Working in a small group with the University of Edinburgh, we are conducting research into the relationship between greenspaces and socioeconomic levels in Edinburgh.
We will be investigating a number of areas in the city including Wester Hailes, Drylaw, Trinity and South Gyle.
If you live in any of these areas or are familiar, we believe you will have a valuable opinion for our survey.
Using the surveys, we want to gain people’s perspective about the quality and access of greenspace in these areas. It is short and will take roughly 5 minutes.
Our findings are hoped to make an impact upon the greenspaces in Edinburgh, especially if any inequalities are revealed.
Playing rugby union can significantly improve health and wellbeing, despite the risks associated with the game, a study suggests.
Possible benefits include a reduced risk of type-2 diabetes, some cancers, stroke, heart disease and depression, according to the paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Improved muscle function, bone health and balance are other potential health gains listed in the study, which coincides with the final weekend of the Six Nations Championship.
Enhanced cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic function are further possible health dividends highlighted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
Players of touch, tag and wheelchair rugby appear to benefit most. Evidence of positive health outcomes among those playing contact forms of rugby union such as 15-a-side and sevens is less clear.
The study concludes that further research is needed on the physical impact of contact rugby, given the high incidence of injury and concussion compared with other sports, especially at professional level.
Researchers also highlight the positive impact that rugby union – especially in wheelchair rugby and amateur settings – has on mental health and wellbeing. Further study is needed to quantify the mental health benefits of contact rugby, they said.
The team reviewed nearly 200 rugby-related studies from six continents to build a comprehensive picture of the sport’s relationship with health, and to identify gaps in research.
This review is long overdue, the team says. Despite global participation in rugby union, there has been no overarching review of the relationship between rugby union and health and well-being. Scientific analysis has, until now, focused mainly on the relationship between rugby union participation and injury.
The study, funded by the Rugby Football Union, and in collaboration with the Scottish Rugby Union, seeks to provide a more balanced perspective on the benefits and risks.
With eight million players in 120 countries, rugby union plays a vital role in helping the global population meet the World Health Organisation’s physical activity goals, the study states.
Researchers say the review can make players, and those thinking of taking up the game, more aware of potential health gains as well as the hazards.
It will also enable parents and teachers to make informed decisions about schools rugby and help policymakers better understand how they might promote rugby union as a health enhancing activity.
Lead author Dr Steffan Griffin, of the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh, said: “There is strong evidence to suggest that all forms of rugby union provide moderate-to-vigorous physical activity that can be linked to a wide range of health and well-being benefits.”
The study (doi:10.1136/bjsports-2020-102085) can be accessed at: https://bit.ly/3kBXvSL.
Young players can study to degree level while pursuing their professional careers
Edinburgh Napier is teaming up with Heart of Midlothian FC and Hibernian FC to support young Academy players on a dual career pathway – studying at the same time as training and playing with their clubs.
A new course has been specifically tailored towards players whose training commitments make traditional study options difficult. The programme was developed in response to a request from HMFC Head of Academy, Roger Arnott, who was looking for a way to help support the young players to remain in education while beginning their journey as a professional footballer.
The University’s innovative part-time programme, for which young players from both Celtic and Rangers have also signed up, combines campus-based workshops and online learning which will develop the academy players’ knowledge of elite sport in a business context.
It will support the players’ integration into the world of professional football, while at the same time developing important academic and business-related skills. This approach is being used to allow the players to understand their environment, find their place within it, and connect more productively with professional sport and the world of employment.
The players will begin their studies this month at a level which offers six modules over two years to Certificate of Higher Education standard, with topics including psychology, the athlete in sport, and football in the digital age.
They can continue studying part-time for a further two to four years to complete a BA in Business and Enterprise in Sport degree, building their management, communication and leadership skills, financial acumen, and ability to identify entrepreneurial opportunities.
Students enrolling on the new pilot course must be registered as academy level footballers, but do not require Scottish Higher level school qualifications for entry; they will typically have chosen to pursue a professional football career before completing their Higher year at school.
Upon successful completion of this award, these players will be at the same or a higher education point as their peers who chose to remain at school. In this way, we hope to remove the disadvantage of leaving school for these players, while fully supporting that choice by using their new environment as a context for their learning.
The course offers the flexibility other study options have lacked for youngsters dedicated to football, and could be the key to a future career in sporting performance, administration, funding or marketing.
The only one of its kind in Scotland, this course is being piloted with a limited number of clubs initially and will be evaluated with input from dual career experts across Europe, with a view to potentially rolling out the model nationally and internationally.
Dr Tom Campbell, Programme Lead, BA Business & Enterprise in Sport, said: “One of the real strengths of the programme lies in the widespread application of theory to a familiar context, allowing students to draw upon their existing sporting experience while generating new knowledge and understanding.
