National research and development project on healthy universities: final report

This report presents the findings of a National Research and Development Project, undertaken by the Healthy Settings Development Unit at the University of Central Lancashire and funded by the Higher Education Academy Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre and the Department of Health. The aim of the project was to scope and report on the potential for a national programme on Healthy Universities that could contribute to health, well-being and sustainable development. The project comprised four strands: - Literature Review: A rapid review of relevant academic and policy-related literature conducted in order to clarify theory, scope practice and distil key contextual issues. - HEI-level Research: Comprising an overview audit and follow-up mapping and consultative research, this strand of the project provided an overview of Healthy University activity across English HEIs, generated in-depth data from a purposive sample of universities and explored perspectives on the potential development of a national programme on Healthy Universities. - National-Level Stakeholder Research: Using semi-structured interviews with nine key national stakeholder organisations, this strand of the project mapped current health-related roles and responsibilities and explored views regarding the potential development of a national programme on Healthy Universities. - Joint Action Planning and Reporting: In addition to reporting interim findings at relevant conferences and events, an interactive workshop was held with members of the English National Healthy Universities Network to present findings, validate data, inform the action planning process and secure further buy-in. The project highlighted that higher education offers enormous potential to impact positively on the health and well-being of students, staff and the wider community through education, research, knowledge exchange and institutional practice. It also suggested that investment for health within the sector will further contribute to core agendas such as staff and student recruitment, experience and retention; and institutional and societal productivity and sustainability. The research revealed the richness of activity taking place within HEIs and evidenced a rapid increase in interest in the Healthy University approach, pointing to a growing appreciation of the need for a comprehensive whole system approach that can map and understand interrelationships, interactions and synergies within higher education settings – with regard to different groups of the population, different components of the system and different health issues. There is a clear challenge involved in introducing and integrating ‘health’ within a sector that does not have this as its central aim, is characterised by ‘initiative overload’, is experiencing resource constraints and comprises fiercely autonomous institutions. However, there is also a widening recognition that such a system-based approach has significant added value – offering the potential to address health in a coherent and joined-up way and to forge connections to both health-related targets and core drivers within higher education. The report concludes that there is clear demand for national-level stakeholder organisations to demonstrate leadership through championing and resourcing a Healthy Universities Programme that not only adds value within the higher education sector, but also helps to build consistency of approach across the entire spectrum of education. It issues a number of recommendations with a view to responding to the findings and moving forward

Healthy Universities: Concept, Model and Framework for Applying the Healthy Settings Approach within Higher Education in England

As part of a Department of Health funded project, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) – working with Manchester Metropolitan University – was commissioned by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), to: - articulate a model for Healthy Universities whereby the healthy settings approach is applied within the higher education sector - produce recommendations for the development and operationalisation of a National Healthy Universities Framework for England - to ensure effective co-ordination of initiatives and propose next steps for progressing the Healthy Universities agenda. In fulfilment of these objectives, this report provides a background to Healthy Universities, outlines the project implementation process, presents a model, discusses the key dimensions for consideration in formulating a framework, and makes recommendations for taking things forward

Healthy University – University of Central Lancashire

In 1995, the University of Central Lancashire became one of the first few universities to establish a Healthy University initiative – now one of the longest-running initiatives of its kind worldwide. This case study details the context, provides an overview of the initiative and uses food as a focus for illustrating how the whole system Healthy University approach has been developed and implemented in practice. It also introduces the UK Healthy Universities Network

Quantum Computation as Geometry

Quantum computers hold great promise, but it remains a challenge to find efficient quantum circuits that solve interesting computational problems. We show that finding optimal quantum circuits is essentially equivalent to finding the shortest path between two points in a certain curved geometry. By recasting the problem of finding quantum circuits as a geometric problem, we open up the possibility of using the mathematical techniques of Riemannian geometry to suggest new quantum algorithms, or to prove limitations on the power of quantum computers.Comment: 13 Pages, 1 Figur

Choice of Measurement Sets in Qubit Tomography

Optimal generalized measurements for state estimation are well understood. However, practical quantum state tomography is typically performed using a fixed set of projective measurements and the question of how to choose these measurements has been largely unexplored in the literature. In this work we develop theoretical asymptotic bounds for the average fidelity of pure qubit tomography using measurement sets whose axes correspond to vertices of Platonic solids. We also present complete simulations of maximum likelihood tomography for mixed qubit states using the Platonic solid measurements. We show that overcomplete measurement sets can be used to improve the accuracy of tomographic reconstructions.Comment: 13 Pages, 6 figure

The Double-edged Sword: A Mixed Methods Study of the Interplay between Bipolar Disorder and Technology Use

Human behavior is increasingly reflected or acted out through technology. This is of particular salience when it comes to changes in behavior associated with serious mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Early detection is crucial for these conditions but presently very challenging to achieve. Potentially, characteristics of these conditions\u27 traits and symptoms, at both idiosyncratic and collective levels, may be detectable through technology use patterns. In bipolar disorder specifically, initial evidence associates changes in mood with changes in technology-mediated communication patterns. However much less is known about how people with bipolar disorder use technology more generally in their lives, how they view their technology use in relation to their illness, and, perhaps most crucially, the causal relationship (if any exists) between their technology use and their disease. To address these uncertainties, we conducted a survey of people with bipolar disorder (N = 84). Our results indicate that technology use varies markedly with changes in mood and that technology use broadly may have potential as an early warning signal of mood episodes. We also find that technology for many of these participants is a double-edged sword: acting as both a culprit that can trigger or exacerbate symptoms as well as a support mechanism for recovery. These findings have implications for the design of both early warning systems and technology-mediated interventions