research Impact Team <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of their expertise in Public Health, Emergency Medical Care, Knowledge Mobilisation, Maths and Computer Modelling, and other such related areas, a number of UWE researchers have been approached or volunteered in assisting with the country\u2019s efforts to tackle Covid-19. A selection of these researchers can be found below. This is by no means an exhaustive list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UWE Researchers and the Clinical Commissioning Groups<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As part of UWE\u2019s response to Covid-19,\nresearchers from UWE have been working with the local Clinical Commissioning\nGroups (CCG) to provide evidence to support rapid decision making. The CCG are the people charged with making healthcare\ndecisions locally and they are currently grappling with things such as: what do\nwe need to do? where do we need to pool our resources? what types of treatment\nare needed? how do we need to respond? The local CCG includes healthcare providers in Bristol, North Somerset and South\nGloucestershire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Professor Nicki Walsh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Within the local CCG \u2018cells\u2019 have been established, acting as working groups purely in response to the impact that Covid-19 is having on current healthcare. Many issues have come up including: home monitoring of symptoms, impact on mental health and impact of healthcare workers\u2019 absenteeism. These issues have come up as people look to manage problems most effectively and efficiently. The Clinical Effectiveness & Research Team at the CCG, along with Professor Nicki Walsh who works across UWE, the CCG and the Applied Research Collaborative (ARC-West) are working with the local commissioners to manage these requests. These important questions are then fed to the Applied Research Collaborative West team, who co-ordinate researchers from UWE and the University of Bristol, creating a rapid response team to retrieve and synthesise evidence, or provide other advice to support evaluation, healthcare modelling, statistics and economics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emphasis of this approach is the\nrapid turnaround system.<\/strong> Most requests are processed within 48 hours from the point\nof the CCG submitting a question, to the academic providing that support and\nreporting back to the CCG. Nicki\nis the overall co-ordinator\nat UWE for all this because of her work across the different partner\norganisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In place, there is now a\ngood pool of UWE and UoB researchers ready to respond to calls for assistance\nas and when they come in. Nicki says the response from academics has been excellent\nand hugely encouraging:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis service requires academics to work in\nsuch a different way. Because it\u2019s quick and by necessity not as in depth as\ntraditional evidence reviews. Traditionally things can often progress quite\nslowly, but it\u2019s been a totally different response and things are getting\nturned around quickly\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example of the CCG requests came at the start of April, concerning the accuracy of self-monitoring heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation in patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID infection.  Other reviews that UWE researchers have been involved in include: the potential impact of COVID-19 on mental health outcomes and the implications for service solutions,<\/a> Dr Faith Martin, and how to retain infection control amongst residents with dementia and a tendency to walk with purpose<\/a>, Professor Rik Cheston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicki explained in more\ndetail how resources were best pooled: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll academics involved have suggested what\ntheir skill set is so we have a really good idea who can do what. If it\u2019s\nsomething incredibly specific like health economics for example, there may only\nbe quite a small pool of people who can contribute to that. But for things like\nevidence synthesis most academics are able respond to these requests. The\nemphasis at the minute is ensuring that we\u2019re able to provide good enough\nevidence to help with decision making in a rapid responsive way.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicki also suggested how\nthe work could benefit future collaborative research opportunities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really innovative and supportive\nto our NHS colleagues. It also potentially creates further questions that could\nbe researched later.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evidence syntheses are being regularly updated and are openly available here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Julie Mytton<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Julie Mytton is a Professor of Child Health and a member\nof HAS\u2019s Centre for Health and Clinical Research. She has specialised in public\nhealth research since 2006, with a particular interest in injuries and injury\nprevention. She is also a qualified medic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie is one of many other UWE academics working with the\nCentre for Public Health and Wellbeing who are receiving calls for work from\nthe CCG (via Nicki Walsh). She has also been in contact with University\nHospitals Bristol NHS trust, and as a medic has joined their bank staff, providing\nclinical care support as and when needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie also noted that there is a Public Health Registrar,\nAlasdair Wood, based at UWE to offer further support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Jonathan Benger<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Benger, a Professor in Emergency Care\nand a Consultant in Emergency\nMedicine at the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, has\nbeen released from his current clinical and academic duties, at the request of\nthe National Medical Director, to assist in leading the national response to\nCoronavirus in his role as interim Chief Medical Officer at NHS Digital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Jo Michell<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jo Michell is an Associate Professor in Economics. His\ncurrent research interests include macroeconomics, money and banking and income\ndistribution. As soon as the nationwide lockdown was announced, Jo co-wrote a paper<\/a>\nfor the journal Autonomy<\/em> outlining\nhow \u201cin\norder<\/em><\/strong> to cope with the increasingly severe reduction in economic activity in\nthe UK, guaranteeing the incomes of all those who are eligible for in-work or\nout-of-work benefits is rapidly becoming a necessary policy lever.