“This new development will see the same principles applied to the football academy environment, and having the academies’ input into the design of the course has been invaluable in creating a state-of-the-art programme.
“I have no doubt that the students will hit the ground running and find the course to be engaging and rewarding.”
News of the course follows the announcement in June of a collaboration between Edinburgh Napier and the Scottish FA to launch the BSc (Hons) Football Coaching, Performance & Development, a four-year undergraduate programme to develop coaching professionals for the modern game.
Dr Susan Brown, Edinburgh Napier lead for partnerships and enterprise in sport, said: “This programme, developed in collaboration with the clubs, is an important part of Edinburgh Napier’s commitment to supporting the dual career of athletes, not only those who have reached elite level performance, but also those who are committed to pursuing a career in performance sport but are still in the development stage.
“This approach will take advantage of the environment the players are in.
“There is mounting evidence that a dual career approach is beneficial to performance and not only a useful activity for the future. We believe we can help the clubs support their young players to succeed both on and off the pitch.”
She added: “It is in developing these productive partnerships that we as a University can support clubs, organisations and governing bodies in sport and ensure that our academic programmes are fit for purpose for the students we work with. This programme follows the new collaboration with the Scottish FA, and existing partnerships with Scottish Rugby, Scottish Gymnastics and Cricket Scotland in particular, where the University is a key partner in the development and delivery of education provision at multiple levels.”
Graeme Mathie, Sporting Director at Hibernian FC, said: “It is a fantastic position for us as a Club to be able to deliver not only a high quality football education, but now through this partnership with Edinburgh Napier, a high quality education programme to our players. It is very much aligned to our strategic aim of being a Learner’s Club, and I have no doubt the players will benefit from the programme.
“I would like to place on record my thanks to my colleagues Sean McPartlin and Steve Curnyn who have been in discussions with the university for some time in order to deliver this partnership, and also to confirm a list of learners of various ages and stages from within the Club.”
Roger Arnott, Heart of Midlothian FC Academy Manager, said: “As a club, we place a strong emphasis on developing our young players both on and off the park.
“This partnership with Edinburgh Napier offers our talented youngsters the chance to enrol in a fantastic higher education programme. We have no doubt that this will stand them in good stead in the years to come.”
The latest version of the largest student feedback survey in the world revealed an overall satisfaction level of 86 per cent at the University – up seven per cent on last year and well above the UK benchmark of 81 per cent.
Satisfaction levels among students rose in all six of the University’s Schools; Applied Sciences (84 to 86 per cent), Arts & Creative Industries (84 to 94), Computing (81 to 85), Engineering & the Built Environment (78 to 79), Health & Social Care (67 to 81) and the Business School (84 to 87).
Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “I am delighted with this year’s student survey results, a clean sweep of improvement, and one that makes us the top university in Edinburgh for overall student satisfaction.
“These results are thanks to all the commitment, hard work and efforts made by staff over the last twelve months and I want to thank all the teams from across the University for playing their part. To have their work recognised in this way by our students is heart-warming.”
The survey revealed high levels of satisfaction with the quality of their course among students studying at Scottish universities.
This year’s results show that overall satisfaction with courses in Scotland has improved by one per cent since 2019 and now stands at 85 per cent for full-time students. 86 per cent of part-time students in Scotland are satisfied with their course. The figure is above the UK average of 83 per cent, which is the down from 84 per cent last year.
The NSS is carried out by the Office for Students (OfS) on behalf of the UK funding bodies. As well as capturing student views on the overall quality of their undergraduate degree, the survey gathers students’ responses to a series of questions relating to academic support, learning resources, teaching, management and assessment.
Every university in the UK participates in the survey, including some colleges and alternative providers. This year, the response rate was 68.6 per cent and a total of 311,432 students across the UK took part.
The latest phase of a thought-provoking study into the role of the funeral in the grieving process is now underway and anyone who has been involved in organising a funeral is invited to participate.
The study, known as ‘Funeral Experts by Experience’, is led by Dr Julie Rugg from the University of York and Dr Sarah Jones from Full Circle Funerals, an independent funeral director in Yorkshire.
The research is overseen by an expert panel including the National Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), The Good Funeral Guide and the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM).
The research is open to people from all ethnic, cultural and religious or non-religious backgrounds who lost a loved one before the Covid-19 pandemic. This second phase of the study aims to reveal, analyse and process people’s ideas, concerns and expectations about how someone is physically cared for after they have died and the personal care given to the body.
Last year the organisations completed the first phase of the research which has since been presented at several funeral industry conferences and events. The study identified all the factors that bereaved people consistently said were important to them when arranging or attending a funeral.
Dr Julie Rugg said: “During our initial research, lots of the participants shared their opinions about how people are physically looked after once the funeral director has been called, as well as the level of contact with the body.
