Exciting opportunity with iHV – Research Associate – BabyBreathe

Exciting and unique development opportunity with the Institute

Research Associate – Based in North East England

Please note: short closing date due to start date of the study

We are seeking an ambitious, enthusiastic Research Associate, with experience in public health research to support the delivery of the BabyBreathe NIHR Trial in the Newcastle site, to join the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) for fixed-term period of thirty-nine months. The post is available from October, following successful appointment. The research is grant funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) working within the North East of England.

The Research Associate will be supporting a randomised trial of a postpartum relapse prevention intervention developed through an early phase intervention development study. The post holder will work as part of a team alongside Vicky Gilroy as the Principle Investigator for the Newcastle site from the iHV, supported by a team of experts in smoking cessation and working with the trial manager as part of the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit.

The individual would need to be dynamic, proactive, flexible and have the ability to work independently. They will be required to contribute to all elements of the research, this will include: helping to conduct literature reviews and evidence syntheses; supporting the development of study protocols and materials (e.g. interview topic guides and questionnaires); managing applications for ethical approvals; helping to deliver the training intervention; conducting data collection and analysis; contributing to research write up. Given the mixed-methods nature of the planned research, this post would suit someone with strong and demonstrable qualitative and quantitative research skills.

Key Requirements

Applicants should have a relevant master’s in health or social science, and it is desirable to have completed or near completed a PhD in Health Sciences/Psychology/Public Health/related discipline.

The successful candidate must have experience of collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data. Excellent interpersonal skills, willingness and ability to work collaboratively and effectively as part of a team remotely and in person, in-depth knowledge of research design and methods relevant to applied health research, the potential to publish in high quality journals and excellent oral and written communication skills are essential.

This role does not meet the eligibility requirements for a tier 2 certificate of sponsorship under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, the iHV will not be able to sponsor individuals who require right to work in the UK to carry out this role.

For further details, job description and how to apply

Applications close: anticipated to be midnight 23 September, but applications may close early due to the urgency in commencing this work. Candidates are recommended to apply as soon as possible.

Interviews: 2 October between 11:00 and 14:00 please keep that day clear in your diary.

For further information or an informal conversation about this post please contact Vicky Gilroy [email protected]

Exciting opportunity with iHV – Research Associate

Exciting and unique opportunity with the Institute of Health Visiting

Research Associate

Based in Kent, Essex or London

Applications are invited for a Research Associate at the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) for a fixed term period of ten months. The post is available from early March, following successful appointment. The research is funded by Health Education England (HEE) working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Applications are invited from highly motivated researchers with an interest in public health, doctor-patient communication, behaviour change, implementation science and/or health services research to join the iHV as a research associate. The post holder will join the research team to work on the, “Improving the delivery of different news study 2”. This study follows the feasibility study which was completed in 2019. It is an applied research study involving both families and Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) to establish best practices for delivering different news to families. “Different news” describes the process of imparting information relating to an unborn child or a newborn having a condition associated with a learning disability. This mixed-methods study aims to expand on the findings of the feasibility study and to develop, deliver and evaluate a training intervention to improve the process of delivering different news to families. The post holder, who will have a doctorate relevant to requirements of the post, will be based in Kent or Essex and will be prepared to travel within their post.

For further details, job description and how to apply

Applications close: 9.00 am on Thursday 20 February 2020

Interviews: Monday 2 March 2020

Start date: ideally early March 2020

iHV delighted to support IMHAW 2019

iHV is delighted to support Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 (#IMHAW19) organised by the Association for Infant Mental health UK (AIMH).

IMHAW19 runs from Monday 10 June to Friday 14 June – and the topic this year is “Difficult Beginnings”. Each day of the week has themes and AIMH will be releasing relevant articles each day throughout the week to include:

Day 1: Difficult Beginnings: Pregnancy
- Finding out your baby has a genetic disorder. How that impacts Parental Foetal Attachment in pregnancy and beyond.
Day 2: Difficult Beginnings: Birth
- How a traumatic or difficult birth impacts the baby and parent-infant relationship.
Day 3: Difficult Beginnings: After Birth
- How the baby and parent-infant relationship is impacted by a stay in SCBU/NICU.
Day 4: Difficult Beginning: First Few Months
- When previous losses get in the way of the parent-infant attachment.
Day 5: Difficult Beginnings: Getting Some Help
- If things aren’t going well in pregnancy or following the birth of the baby, it is important for parents to seek help.

