Today's rare foray onto the UK political scene by Tony Blair reminded me of a simpler time when politicians just used to repeat the same word three times for added emphasis. Or was it the daleks who used to do that? Funny how nightmares and the stuff of dreams can sometimes get confused in this way. Should either... Continue Reading →
‘Hungry’ at the Edinburgh Science Festival? Y-Touring have got just the thing for you.
The Edinburgh Science Festival is fast approaching (5th - 20th April in fact). It is some time since I have been but well worth it every time I have gone (whether as speaker or visitor). A perfect way to spend some of your Easter holiday in fact. So let me plug - mercilessly and without... Continue Reading →
@SDenegri presentations about the public and health research from Leicester, HSRN and Leeds
I'm always very chuffed when people ask for a copy of my presentations after a talk. Usually I am quite good at emailing them to people or asking the organisers to send them round. Anyway, I have done a lot of meetings lately and thought I would post here copies of my slides from the... Continue Reading →
The long and cohort of it: missing public engagement opps from birth
Longitudinal studies (in other words, research that follows a population group over a long period of time) would seem to naturally lend themselves to public engagement and the building of strong relationships with the population concerned. The number of these studies being conducted is increasing as is the amount of investment in them, so they... Continue Reading →
Registration opens for Engage 2012: Responding to Change
Don't be put off by the fact that I'm speaking at one of these - my fellow speakers are great! The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement has launched registration for a series of specialist workshops targeted at organisations, professionals and members of the public who are passionate about public engagement. These workshops will take... Continue Reading →
A few bytes and bobs of news about medical records, open data etc – the Danish are not just good at making drama
Data and its use for society's benefit is one of the areas where we are now seeing rapid developments in both practice and policy. And not just in terms of health care or medical research. I thought I'd link-up a few of the announcements and news items that have happened just this past week to give people... Continue Reading →
This article (entitled 'The Rise of the Patient Leader') written by David Gilbert at InHealth Associates appeared in HSJ earlier this year. I didn't send round a link at the time because of HSJ's paywall. But now you can find it on InHealth Associates' website free of charge...which seems a very good excuse to send it round and... Continue Reading →
Research impact: One small tweak for HEFCE, one important nod to public involvement
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) yesterday issued the final criteria and working methods for its Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment exercise. The research press is still full of various academic voices continuing to rant against the whole issue of HEFCE assessing 'research impact' for the first time. Seems to be a waste... Continue Reading →
Who would come top in your league table of public engagement in science? And who would you relegate?
They say in football that the league table never lies. Fans and players may begrudge a decision or two, or feel that luck did not go their way in a match. But even the most ardent supporter will accept their team's league position after than final game as a true reflection of how good they... Continue Reading →