“This became a focal point and raised further important questions that we plan to explore further. We are now asking volunteers to share their experiences, views and possible recommendations about how funeral directors care for people who have died. In addition, we would like to invite funeral directors to contribute with their thoughts regarding care for people who have died, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Dr Sarah Jones added: “We have created an online questionnaire for funeral directors to complete and are asking anyone who has been involved in a funeral to share their experience and views with us, either during a short telephone interview or by videocall.
“We believe that understanding what bereaved people want, means the funeral industry as a whole can continue to improve the quality of funeral care services and this robust research and insight will help to set standards, training and future regulations.”
More information about the research, as well as the previous published report, is available at https://fullcirclefunerals.co.uk/learning-together/research/ and funeral directors wanting to participate will find the link to the survey there.
Full Circle Funerals, which prides itself on supporting people to create funerals that truly reflect the person who has died, operates four Yorkshire sites and has previously been named ‘Best Modern Funeral Director in the UK’ at The Good Funeral Awards.
The UK public want the NHS to be the controlling body in Covid-19 contact-tracing app, says new research.
The public have massive trust in the NHS, who should have control and access to data in the Covid-19 contact-tracing app, according to new research by researchers at the University of Birmingham and in WMG at the University of Warwick.
Carsten Maple, Principal Investigator of the NCSC-EPSRC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research at the University of Warwick, who led the research, said: “With all of the possible design choices for a contact-tracing app, many commentators and experts have argued which approach is in the best interests of the public.
“For example, some have argued that centralised apps create privacy invasions that are unacceptable; others have argued that to be effective the apps should be centralised.
“However, as yet, the opinions of the public have not been gathered and so we have undertaken a significant survey to elicit their thoughts. We have examined how important privacy is to them and how willing they are to engage and share information.”
Dr Rebecca McDonald, lecturer in experimental economics from the University of Birmingham said: “The first encouraging results of our study are that only 9.6% of the public always chose to opt out of using the contact tracing apps we described to them.
“We asked people to express a direct preference between controlling the pandemic or preserving privacy, and we found that over half (57.4%) of participants favoured prioritising controlling the pandemic over privacy contrasting with around a fifth (20.1%) favouring protecting privacy over controlling the pandemic.”
However the most powerful and important result from the survey was the contrasting degrees to which participants trust different agencies or individuals with their data, even when anonymised.
The group least trusted to be given access to this data was other app users but by far the most trusted group or organisation was the NHS.
Professor Carsten Maple in WMG at the University of Warwick said: “It is clear that the NHS enjoyed overwhelming trust in terms of access to personal data collected by such apps, even when anonymised.
“Surprisingly, respondents’ choices suggest they would be most concerned about the decentralised approach that protects from Government access to information and instead shares information among other app users.
“The results indicate that users want a centralised approach, like the one currently being adopted by NHSX.”
“Our research clearly shows that the public is broadly supportive of the use of a COVID-19 contact tracing app and would download it in significant numbers, providing the app providers listen to their wishes on who should have access to their data.The NHS is by far the most trusted gatekeeper for that data.”
The table below shows in percentage terms how much more willing people are to use an app when their data is shared with different organisations (as in a centralised approach), compared to when it is shared with other app users (as in a decentralised approach).
NHS
70.5%
Researchers
53.4%
National Government
18.9%
Local Government
13.0%
The research highlights that people have a strong desire to understand the way a contact tracing app would work, and many respondents said they would need control over what data is shared about them, and who it is shared with, before they would be willing to download the app.
Since widespread uptake is needed for the app to be effective, addressing these potential barriers has to be at the heart of any large-scale roll out of the contact tracing app. The appetite is there, but the public need transparency in order to trust, download, and use the app.
The research also found that public would also have concerns about linking proximity data to other data sources. (They were particularly concerned about the linkage of their shopping location from credit/debit cards data).
Some also had concerns about practical things like the impact on their phone’s battery life, or the amount of data the app might need to use.
A national report, carried out every four years, has provided insights into child mental health in Scotland.
The 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Scotland, led by researchers at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow and funded by NHS Health Scotland, provides data on the health and wellbeing of the nation’s young people.
Key findings include the majority (85%) of young people reported high life satisfaction in 2018, while almost one in five adolescents rated their health as excellent.
However, the report also revealed the lowest levels of adolescent confidence seen in 24 years, with only 51% of adolescents in Scotland reporting often or always feeling confident in themselves.
Beyond mental health and wellbeing, the HBSC study covers areas such as sleep habits, time spent online, physical activity as well as school and home life. The report presents data collected from surveys with a representable sample of 11, 13 and 15-year-olds in Scotland in 2018. The surveys were conducted in schools, with all pupils in the selected classes asked to fill in the confidential questionnaire anonymously.
