Research

Quentin Frew and Mrs Smith

New research into hot-water bottle burns

New research - the first of its kind in Europe - has revealed the dangers of the spontaneous rupture of hot-water bottles. Burn injuries resulting from hot-water bottle use is authored by Quentin Frew (Anglia Ruskin Visiting Clinical Fellow), Dr Shehab Jabir and Professor Peter Dziewulski of the St Andrew's Anglia Ruskin (StAAR) Research Unit, a partnership between our University and the world-renowned St Andrews's Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns.

The research using the case notes of 50 patients found that half of all injuries were the result of the bottle bursting, and of these, 17 cases showed no clear evidence of misuse and the bottle appeared to have burst spontaneously. Mrs Brenda Smith received treatment from the St Andrew's Centre following a burns injury caused by a hot-water bottle and required an 8-day stay in the centre and a skin graft.

Quentin Frew said: "There is a need to increase awareness of the ability of hot-water bottles to cause significant long-term burn injuries and also to highlight the precautionary measures that could be taken to prevent such injuries."

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting

Members of our Vision & Eye Research Unit (VERU) attended the world's largest gathering of over 12,500 international eye and vision researchers at the 2012 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting in Florida. The main theme of the meeting was focused on continuing to bridge the gap that exists between scientific discoveries and the treatment of vision disorders. VERU presented new research data in the areas of myopia, cataracts, glaucoma, low vision and auditory perception in the visually impaired.

Funding for two Doctorates

Dr Geraldine Davis (Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education) has secured funding from the Multiple Sclerosis Society to support the fees for two Professional Doctorates over a 4-year period. This is a new initiative with the MS Society and we have also welcomed Dr Paul Bull from the MS Society as an Honorary Visiting Fellow.

Nordic/UK research

Professor Carol Munn-Giddings and Roar Stokken (of the Møre and Romsdal Hospital Trust in Volda, Norway) launched a special issue of the International Journal of Self-help and Self-Care on Nordic forms of self-help/mutual aid. Speakers at the meeting compared Nordic experiences with UK, European and US counterparts. This seminar was attended by representatives from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, who funded two workshops in 2010 which brought together researchers from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to assist in the development of articles for this special issue.

Philippa Derrington

Music therapy for teenagers

The first ever study to show the quantitative benefits of music therapy for teenagers at secondary school was discussed at a conference at our Cambridge campus in November. Philippa Derrington (PhD student with us), who carried out the research over 19 months at the Cottenham Academy, presented her findings at a two-day conference focusing on music therapy and drama therapy.

Her study investigated whether music therapy can improve the emotional well-being of adolescents at risk of exclusion or underachievement. Specifically, it addressed music therapy's impact on students' self-esteem, anxiety, attitude towards learning, behaviour and relationships with peers. Philippa is also a full-time music therapist at The Centre School, a special school for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties, and part of the Cottenham Academy.

Philippa said: "This study has shown that music therapy can reduce anxiety, increase a student's self-esteem and can help to reduce disruptive behaviour. If subsequent studies prove the benefits of music therapy on a wider scale, then I believe there is certainly a case for it to be made available in secondary schools across the UK."