Tag: Glasgow Caledonian University

Major study to assess public health benefits of Community Wealth Building

Researchers have launched a major new investigation into the power of Community Wealth Building (CWB) to affect local economies and improve population health.

Glasgow Caledonian University will lead a £1.5million study to determine whether retaining more wealth in local communities can prevent premature deaths and tackle health inequalities.

CWB is an approach to economic development that aims to generate, circulate and retain more wealth within local areas.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is funding the three-year study to examine how CWB is being implemented and how it is impacting local economies and population health.

GCU will work in partnership with researchers from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, the University of Glasgow and Lancaster University to assess whether CWB is improving economic and health outcomes. The findings will inform local economic polices across Scotland and other parts of the UK.

Neil Craig, Professor of Public Health Economics at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health at Glasgow Caledonian University and Co-Principal Investigator, said: “Economic inequality is a cause of health inequality.

“Ultimately, if CWB is found to be effective in improving health and reducing inequalities, this could lead to fewer premature deaths, particularly amongst economically disadvantaged communities.”

North Ayrshire became the first area of Scotland to adopt a CWB strategy in 2020. The approach is now being piloted in Clackmannanshire, Fife, Glasgow, the South of Scotland and the Western Isles. Councils work alongside major employers, businesses and partner organisations and commit to generating employment and spending resources locally.

Dr Micaela Mazzei, Reader at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health and Co-Principal Investigator, said: “Previous research shows that there is a need to better understand whether and how CWB can make a real difference.

“The stakeholders recognise the importance of this work and have pledged to offer practical support, share their expertise and act on the findings.”

Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Green Environment and Economy at North Ayrshire Council, added: “CWB has become an integral part of how we operate, helping to support both our local community and businesses.

“In the last financial year alone, more than £70million was spent locally with almost 900 suppliers. This research is timely and important as it will deepen the evidence base to increase our understanding of the wider impacts of CWB.”

Dr Jennifer McLean, Interim Director of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, said: “We will work to ensure that the voices, expertise and perspectives of those working across various sectors involved in local CWB implementation in Scotland are able to shape and inform this project, so that the evaluation is grounded in local insights, and that learning is relevant to local people and communities.”

Short bouts of yoga may help prevent diabetes, new study reveals

Three-minute bouts of yoga have been found to significantly lower blood glucose levels and reduce the risk of diabetes, a study from Glasgow Caledonian University has revealed.
 
The research carried out by a team of physiotherapists, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde team member, Alex Colvin, investigated the effects of breaking up sedentary behaviour with short bouts of yoga and tai-chi on glycaemic control, concentration, and wellbeing in healthy individuals.
 
The study, which involved 15 adults aged 26-28, found that the effects of short bouts of yoga to break up the working day significantly lowers glucose levels to reduce the risk of diabetes without compromising concentration or wellbeing.
 
However, tai-chi did not provide the same significant effect on glucose levels but allowed better maintenance of concentration and wellbeing. The research concluded that these interventions provide effective ways to combat the harmful effects of prolonged sitting while maintaining concentration and wellbeing.

Alex, also lead author of the study, said: “Through this research, I want to make people aware that you can break up your sedentary time with things that are good for your mental and physical wellbeing, and to reduce the risk of diabetes.
 
“There has been a lot of research into the benefits of yoga and tai-chi, which show favourable effects, but this is the first research that I am aware of that investigates the use of shorter three-minute bouts to break up a working day and shows results that this can help to reduce the risk of diabetes.
 
“This is also good news for employers who dislike the use of physical activity to break up sedentary time because they have this misplaced perception that it will negatively impact on production, as we have found it’s quite the opposite. We measured concentration and wellbeing throughout the study. Although there wasn’t a change with yoga and tai-chi, at least it didn’t get any worse, which disproves that doing these types of things is bad for worker productivity.”
 
Alex graduated with a Masters in Physiotherapy in 2020 from Glasgow Caledonian and became an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde specialist physiotherapist. He began the research during his studies with fellow students Lynne Murray and Jillian Noble, under the supervision of Professor Sebastien Chastin, but results were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The study, entitled Effects of Breaking Up Sedentary Behavior With Short Bouts of Yoga and Tai-Chi on Glycemia, Concentration, and Well-Being, was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, which is part of the Human Kinetics Journals.
 
Alex explained more about the methods used in the two-year study: “We took finger-prick glucose readings every half an hour throughout a seven-hour working day and standardised the participants’ diet as much as we could, along with that we broke up the sedentary time and the groups with either three minutes of yoga or tai-chi, or just sitting for the whole time and measuring their glucose.
 
“Although the study involved a small number of 15 mostly healthy adults aged between 26-28, it doesn’t change the fact that the glucose levels were still lowered. By using this group it might even be more beneficial to people who are prediabetic and the results might even be more significant.”
 
Professor of Health Behaviour Dynamics Sebastien Chastin, from the University’s School of Health and Life Sciences’ Research Centre for Health (ReaCH), highlighted the benefits of this research study.
 
He said: “Clearly we all spend far too much time sitting in the office or working from home. This shows that short bouts of yoga that can be done anytime during the day and it has the impact we expected that it can be turned into one of the interventions or reduce the risk of diabetes.

“What’s also really important about this research is that it demonstrates that it doesn’t reduce the productivity of workers. That’s always the worry of the bosses. Allowing them to have that time shows that it actually doesn’t reduce productivity at all, if anything it probably increases productivity so there’s not just a health incentive for the workers to do it but also for the employers to support that and implement it.”