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for a whole-institution approach to
sustainability and social responsibility,
spanning the formal and informal
curriculum.
Keele was part of the pilot cohort of
Responsible Futures institutions in
2014 and has this year received its
second re-accreditation. To achieve reaccreditation,
the University submitted
evidence for each of the criteria, and
recruited student auditors to assist with
processing and evaluating evidence
and explanations of how the University
met the criteria.
For 2019-20, Keele has also been
a host partner and supported
and mentored other institutions'
partnerships, and hosted a half day
online support day, delivering two
sessions exploring learning from
failure, and sharing student voices on
how the core curriculum informs cocurricular
learning.
Sarah Briggs, Sustainability
Project Officer, said: “Being part
of Responsible Futures gives the
University and SU Partnership
opportunities to reflect on how
we're embedding sustainability into
the curriculum and wider student
experience.
“Engaging students in the reaccreditation
process offers unique
opportunities for them to see the work
that goes on in the 'background' to
embed sustainability genuinely into
all we do. Although this opportunity
enables students to develop skills,
many comment about the impressive
breadth of sustainability work Keele is
doing, and how valuable it was to be
involved in the auditing."
Sarah Ellis, CEO of Keele University
Students’ Union, said: “Being involved
in Responsible Futures and able to
work on sustainability as a truly joint
approach between the University and
students is wonderful. It ensures that
sustainability is embedded in all areas
of the student experience whether
that is within the curriculum from an
academic perspective, or simply with
the type of containers used to take-out
food from our outlets. By embedding
sustainability as we have been means
we are working considerably towards
this behaviour becoming the norm.”
New study underway to improve
mental health treatment in
Pakistan
Keele University’s Professor Saeed
Farooq is leading a new study which
aims to improve the identification and
treatment of psychosis in young people
in Pakistan.
Professor Farooq, from Keele’s School
of Primary, Community and Social
Care, has been awarded £786,653 by
the Medical Research Council to carry
out research in Pakistan which will
aim to develop a culturally appropriate
and targeted intervention for the early
identification, referral and management
of a young person first experiencing
psychotic symptoms.
The average duration of untreated
psychosis in Low and Middle Income
Countries (LMIC) is more than two
years. This can result in severe
consequences for physical and mental
health in young people with almost
all patients and their families seeking
treatment from traditional healers
before turning to psychiatric services.
The research will help to prevent
long-term consequences of untreated
psychosis by training traditional and
spiritual healers in early detection and
treatment of psychosis, and working
collaboratively with primary care
practitioners in a typical LMIC setting in
Pakistan.
The study will be the first to develop
and test a model of working with
traditional healers using a rigorous
randomised controlled design.
Professor Farooq said: “I am absolutely
delighted at this funding success. This
shows that Keele is a global leader
in health research that can make a
difference in the lives of young people
worldwide.
“In order to provide timely and effective
interventions, it is incredibly important
to increase collaboration between
traditional healers and primary care
providers as they are typically the first
port of call for the families of young
people suffering from psychosis.
We hope that this study will help to
increase awareness in the community
about early signs of psychosis so that
young people can seek the help they
need sooner.”
Researchers investigate if wearable
devices can really detect epileptic
seizures
Keele researchers are inviting
people with epilepsy to take part in
a new study investigating opinions
and experiences of using wearable
technology to detect seizures.
Led by PhD student Tendai Rukasha
and Dr Sandra Woolley from Keele
University’s School of Computing and
Mathematics, the team are running
a survey, with the help of the charity
Epilepsy Action, and are calling on
people with epilepsy, healthcare
professionals, or carers who use
wearable devices to detect seizures, to
take part.
The researchers are studying this topic
after publishing a recent literature
review which found this was an
under-researched area, despite many
studies proposing and evaluating new
approaches for detecting seizures.
Their review, published in the journal
Electronics, found that there is a lack
of studies evaluating the wearable
devices available to consumers and
researchers and whether they can be
used to detect seizures, adding that
there is much scope for more complete
evaluation data in quantitative studies.
They also found that there is much
scope for further studies amongst
individuals, carers, and healthcare
professionals regarding their use,
experiences, and opinions of these
devices.
Their latest research is a set of
questionnaires for either individuals
with epilepsy, healthcare professionals
or carers - potentially including
teachers and colleagues as well as
friends and family – to judge their
experiences of using wearable
technology to detect epileptic seizures.
The findings will contribute to the
evaluation and future developments
of wearable devices that can detect