In support of the theme of the first day, we are pleased to reshare information on one of our current mental health research projects – Improving the Delivery of Different News to Families by Healthcare Professionals.

About the research project

The term “different news” is to describe the process of imparting and receiving sad, bad or difficult information relating to a foetus or neonate. Being told different news is a life changing event for parents – potentially triggering perinatal mental illness and more. How parents are told is critical as it can determine how they cope and adjust in response to the news. The delivery of different news is necessary part of healthcare practice. Many practitioners receive little formal training on how to tell parents different news.

To improve the delivery of different news we are conducting research to develop a training programme for healthcare professionals.

This is being conducted over two phases. For the first phase, we collected the experiences of parents who have received different news relating to their child and also took healthcare professionals’ experiences of delivering this news to parents. These experiences are being used to inform the training programme to improve the delivery of different news.

Improving the Delivery of Different News to Families by Healthcare Professionals - Report (March 2019)

Improving the Delivery of Different News to Families by Healthcare Professionals - Executive Summary (March 2019)

Improving the delivery of different news by healthcare professionals to families - Research Blog (March 2019)

New Health Visitor Research Champions scheme launched

The Institute of Health Visiting has launched a new Research Champions scheme for health visitors (HVs) interested in research. Set up in partnership with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the scheme has appointed its first ten Champions.

Health Visitor Research Champions meet to kick off new HV Research Champions scheme

The new HV Research Champions met for the first time at NIHR to learn how to develop their role and will be mentored by existing midwifery champions and supported by the local NIHR Clinical Research Networks (CRNs). Ultimately there will be 15 research champions, one for each CRN region.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director at the Institute of Health Visiting, said:

“This is a very exciting development for the Institute, we have seen how successful the Midwifery Champions have been in supporting research for mothers and babies and it is fantastic to now be developing a similar capacity in health visiting.

“For the Champions themselves and their employers, this is an opportunity to much more closely engage with the many national research programmes.”

The HV Research Champions will:

Work collaboratively with the iHV, NIHR, relevant research teams and other Champions to support the development of portfolios of research
Work together to increase health visitor contribution to research studies
Support the development of a research-rich culture within the health visiting workforce
Contribute to a national forum of Champions including attendance at 3 National forum meetings a year
Contribute to national activities of the forum and health visiting including sharing of good practice and development of new ways of working
Support the creation of opportunities for more research careers in health visiting.

The HV Research Champions have a masters, a doctorate or are working towards one, and also some existing or prior direct involvement in research, and they are also members of the iHV.

Further opportunities to become a HV Research Champion include the following regions: South West Peninsula; North West Coast; Kent, Surrey and Sussex; Thames Valley; and West of England. Closing date for applications is 7 September 2018.

For more details and how to apply – https://ihv.org.uk/our-work/research/research-champions/

5 health visitors urgently required for research study

The research study is exploring healthcare professionals’ views and experiences of supporting adolescent girls around eating and physical activity in the postnatal period – and they feel that it is crucial that the health visitor view is included in the research.

The only criteria for involvement is that the health visitor has had contact with a young mum (aged under 20 years) in the last 12 months.

The research will involve a 20/30 minute (max) telephone interview which could either be done during the day or evening.

If you are interested and able to participate, please email: [email protected] or [email protected] or call 020 7040 5729 (Grace) or 0207 040 5468 (Ellinor).

Health Visitor Research Champions

Great opportunity for iHV members interested in research

Are you passionate about research to support health visiting practice? An exciting opportunity has arisen for our members as part of research developments within the Institute of Health Visiting. We are working with the National Institute for Health Research to appoint a Health Visitor Research Champion within each Local Clinical Research Network (LCRN).

As a Champion you would be:

Working collaboratively with the iHV, NIHR, relevant research teams and other champions to support the development of portfolios of research
Working together to increase health visitor contribution to research studies
Supporting the development of a research-rich culture within the health visiting workforce
Contributing to a national forum of Champions including attendance at 3 National forum meetings a year
Contributing to national activities of the forum and health visiting including sharing of good practice and development of new ways of working
Supporting the creation of opportunities for more research careers in health visiting

We are looking for health visitors who have a masters, a doctorate or working towards one, and also some existing or prior direct involvement in research, as well as being a member of the iHV.

