"Care and Ageing": 2nd annual CIRCLE international seminar

2nd Annual CIRCLE International Seminar

Caring & Ageing: international perspectives on family and workplace challenges

Register here: 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/care-ageing-2nd-annual-circle-international-seminar-tickets-34684920531?ref=enivte001&invite=MTIwNTI5ODUvY2F0Y2hzdGFmZkBsaXN0cy5zaGVmZmllbGQuYWMudWsvMA%3D%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=invitemodernv2&utm_term=eventimage&ref=enivte001

Sheffield Occupational Therapy Clinical Academic (SOTCA) network meeting

A meeting of the Sheffield Occupational Therapy Clinical Academic (SOTCA) network was held on 26^th January 2017. The network was started by Laura Di Bona and aims to provide peer support, form collaborations and consider service developments.

Occupational therapists based in Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Rotherham Housing Services, University of Sheffield, and Sheffield Hallam University attended. All were interested in or to pursue research, and ways to combine research with clinical practice. There was a great variety of clinical and research experience in the room with people at different stages of their careers. Some had done research MSc modules, some MSCs, some were studying for PhDs, and some had submitted applications to the NIHR clinical academic pathway doctoral fellowship programme. Sam Armitage (Occupational Therapist, Sheffield Children’s Hospital), Laura Di Bona (University of Sheffield & Sheffield Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust) and Professor Gail Mountain (Professor, University of Bradford) all gave informal presentations about their research journeys. It seemed that carving out a clinical academic career required resilience, commitment and flexibility, and that there wasn’t one clear, established ‘pathway’ to follow, the presenters had all created and responded to opportunities.  Everyone  agreed to meet again, perhaps with presentations  - possibly related to Occupational Therapy and assistive technology research, or the MSc in Clinical Research – to be confirmed.  

Any occupational therapists, or occupational therapy students interested in doing  research, service evaluation/development are welcome! You can come for general interest and/or use the group for support, for example project ideas, funding applications, conference or publication submissions...

The next meeting is planned for  Thursday 27^th April 5-7pm at the Assessment and Rehab Centre  (ARC) in Nether Edge although this will be confirmed nearer the time.

SOTCA has a new website at: http://www.catch.org.uk/current-project/sotca/ . If you are interested, please log on to it and register your details with our new Mailchimp account so you can be sure to hear about future work of the group. Also, please follow us on twitter 

Written by Becky Field

AAATE2017 - Call for Papers open until 10.02.17

The Call for Papers for the AAATE2017 Conference is open until 10.02.2017 17.00 CET.

Please click here to see our new AAATE2017 flyer.

We invite you to submit a full or short paper to the Conference on ANY topic relevant to assistive or enabling technology as well as services that make use of such technologies.

Share your new knowledge or call for action in the domains of learning, communication, mobility, self-care, domestic life, relationships, employment and civic life.

Please submit your paper on ANY AT topic or one related to any of our 35 Special Thematic Sessions via the Conference Management Tool.

AAATE contributors:

Please share this with your networks and print the poster for your display boards. 

Technology, who cares?! Inaugural Lecture by Professor Luc de Witte

Join us at 5.15pm on Friday 10th March for Professor Luc de Witte’s Inaugural Lecture entitled “Technology, who cares?!”

In his talk, Professor Luc de Witte will discuss how technology can play a role in our search for new models of care and support. He will present examples of research that on the one hand show the potential but in the meantime illustrate the complexity of introducing technology in everyday care practice.

Abstract:

One of the most challenging trends in today’s healthcare in western societies is the increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic health conditions, paired to a decrease in the number of available healthcare professionals and a relative decrease of available financial means. This trend creates an enormous pressure on our healthcare systems and only few people will disagree with the statement that the sustainability of these systems is at stake. There is a clear need for new models of care and support for people with chronic conditions, including frail older people. Also, in developing low-and middle-income countries, the need for innovative concepts of care and support is increasing, since these countries have to develop healthcare systems that are sustainable and able to deliver cost-effective care for fast growing numbers of people.

Technology can and will play a major role in future health and care, both in western societies and internationally. There has never before been a time in which technology has developed as fast as it does today and in which so much knowledge was available. The potential to develop powerful answers to the challenges in health and care we face is therefore obvious. But, sparking and fostering this potential to the fullest is far from easy. Many new technologies have only lead to increased costs of care instead of more cost-effective sustainable models.

Date and venue:

Friday 10 March 2017

From 5.15 pm – 6.30 pm, followed by drinks reception

Lecture Theatre 1, The Diamond, University of Sheffield, S3 7RD

Professor Luc de Witte’s talk will be introduced by Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health.

About Professor Luc de Witte:

Professor Luc de Witte is trained as a medical doctor, but has never practiced medicine. He has always worked on practice oriented research in the field of rehabilitation and long term care, including elderly care, care for people with mental or physical disabilities and care for people with chronic diseases. Before moving to Sheffield in October 2016 he was Professor of Technology in Care at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and Director of an Innovation Centre (EIZT: www.eizt.eu) connecting more than 35 partners in healthcare, industry and academia.

Professor Luc de Witte has recently been appointed within ScHARR to work in the Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare (CATCH). CATCH has as its mission to contribute to the sustainability of long-term healthcare in the UK and internationally through:

●      supporting the development of assistive and care technologies;

●      researching their added value and effectiveness;

●      supporting organisations in healthcare practice with the implementation of these technologies and care models;

●      supporting companies with the development and evaluation of new assistive and care technologies; and

●      training of professionals and researchers in this field and dissemination knowledge.

Booking is required for this lecture. The booking system will open on Monday 13th February 2017 here. If you would like to express your interest in attending this event and receive a reminder when registration opens, please contact Kathryn Rooney on k.rooney@sheffield.ac.uk or 0114 22 25453.

First Networking Lunch of 2017 kicks off with a bang!

The CATCH community gathered this week for the first Networking Lunch of 2017.

More than 30 academics, researchers, Professional Services staff, partners and visitors attended the lunch, held in the iconic University building, Firth Court.

We were delighted to be joined by Professor Mike Trenell with his presentation: Digital health and diabetes - hype or hope? Mike is a Professor of Metabolism and Lifestyle Medicine at Newcastle University. His charismatic talk resonated with the network as members of the audience eagerly asked questions on his research and the NIHR Innovation Observatory of which he’s Director.

Simon Butler, CATCH Centre Manager also excitedly shared the upcoming events that shouldn’t be missed in 2017. From Luc de Witte’s Inaugural Lecture and CATCH showcase on 10th - 11th March as part of the Sheffield Festival of Science and Engineering to the AAATE2017 in September, where the Call for Papers is open until 10th February 2017.

The next Networking Lunch will be held on Tuesday 14th March 2017 in conjunction with the ScHARR seminar series. In the Pemberton Lecture Theatre B, Regent Court, the lunch will take place at the earlier time of 12.00 - 14.00. Our guest speaker, Matthew Machin, mHealth Applications Manager in the Centre for Health Informatics at the University of Manchester will speak around “Improving Health in Long-term Conditions with Smartphone Apps and Wearable Devices.”

Please contact Laura Murray if you would like to attend (l.murray@sheffield.ac.uk)