Occupational Therapy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics Research Showcase success

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) Department of Occupational Therapy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics hosted its inaugural research showcase to celebrate and share the breadth of research being produced by staff and students.

The free online event last week also marked 60 years of Occupational Therapy education in Glasgow and 21 years of the Allied Health Professions (AHPs) within Scotland.

The Occupational Therapy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics Research Showcase attracted representatives from councils, NHS, charities and other universities across the UK and around the glove from as far afield as Australia.

Reader and Head of the Department of Occupational Therapy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics Professor Katrina Bannigan was the keynote speaker. She shared her research expertise and highlighted the fantastic achievements within the University’s Research Centre for Health (ReaCH).

Staff and students also gave 13 presentations covering a range of practice-based research topics in disciplines and excellence in occupational therapy education research.

The following day, they hosted Practitioner Research Clinic with National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) fellowship guest Domna Salonen at GCU. They set up six slots for AHP practitioners to book in and discuss a research agenda with Domna.

The sessions helped attendees to gain more research experience without knowing where to start, develop a career path across practice and research, lead their own research in the future and think how to build strong bridges between practice and research evidence.

The event was organised by Occupational Therapy Lecturer and PhD student Leona Mc Quaid, Occupational Therapy Lecturer and research lead for the department Dr Katie Thomson and Academic Development Tutor Dr Lina Petrakieva.

Leona said: “The event was a great success with feedback highlighting that people enjoyed the breadth of presentations and that it was well organised. They said they were inspired by the variety of speakers to continue their research.

“We were delighted to have recent graduates, who have taken up their first post, come back and discuss their work, many of whom highlighted that their research projects had direct correlation in their practice roles now.

“We also had students currently on the programme present their research and so this offered an opportunity for dissemination and pride after a hard piece of work. We also wanted to highlight the scholarly activity of staff as often our students or external partners aren’t aware of this work happening so it was a good opportunity to showcase this and seed future interest in partnership working.

“Also, all the slots for the Practitioner Research Clinic were filled with a mixture of online and face-to-face to sessions. Again, the feedback was very positive with participants saying they would like this to run again with suggestions to offer it on more days with more slots made available.”

ReaCH makes a direct and significant contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 3 – good health and wellbeing – issued by the United Nations in 2015 as a blueprint for peace and prosperity across the planet.

For more information about the event visit the website - https://bit.ly/OTHNDShowcase22