If you are interested, please go to the research section of our website for a more detailed role description and application form – please note that only iHV members can access the information sheet and application form.

Closing date: 22 June 2018 – please complete an application form and send it with a CV to: [email protected]

Date of first meeting for cohort 1: 10 or 18 July 2018 – TBC

A second cohort will be recruited in October if you can’t make the first set of dates.

HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Internships Scheme open for applications

The HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Internships Scheme across the North of England region is now open for applications for the 2018/19 cohort .

The scheme provides a range of both taught and academically supervised interventions that both engage and expose the intern to the clinical academic research environment and also provide them with the practical skills to undertake a research project supported by an expert clinical academic supervisor. The key components to the internship programme are:

a Clinical Academic Research Experience supported by supervision and research mentorship for 30 days.
an Educational Learning Package comprising of 4 days face to face learning and 4 days equivalent online distance learning.

By the end of the programme they hope that participants will have the confidence to apply their newly-learned skills within their employing Trusts, become research champions, and consider a future clinical academic career to include formally accredited education programmes, either within the HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme, or via other routes. Interns will also benefit from an enhanced ability to apply successfully for further formal research training.

It is a 3-stage application process as follows:

All applicants are required to submit an Expression of Interest before Friday 20 April 2018. These will be assessed against the eligibility criteria.
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be invited to submit a full application. The closing date for applications is Friday 4 May 2018. Applications will be shortlisted with the highest scoring applicants being invited to interview.
Interviews will be held on Monday 18 June 2018 in Sheffield, Tuesday 19 June 2018 in Newcastle, and Thursday 21 June 2018 in Manchester. Where possible, we will allocate you to an interview venue closest to your place of work.

For further details or to submit your Expression of Interest, see the website at www.shu.ac.uk/icainternships and follow on Twitter @ICAINorth

Exciting opportunity – Research Associate

An exciting and unique development opportunity has arisen with the Institute – Research Associate.

The iHV is seeking to appoint a part-time Research Associate, 3-days per week for 6 months initially.

The post holder, who will have a masters degree relevant to requirements of the post, will be based in the South or East of England and will be prepared to travel within their post.

The individual will need to be dynamic, proactive, flexible and have the ability to work independently. They will both carry out a range of work, including literature reviews, qualitative data collection and analysis, quantitative data analysis and report writing, and will project manage the data collection and reporting for a project looking at breaking different news. The post holder will work closely with community members, families, health professionals and other members of the research team.

For further details, job description and application form

Applications close: 9:00 am on Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Interviews: NB Change of date – Interviews will now take place on Friday 27 April 2018.

Applications for Darzi Fellow close soon!

The University of Kent, Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS), is looking for someone to join them as a Darzi Fellow on their Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) project.

Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly UK is a national project that is being undertaken with Yale University as part of an international comparative project. CHSS is leading on the UK contribution to this project.

This would be ideally for someone in the Kent, Surrey or Sussex area as the project is to undertake a standardised assessment of breastfeeding in Kent and Medway. They would need to have a passion for breastfeeding and a strong knowledge base.

Please see advert for further details. Application details are available here

The closing date is 11 December!

For further information, please contact Professor Sally Kendall ([email protected])

Parents of newborn babies not aware of consequences of screening

A team of University of Manchester researchers have found that changes are urgently needed in how parents are informed about newborn bloodspot screening to ensure they understand it and its consequences for them and their baby.

The research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, suggests changes could be made which would not only ensure parents are better informed, but which could be more cost-effective than current practice.

Newborn screening is seen as one of the top public health advances of the developed world.

A blood sample taken soon after birth enables nine serious conditions such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell to be diagnosed within the first weeks of life, meaning that treatment and care can start immediately.

However, the information that has to be presented before screening is complex – relating to nine rare but very serious conditions.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director iHV, commented on the research:

“This is very interesting research, but I can’t help but wonder whether it might have been helpful for the researchers to have considered the potential health visitor role in this as part of their antenatal visit. That contact is timely being close to the birth and it could become part of a package of important information such as the immunisation programme which is discussed by the health visitor.”

Read full Manchester University press release