Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) is a programme of mentally stimulating activities for carers and people with dementia to do together at home. Typically pairs complete up to 3, 20-30 minute sessions per week over 25 weeks. Each session is themed (eg: word games, current affairs, being creative) with a choice of activities to cater for the interests and abilities of the person.

iCST is based on group Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST), an evidence based psychosocial intervention, which has been found to benefit cognition and quality of life for people with dementia (see www.cstdementia.com for more information). With input from carers, people with dementia, and experts in the field, the iCST programme and materials were developed to cater for those unable to access CST groups. The programme was then evaluated in a large scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) across 8 research sites in the UK: London, Bangor, Hull, Manchester, Dorset, Devon, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk & Suffolk.

In early December we held an event for members of the iCST teams and study participants at Friends House to mark the end of the trial. We wanted to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of those involved, and share the results of the main trial and quantitative interviews. In addition to presentations from Professor Martin Orrell, Phuong Leung, and myself from the London team, the day included talks from Dr. Ruth Newman who gave us a lively and entertaining account of Devon team’s experience of iCST, and Dave Prothero who gave us a compelling insight into the experience and value of patient public involvement (PPI) in research.

It was a real pleasure to host the event, and to have the opportunity to catch up with teams and carers I enjoyed working with over the course of the study. For me, the highlight of the day was being able to present everyone with the newly published iCST Manual ‘Making a Difference 3’ (see careinfo.org for more information), and show clips from the accompanying DVD. The partnerships we established with the various research sites were very successful, and we hope that there will be other opportunities to collaborate on future research projects.

The Division of Psychiatry Research Seminar will take place on Wednesday 14th January at  3pm

MALET PLACE ENGINEERING BUILDING – Room 1.02

Gower Street WC1E 6BT  (https://goo.gl/maps/e0TSQ)

 Sushrut Jadhav (Division of Psychiatry)

will present  a seminal event: the obituary of a culture bound syndrome

More details at events.ucl.ac.uk/event/event:kgx-i35uwjgs-6d47lc

Message from Glyn Lewis, Director of the Division of Psychiatry

Dear All

You will have heard that UCL has done exceptionally well in the REF and finally broken the domination of Oxbridge that have until now always claimed the first two positions in those league tables.

In our own area we have also done exceptionally well and are now indisputably the leading university for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience in terms of “research power” – the combination of quality and quantity. This reflects the excellence of the work done here over the last 6 years. The REF result was for 286 people, almost all the Faculty of Brain Sciences that include our Division.

It is important to remember that the REF submission is not just about the more senior academics that were individually submitted. To produce world class research requires outstanding contributions from all the people involved in the research, including those employed by grants and the support staff. Outstanding REF results come from outstanding teamwork. We have an excellent culture within the division that encourages advice, debate and support. We should also celebrate this as it has contributed to our success. I was particularly pleased that the REF panel gave the academic environment here the highest rating.

As important as the overall result is the improvement since the last assessment in 2008. The trajectory, in the jargon, is upwards.  We are becoming the destination of choice for ambitious young scientists as they can see the exciting opportunities within the Division of Psychiatry and our Faculty.

Congratulations to you all for the REF results. Please enjoy your break over the holidays.

Season’s greetings

Glyn Lewis

Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology

The Dean would like to announce the third Annual Faculty of Brain Sciences Postgraduate Poster & Presentation Symposium which will take place from 1-5pm on Wednesday 11 February 2015 in the South Cloisters, Wilkins Building.

The event will celebrate and showcase graduate research achievements and the unique multidisciplinary and integrative nature of research across the Faculty and is an excellent networking opportunity for staff and students as well as stimulating ideas for student research projects. The Symposium also offers PhD students an opportunity for professional development and to present their research to a wider academic audience.

Staff and all postgraduate students (MSc, MRes and PhD) are invited to attend the event, which will be followed by drinks from 5-7pm, where prize winners will be announced.

I hope you can come, and please encourage your PhD students to submit posters and your postgraduate students to attend.

a) Post-upgrade PhD students (including Professional Doctorates) are invited to submit posters of their research and offer a 2-minute presentation of their work. This presentation can be supported by a maximum of 4 PowerPoint slides. There will be prizes for the best posters/presentations. This is an open competition with only 50 poster positions available. Submissions will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.
b) Pre-upgrade PhD students (including Professional Doctorates) are invited to submit posters of their research work in progress (no formal presentation). There will be prizes for the best posters. This is an open competition with only 20 poster positions available. Submissions will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.

Students intending to submit a research poster at this event should email their name, department and a poster title to the symposium team : fbs.pgsymposium@ucl.ac.uk by 7th January at the latest, electronic PDF versions of the posters should be submitted in advance by 28th January at the latest.

