Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen.

The development of Interprofessional Education (IPE) in Aberdeen during the last 20 years has had a distinctive Scottish focus as the health and social care agenda in north of the border has become increasingly different from that in England. Since 1999 the devolved government in Scotland introduced different legislation and policies in a different health care system impacting on IPE development

I can step outside my comfort zone.

On embarking upon such a multifactorial, professional degree as Pharmacy, students often find it difficult to meld the scientific- and practice-based components of the course. In final year of the undergraduate Masters of Pharmacy degree (MPharm) within the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at Robert Gordon University (RGU), students undertake a research project within a specific area. The aims of this study were to explore the effectiveness of a novel practice based approach to a biomedical science project, to identify elements of difficulty in the process, and to explore students' perceptions and reflections. Final year students were assigned to perform a systematic literature review working within a defined area of pharmacovigilance. Students were given individual ownership of the research question and were able to choose a topic of interest. Following the successful completion of the assignment, students were invited to explore their attitudes and views of the project and reflect on the process through a focus group using a talking wall method. The findings clearly identified a shift in mindset from predominantly negative opinions initially to an overwhelming positive viewpoint

Inter-agency adult support and protection practice:a realistic evaluation with police, health and social care professionals

Purpose: Collaborative inter-agency working is of paramount importance for the public protection agenda worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the findings from a research study on the inter-agency working within adult support and protection (ASP) roles in the police, health and social care.Design/methodology/approach: This realistic evaluation study with two inter-related phases was funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. This paper reports on Phase 1 which identified existing gaps in the implementation of effective inter-agency practice by reviewing the “state of play” in inter-agency collaboration between the police and health and social care professionals. In total, 13 focus groups comprising representatives from Police Scotland (n¼52), Social Care (n¼31) and Health (n¼18), engaged in single profession and mixed profession groups addressing issues including referral and information exchange.Findings: On analysing context-mechanism-outcome (CMO), gaps in joint working were identified and attributed to the professionals’ own understanding of inter-agency working and the expectations of partner agencies. It recommended the need for further research and inter-agency training on public protection. Research limitations/implications – This unique Scottish study successfully identified the inter-agency practices of health, social services and police. By means of a modified realistic evaluation approach, it provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges that professionals face on a day-to-day basis when safeguarding adults and informed strategic recommendations to overcome the barriers to good practices in organisational working. The methods used to determine CMO could benefit other researchers to develop studies exploring the complexities of multi-causal effects of cross-boundary working. The use of the same case study in each focus group helped to neutralise bias. However, the voluntary nature of participation could have resulted in biased perceptions. The limited numbers of health professionals may have resulted in less representation of health sector views.Practical implications: Collaborative inter-agency working is of paramount importance for public protection worldwide. This paper reports on a Scottish study that focussed on the coordinated and integrated practices amongst the police, health and social services’ professionals who support and protect adult members of society at risk of harm.Social implications: Whilst the focus of this study has been on ASP, the conclusions and recommendations are transferable to public protection issues in many other contexts.Originality/value: Studies on the joint-working practices amongst police and health and social services’ professionals who support and protect adult members of society at risk of harm are uncommon. This  study investigated professionals’ perceptions of gaps and concerns pertaining to integrated working by means of a realistic evaluation approach. It recommended the need for further research and inter-agency training on public protection

Motherhood and poverty in eighteenth-century Aberdeen.

"The direction of the food, cloaths and other necessaries for the persons of children falls to the mother's share during at least their state of infancy if not during all their childhood and frequently longer, in which one ought principally to consider their health and strength and assistance must be had from those of skill and experience." -- This advice on how to be a good mother, dating from the 1740s, was given by an educated middle-class doctor to his teenage daughter. In a series of letters, the concerned father discussed not only the merits of good parenting, but also a variety of other subjects of concern to an affluent young woman in the eighteenth century. The correspondence constituted a manual of behaviour that was not itself unique at this time in Scotland, but provides an example that is striking in both its content and scope. In the late twentieth century, advice to mothers comes not only from their parents and from other mothers, but also from government agencies, health professionals and - it seems unceasingly - from the media. There are shops, magazines and self-help organisations meeting the specific needs of mothers and children. Mothers, moreover, are made virtually into icons of social continuity, which has its own downside. It is on the mother that critics publicly place much of the responsibility for many social problems; it is suggested that, were she to be at home more, there would be less youth vandalism, and children would learn better at school and have a better start in life. The list of community problems laid at the feet of mothers can seem endless. Furthermore, in contemporary Britain, the perception of single mothers as a financial drain on society is much encouraged. The idea of the intrinsic social worth of mothers thus has an equally powerful negative side to it. This chapter addresses how particular forms of such an interpretation of maternity operated in eighteenth-century Scotland and the effect that these had on mothers. The chapter focuses particularly on the experiences of those mothers whose situation brought them into the orbit of the Poor Law

Yellow card reports associated with use of natural health products in children: an exploratory analysis.