This is the 8th consecutive World Health Organisation (WHO) cross-national HBSC survey in which Scotland has participated, providing data on the health of the nation’s young people over the last 28 years. A wider pan global report on the health of young people across the world is due to be published later this year.
Lead author of the study Dr Jo Inchley, from the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, said: “These latest findings from HBSC provide a comprehensive picture of young people’s health across Scotland.
“We’ve seen significant improvements in recent years in areas such as substance use and eating behaviours. But at the same time, new challenges such as social media are increasingly impacting on how young people live their lives and these can have a significant impact on their wellbeing.
“This report helps us to better understand the challenges young people face and the areas where more support and investment is needed.”
Dr Rory Mitchell, Public Health Intelligence Principal, NHS Health Scotland said: “This report highlights some positive trends as well as ongoing challenges. The data shows that children from wealthier families tend to report better health and wellbeing than those from poorer families. This highlights the need for a continued focus on tackling health inequalities in Scotland.
“The information provided by this long-running study has enormous value in helping to improve health and wellbeing. Using such information to make a real difference requires a collaborative effort that co-ordinates local and national action. The formation of Public Health Scotland in April this year will contribute to this.”
Findings of the report include:
Mental health and wellbeing
22% adolescents rated their health as ‘excellent’ but 15–year-old girls were the least likely to report ‘excellent’ health (12%).
The prevalence of multiple health complaints is at its highest for both boys and girls since 1994. Overall 35% of young people experienced multiple health complaints every week. The most common health complaints were sleep difficulties, feeling nervous and feeling irritable.
37% adolescents were classified as having low mood (33% boys, 41% girls) and 14% were at risk of depression (11% boys, 17% girls). Both low mood and risk of depression increased with age.
All the mental health and wellbeing indicators were significantly associated with family affluence, with poorer outcomes for those from families with lower affluence.
Sleep
The average sleep duration on weekdays was 8.3 hours for 13-year-olds and 7.8 hours for 15 year olds – the recommended sleep for teenagers is 8 to 10 hours each night.
The proportion of young people reporting sleep difficulties more than once a week has increased from 23% in 2014 to 30% in 2018.
Among 13 and 15-year-olds, sleep difficulties were more common among girls than boys and young people from lower affluence families were more likely to report difficulties in getting to sleep than those from higher affluence families (25% versus 35%).
Social media and online communication
Nearly all (95%) young people said they owned a smartphone with connection to the internet.
The vast majority (92%) of 15-year-olds kept their smartphones in their bedroom at night.
Preference for online (versus face-to-face) communication was higher amongst 15-year-olds than 11 and 13-year-olds.
Nearly one in ten (9%) adolescents were categorised as having problematic social media use.
At home and school life
Overall 38% of young people reported high teacher support
The proportion of girls who find it easy to talk to their father has increased from 48% in 1990 to 67% in 2018.
36% of young people reported eating a meal with their family every day.
Vigorous physical activity was higher among boys than girls. 47%) of boys and 41% of girls reported taking part in leisure time vigorous exercise at least four times a week. The gender difference was greatest at age 15 (40% vs 29%)
Jo Inchley added: “Many young people report high life satisfaction and have good support from their families and friends. However, the declines in mental health and increase in sleep difficulties are concerning.
“There’s been a small but steady increase in the proportion of girls taking part in physical activity in their free time but overall levels are still very low and screen time has been increasing at a much faster rate.
“It’s important that young people have opportunities to be active and spend time outdoors as these can have substantial benefits for both their physical and mental wellbeing.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition commented: “As a coalition whose members provide support to vulnerable children and young people we are deeply concerned by a lowering in confidence levels as outlined in this report, which indicates that just over half of adolescents report often or always feeling confident in themselves.
“In addition to this, one in ten adolescents are categorised as having problematic social media use and screentime use has been increasing.
“Clearly social media is having a major impact on young people and their wellbeing, as they often try to meet unrealistic standards as seen on social media, leading to anxiety and depression. This is especially relevant to girls.
“The fact that over 90 per cent of 15-year olds keep their smartphones in the bedroom at night, with a potential impact on sleep patterns is worrying. It is notable that the proportion of young people reporting sleep difficulties more than once a week has increased from 23 per cent in 2014 to 30 per cent in 2018.
“Now we have a greater awareness of the challenges it is vital that there is greater research to gain a clearer understanding of the link between social media and wellbeing, which is also impacting on confidence.
“There is a desperate need to educate young people on how to use social media healthily and how social media promotes unrealistic expectations.”
On Saturday the Parliament hosted the Modern Studies Association Annual Conference 2019, hosted by The Deputy Presiding Officer, Christine Grahame MSP.