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This idea was picked up by\nJohn McDonnell (the then Shadow Chancellor), and it\u2019s possible it may have played\na role in influencing Rishi Sunak\u2019s (the Chancellor) subsequent announcements. A\nfollow up letter by Jo and 97 other economists was penned to The Times<\/em>, and published on Monday 23rd<\/sup>\nMarch, \u201cinsisting that the government goes\nsignificantly further in its economic response to the Covid-19 crisis.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Matthew Jones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Jones is Associate Professor in Public Health. His research specialises in the contribution that third sector and civil society initiatives make towards promoting public health and wellbeing. Mat and other colleagues in the Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing (CPHWB) have authored a report entitled Apart but not Alone: Neighbour Support and the Covid-10 Lockdown<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carried out in Bristol and the West Country between 6th<\/sup>-12th<\/sup> April 2020, over 500 respondents reported back on neighbourhood initiatives during lockdown restrictions. A whole range have sprung up in recent weeks: social media support groups, food and medication collections, telephone calls, Zoom chats, leafleting. Interestingly, many neighbourhood groups were already in place before formal local\/national efforts had been mobilised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of those who responded,\nthe overwhelming majority felt that neighbours were supporting each other well.\nMat Jones et.al did note however contrasting answers from those based in areas\nof high social disadvantage, with an emphasis on such neighbours supporting\npeople with financial difficulties, those with disabilities or mobility issues,\nand people without easy access to outdoor spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps most noteworthy were the gender in-balance\nresponses (80% female):<\/strong> \u201can\nimportant issue is whether the practical and emotional work of supporting\nneighbours is falling disproportionately on women.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Sue Durbin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sue Durbin is Professor in Human Resource\nManagement and is a member of the Centre for Employment Studies Research in\nFBL. Sue has researched and written on gender and employment, specialising in\nwomen who work in male dominated industries. She is a\nco-founder, along with Airbus, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Aeronautical\nSociety, of the alta<\/em> <\/strong>mentoring scheme, a bespoke industry-wide mentoring\nprogramme designed for women\/by women. Mentors and mentees can connect to this mentoring\nplatform online or in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is within the context of Covid-19 that alta<\/em> can be seen to play a crucial role,\nwith existing and new members utilising its online tool. Indeed, the value of\nonline mentoring has never been so important, as Sue explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI<\/em><\/strong>t may become a time for mentors and mentees to\ntake stock of where they are in their careers and where they would like to go.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em><\/strong>Mentors\ncan therefore best be utilised via the alta platform, at a safe distance but\noffering comfort and advice to women who may be feeling especially isolated,\nvulnerable or lacking confidence if their roles have been furloughed. Or they\nmay simply want to reach out and turn the current situation into a more\npositive one.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the current pandemic, the restrictions on movement and new ways\nof working remotely have resulted in a physical disconnect from family, friends\nand colleagues. For those who already have an established mentoring\nrelationship, this can be a crucial source of support, facilitating an\nopportunity for both mentor and mentee to discuss concerns and keep connected\nduring this unprecedented time.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blog: Ben Mitchell, Research Impact Team As a result of their expertise in Public Health, Emergency Medical Care, Knowledge Mobilisation, Maths and Computer Modelling, and other such related areas, a number of UWE researchers have been approached or volunteered in assisting with the country\u2019s efforts to tackle Covid-19. A selection of these researchers can … Continue reading “UWE Researchers\u2019 \u2018Real Time\u2019 Response to Covid-19”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,4],"tags":[343,342,341,55,346,345,344,347,348,62,74,75,76],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-business-innovation","category-uwe-bristol-research","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-cv-19","tag-nhs","tag-professor-jo-michell","tag-professor-jonathan-benger","tag-professor-julie-mytton","tag-professor-matthew-jones","tag-professor-sue-durbin","tag-research","tag-uwe","tag-uwe-bristol","tag-uwe-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1979,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions\/1979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}