For any queries please contact the symposium team

Best wishes,
Alex

Alex Standen
Faculty Tutor’s Office Administrator
UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences

Room 241, 74 Huntley Street
London, WC1E 6BT
020 3108 2434 (internal 52434)
a.standen@ucl.ac.uk
www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences
@UCLBrainScience

Date: Tuesday 2nd December 2014, 9:00am—11:00am

Venue: Pearson Lecture Theatre, UCL

Professor Gary Rodin’s biography is below and if you would like to attend, please register your attendance via this link: http://psychotherapy-for-advanced-disease.eventbrite.co.uk

Professor Gary Rodin biography:

Gary Rodin is Director of the Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End-of-Life Care (GIPPEC) at the University of Toronto and Head of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto. He is engaged in research, education and global outreach to promote timely access to comprehensive palliative care for individuals and their families facing life-threatening and advanced disease. Dr. Rodin leads an interdisciplinary research team that has developed tailored outcome measures and psychological interventions for this population that have been implemented internationally. This team has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society to conduct randomized controlled trials evaluating novel psychological interventions for patients and their caregivers facing metastatic cancer and acute leukemia. Dr. Rodin has published two books and more than 200 peer-reviewed publications focused on the psychological and social dimensions of advanced and terminal disease.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries at all.

Kind regards,

Sophie Lansdowne

Macmillan Project Coordinator, London Cancer

www.londoncancer.org

3rd Floor, 170 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7HA

Telephone: 0207 679 9513

Please save the date for the final Seminar for UCL’s Research Department of Mental Health of Older People.

3-4pm Wednesday 26th November
* B404 LT2, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. *
http://goo.gl/maps/9V1M5

From January 2015, these seminars will be incorporated into the academic seminar series for the Division of Psychiatry.

For our final meeting, we are delighted that Professor Carol Brayne will be coming to speak to us about ‘Population Based Dementia Research in the UK – The past, present and future’

All are welcome, no booking is required – please circulate through your teams and networks:

Professor Carol Brayne
Professor of Public Health Medicine, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge
http://www.iph.cam.ac.uk/about-us/key-people/carol-brayne/

We invite abstracts for the UCL Qualitative Health Research Symposium 2015 which will take place on Wednesday 18th February 2015. The theme of the symposium is enriching qualitative inquiry in health.

 Background to symposium

Interest in qualitative approaches among academic communities concerned with health and illness is evidenced by the rise of mixed methods studies, the proliferation of qualitative health research journals and conferences, and the marked presence of qualitative researchers in academic centres of health research. This reflects the recognition and endorsement of its contribution to research on health, illness and care. However, its inclusion is not straightforward and there can be tensions between the conceptual and methodological approaches of qualitative research and those of a quantitative paradigm generally more familiar to health practitioners, policymakers and often other researchers. These tensions bring to the fore questions to be explored around the applicability, value, contribution, legitimacy and limitations of qualitative inquiry within the prevailing research culture. Ultimately it raises important questions about how qualitative inquiry can enrich interdisciplinary collaborations.

Aim of symposium

Building on our 2013 qualitative health research meeting, we aim in this 2015 symposium to generate a more focused and constructive commentary on the contributions that qualitative inquiry can make to understandings of health, illness and care. With this aim in mind we seek abstracts which reflect on the challenges outlined above and/or look toward ideas and techniques which might enrich qualitative inquiry in health.

*** The deadline for abstracts is Monday 1st December 2014 – please see document below for further details ***

2015 UCL Qualitative Health Research Symposium – Call For Abstracts

Wednesday October 8^th at 3pm

CRUCIFORM BUILDING B404 – LT2

GOWER STREET, LONDON, WC1E 6BT   see location link: https://goo.gl/maps/4W11K

Presented by Alexandra Pitman (Division of Psychiatry)

Exposure to suicide bereavement & risk of suicide attempt: a national cross-sectional survey of young adults in the UK

The nextDivision of Psychiatry Research Seminar will take place on

Wednesday  10^th September

3pm

at Charles Bell House room G01

 Liz Sampson will present

” Health outcomes for bereaved carers- what general practice data bases can and can’t tell us.”

Please save the date for the September meeting of the Research Department of Mental Health of Older People in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL.

All are welcome, no booking is required – please circulate through your teams and networks.

Wednesday 24th September

2 – 4pm

* G.01 Michael Hobsley Seminar room, Charles Bell House, 67-73 Riding House St, London, W1W 7EJ. *

http://goo.gl/maps/IvCpf

2 – 3pm Departmental Business Meeting

To discuss UCL dementia strategy

3 – 4pm Kathryn Lord

PhD Student, University College London

‘The DECIDE Study: Dementia carers making informed decisions’

PhD Upgrade Seminar

Supervisors: Dr Claudia Cooper, Professor Gill Livingston, Examiner: Professor Steve Iliffe