The Evidence Network

Evidence based - medicine, health care, nursing - and other variations abound.

Having requested a subscription regularly into my inbox pops the The Evidence Network's newsletter c/o Alan Gomersall, at the Centre for Policy & Practice, King’s College London.

This issue - includes a number of recent reports from the Social Policy & Practice database which appear to be relevant to EBPP (evidence-based policy and practice), as well as the usual coverage of new services, forthcoming conferences and courses etc.

Associates Network

The Associates Network fosters contact between members of a diverse and growing EBPP community. Membership is free, but you must be an active researcher or practitioner with a particular interest in evidence-based policy and practice issues. Benefits include:

• access to the Associates database of the activities, interests and contact details of over 1,350 members of the Network worldwide
• a regular email newsletter, to which you can contribute
• an opt-in email discussion group
• a discounted subscription to the peer reviewed journal Evidence & Policy.

I've tried to capture some key resources on the SCIENCES links page - must make sure this network is there.

Call for Proposals to Phase 3 Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW)

Last month I posted the advanced notice about this call for proposals, which is now fully released and has been publicised on the SPARC / KT-EQUAL network:

Dear All (but especially researchers who are desperate to secure research funding)

The Call for Proposals to Phase 3 of the cross-research council multi-health agency Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW) initiative was released today.

Details can be found at:

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Fundingopportunities/Calls/LLHWPhase3/MRC006680

This is a very significant opportunity, well worth close scrutiny and consideration and, hopefully, subsequent action.

If you have any uncertainties about the programme or its requirements then I am sure that the representatives of the research councils will be very pleased for you to make contact with them.

Importantly this is a call for multidisciplinary research, a requirement which must be wholeheartedly embraced for any proposal to stand a chance of being eligible for consideration.

It's time for action!!

Best wishes

Peter Lansley
Professor Peter Lansley, BSc, MSc, PhD, MCIOB, FCOT
Director, KT-EQUAL – Knowledge Transfer for Extending Quality Life
School of Construction Management and Engineering, URS Building,
University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading, RG6 6AW, UK
p.r.lansley at reading.ac.uk
http://www.sparc.ac.uk

A call for applications for the 3rd phase of Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW)

Advanced Notice

A call for applications for the third phase of Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW) will be announced in early May 2010.

Lifelong Health and Wellbeing is a major cross-council initiative involving AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC and MRC in partnership with the UK health departments. LLHW supports multi-disciplinary research addressing factors across the life course that influence healthy ageing and wellbeing in later life.

The initiative aims to lead to improvements in health and quality of life in later life, inform policy and practice and increase capacity building in ageing related research.

Phase 3 will invite high-quality innovative multidisciplinary applications that focus on major ageing-related challenges faced by the UK in the 21^st century. Proposals will be welcome from multidisciplinary teams in the areas of, but not restricted to the following:

• Mental Health and Wellbeing including quality of life, preserving cognitive function and exploiting mental capital
• Resilience for successful ageing: from cell to society including life course influences, markers for ageing and processes of ageing
• Age-related conditions, including frailty and interventions to promote independence in later life.

Structure of the call
Funds will be available through two modes of support:

LLHW Research Grants - up to £10m will be available for multi-disciplinary research awards from £300k up to £2.5m over three to five years.

LLHW Pilot Studies - a total of £2.5m to fund up to 10 pilot or feasibility studies for a maximum of two years, aimed at informing the development of future cross-disciplinary research proposals.

Selection Criteria
Successful proposals will be of strategic importance, be truly multi-disciplinary, encompassing the remits of more than one Research Council, and have clearly articulated and robust methodology and design.

Further information
Updates and further information about phase 3 can be found on the website:
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/LLHW or by emailing llhw AT headoffice.mrc.ac.uk

My source:
Charlotte Jones
NDA Programme Secretary
The University of Sheffield
Department of Sociological Studies
Elmfield, Northumberland Road
Sheffield, S10 2TU, UK

http://www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk

KT-EQUAL workshop: Who is the (research) User?

Dear Colleagues

Just a reminder that the next KT-EQUAL workshop will be on the subject of Who is the User?

This will be held on 26th January at Loughborough University. As with all KT-EQUAL events there is no charge for attendance.

The workshop will be of interest to a wide range of professionals and policy makers, health and social care practitioners, employers, charitable and government bodies concerned with the needs of older and disabled people, all those involved in the provision of services and, of course, researchers and academics from engineering, biological, social science, medical and health care disciplines. Older people, who have the biggest stake in ageing research, are especially welcome.

To register please go to www.sparc.ac.uk and follow the links.

Specific enquiries should be made to:

Heather Williams
Project Officer (KT-EQUAL)
School for Health, University of Bath
Email: H.Williams@bath.ac.uk
Kind regards
Peter Lansley

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Professor Peter Lansley, BSc, MSc, PhD, MCIOB, FCOT
Director, KT-EQUAL – Knowledge Transfer for Extending Quality Life
School of Construction Management and Engineering, URS Building,
University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading, RG6 6AW, UK
tel: +44 (0) 118 378 8202 fax: +44 (0) 118 931 3856
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Introducing Visual (Research) Methods: Review Paper

ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Review Paper
Introducing Visual Methods (65 pages)
Jon Prosser, University of Leeds, UK
Andrew Loxley, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Eire
October 2008
National Centre for Research Methods
NCRM Review Papers

Abstract

Over the last two decades there has been a global surge in interest in visual research methods. Word and number-based researchers are coming to realise there is considerable potential for gaining knowledge if image-based methodologies are adopted. This paper provides and overview of approaches and perspectives broken down into five easily digested sections to be consumed wholly or in part: early visual research; researcher created data; respondent created data; research design; and visual ethics. The paper will be of particular interest to qualitative social scientists new to visual methods or those with little experience of their application. A wide range of carefully selected references and resources are included to provide the reader with further in-depth insights.

My source: IVSA Digest - 17 Oct 2008 to 18 Oct 2008 (#2008-153)