Abstract of a presentation given at the Research council for complementary medicine 2015 conference (RCCM): demonstrating the value of integrative medicine, 10 September, London, UK

The use of complementary and alternative medicine among children in Aberdeen: an outcomes-based cross-sectional survey.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in paediatric subjects is increasing globally. However, most of the data available in the UK is based on hospital-based studies; and studies of such use in the general population are scarce. Also, available British studies were mostly conducted in England; with much fewer Scottish studies. The only such study in Aberdeen, North-east Scotland, was conducted 10 years ago. Current data on the subject is therefore needed, particularly for paediatric CAM use in the general population

Autonomy and visibility:the rewards of mobile working

What are the benefits of mobile working? When Police Scotland rolled out devices to 11,000 officers, they called on an independent academic team to assess the results - which were overwhelmingly positive. Chief Inspector Martin Gallagher, Deputy Business Lead, outlines the project, alongside Professor Lesley Diack of Robert Gordon University and Dr. William Graham of Abertay University.<br/

Benefits of implementation of mobile devices with frontline police officers in Police Scotland

STUDY BACKGROUND: The ‘Mobile Working Project’ is part of Police Scotland’s ‘Digitally Enabled Policing Programme’ (DEPP), which seeks to equip operational officers with a digital mobile policing solution to replace the traditional paper notebook system, to provide remote, live access to key policing information systems.The project’s aim is to increase efficiency and improve frontline service delivery, and visibility, for both officers and the communities of Scotland.STUDY AIM: The research study’s aim was to evaluate the implementation, impact, and benefits realisation, of the national phased roll-out of digital mobile policing across Police Scotland.The evaluation was undertaken concurrently with the phased Divisional roll-out of mobile devices, to identify associated issues, benefits and challenges; which will inform the final stages of roll-out to over 10000 police officers across Scotland

Using online communities to develop IPE in practice.

Interprofessional education has been perceived as problematic to teach, because of the logistics involved in managing large groups of students. The two universities in Aberdeen (Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen) decided to co-develop an online module that would combine face-to-face practical experience with computer-mediated discussion. Students interacted in interprofessional groups of 30, working to complete tasks depending on the year and course of study. These groups have the potential to stay together for the duration of the students' courses, helping to establish virtual learning communities that facilitate informal and serendipitous learning

‘Police Scotland mobile working project’:implementation and impact evaluation, and benefits realisation

The ‘Mobile Working Project’ is part of Police Scotland’s ‘Digitally Enabled Policing Programme’ (DEPP), which seeks to equip operational officers with a digital mobile policing solution to replace the traditional paper notebook system, to provide remote, live access to key policing information systems.The project’s aim is to increase efficiency and improve frontline service delivery, and visibility, for both officers and the communities of Scotland.To ensure a robust evidence base in respect of the realisation of benefits, Robert Gordon University (RGU) and Abertay University have been appointed to evaluate the implementation and impact of the national roll-out of digital mobile policing. This evaluation, which commenced in August 2019, will be undertaken concurrently with the phased Divisional roll-out of mobile devices across Police Scotland. The aim of the research is to assess the implementation and impact of the deployment of devices by identifying associated issues, benefits and challenges, which will inform future deployment. This will be achieved using the ‘Realistic Evaluation Approach’ that will identify (i) for whom it works; (ii) in what way, and (iii) why it works (and if not, why not?). This approach allows police officers’ attitudes, views, perceptions and experiences of working with the mobile devices and digital policing solutions to inform the implementation of mobile policing. The approach has previously been effectively used by the research team in engagement with Police Scotland in outcome evaluation research. It is proposed that these views and experiences, and perceived identified benefits, challenges and issues from their perspective, will be obtained through observation, case studies, telephone interviews and focus groups. Each has a specific advantage to informing the evaluation: i.e. focus groups enable disclosure and discussion of perspectives and experiences, whilst case studies and telephone interviews allow for the following through from training stage and issue of devices to their use in everyday policing throughout the phased roll-out.Officers invited to participate will include experienced police officers and officers in their probation, and other police personnel whose role enables them to highlight benefits and potential challenges from their perspective.Officers will be asked to give their consent to participate, and any information provided will be anonymised. Information will be processed, stored, and retained in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998; GDPR 2018); Police Scotland and Scottish Police Authority’s policies and guidelines, and RGU and Abertay University’s Ethics and Data Management Policies