Re-imagining the ‘social’ in the nutrition sciences

AbstractObjectiveIn response to The New Nutrition Science Project's Giessen Declaration, we provide here a case for a more fully described and integrated ‘social’ dimension within the nutrition sciences.DesignThis paper explores what we mean when we argue for socially engaged nutrition sciences (SENS), and describes the disciplinary fields, epistemologies and methodologies that contribute to SENS’ potential rich diversity and value. Additionally, the current positioning of ‘social nutrition’ research within the nutrition sciences is critiqued.ResultsThere is fairly broad acceptance of the ‘social’ as an important contributor to successful public health nutrition situation analyses, intervention planning and implementation. However, we assert that the ‘social’ is not merely a contributor, the usual position, but is central. Implications for policy and practice that could follow from this shift in approach are outlined.ConclusionsWe call for researchers, educators, policy makers and practitioners alike to re-imagine the role and purpose of social science enquiry that could enable the delivery of more socially engaged nutrition sciences.

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Social Experiences of Breastfeeding

10.1332/policypress/9781447338499.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Child Health ◽

Social Science Research ◽

Science Research ◽

Social Experiences ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Cultural Contexts ◽

The Social ◽

Real Change

This book brings together international academics, policy makers, and practitioners to build bridges between the real world and scholarship on breastfeeding. It asks the question: How can the latest social science research into breastfeeding be used to improve support at both policy and practice level, in order to help women breastfeed and to breastfeed for longer? The book includes discussion about the social and cultural contexts of breastfeeding and looks at how policy and practice can apply this to women's experiences. This will be essential reading for academics, policy makers and practitioners in public health, midwifery, child health, sociology, women's studies, psychology, human geography, and anthropology, who want to make a real change for mothers.

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Military Veterans and Welfare Reform: Bridging Two Policy Worlds through Qualitative Longitudinal Research

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s1474746421000166 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Lisa Scullion ◽

Katy Jones ◽

Peter Dwyer ◽

Celia Hynes ◽

Philip Martin

Keyword(s):

Welfare Reform ◽

Longitudinal Research ◽

Military Veterans ◽

Armed Forces ◽

Veterans Affairs ◽

Civilian Life ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Social ◽

The Uk

There has been an increasing focus in the UK on the support provided to the Armed Forces community, with the publication of the Armed Forces Covenant (2011), the Strategy for our Veterans (2018) and the first ever Office for Veterans’ Affairs (2019). There is also an important body of research – including longitudinal research – focusing on transitions from military to civilian life, much of which is quantitative. At the same time, the UK has witnessed a period of unprecedented welfare reform. However, research focused on veterans’ interactions with the social security system has been largely absent. This article draws on the authors’ experiences of undertaking qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to address this knowledge gap. We reflect on how QLR was essential in engaging policy makers enabling the research to bridge the two parallel policy worlds of veterans’ support and welfare reform, leading to significant policy and practice impact.

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Hard facts and misfits: essential ingredients of public health nutrition research

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665121000574 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Ann Prentice

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Health Nutrition ◽

Nutrition Research

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Strengthening public health nutrition research and training capacities in West Africa: Report of a planning workshop convened in Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 March 2009

Global Public Health ◽

10.1080/17441692.2010.526126 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 5 (sup1) ◽

pp. S1-S19 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Kenneth H. Brown ◽

Milla McLachlan ◽

Placido Cardosa ◽

Félicité Tchibindat ◽

Shawn K. Baker

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

West Africa ◽

Public Health Nutrition ◽

Nutrition Research ◽

And Training

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The National Referral Database: An initial overview

10.31236/osf.io/rgywq ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

James Steele ◽

Matthew Wade ◽

Marie Polley ◽

Robert J. Copeland ◽

Stuart Stokes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Data Cleaning ◽

Current Trend ◽

Big Data Analytics ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Local Data ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Exercise Medicine ◽

Exercise Referral

Background: In 2014 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) called for development of a system to collate local data on exercise referral schemes (ERS) to inform future practice. This database would be used to facilitate continued evaluation of ERS. ‘Big data’ analytics is a current trend in healthcare with the potential to influence decision making. Indeed, the use of health databases can spur scientific investigation and generation of evidence regarding healthcare practice. NICEs recommendation has not yet been met by public health bodies. However, through collaboration between ukactive, ReferAll, a specialist in software solutions for exercise referral, and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, data has been collated from multiple UK based ERS to generate one of the largest databases of its kind and move towards meeting NICEs recommendation. Method: This paper describes the formation of The National Referral Database, its structure including outcome measures, data cleaning processes, and in two accompanying manuscripts the first initial observational insights are presented from analysis of this data. Results: Collating data from 19 ERSs on 24,086 individuals, a database has been created containing pre and post referral data for metrics including; physical activity, blood pressure, BMI, resting heart rate, SWEMWBS scores, ESES scores, WHO5 scores and ERQoL scores. After data cleaning processes there were 14 ERSs remaining covering 23,782 participants with an average age of 51±15 years and 68% of whom were female. Further, the database contains demographic information, reason for referral, medical conditions, and information on the referrer. Conclusion: This database has now been created and the initial data is available for researchers to interrogate. The National Referral Database represents a potentially valuable resource for the wider research community, as well as policy makers and practitioners in this area, which will facilitate a better understanding of ERS and other physical activity related social prescribing pathways to help inform public health policy and practice. Longer term plans include establishment of the database as an open resource, continually updated with additional data and version controls, for researchers to access for further research and policy makers and practitioners to use to inform their policies/practices.

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Connecting nutrition as a hard science and international knowledge networks: Proceedings of the Fourth International Summit on Medical and Public Health Nutrition Education and Research

BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health ◽

10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000090 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. bmjnph-2020-000090

Author(s):

Eden M Barrett ◽

Mhairi Brown ◽

Luke Buckner ◽

James Bradfield ◽

Ali A Khalid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Nutrition Education ◽

Knowledge Networks ◽

Medical Professionals ◽

Public Health Nutrition ◽

Open Communication ◽

Hard Science ◽

Nutrition Research ◽

International Knowledge ◽

International Summit

IntroductionNutrition is a ‘hard’ science in two ways; the scientific rigour required for quality nutrition research, and equally, the challenges faced in evidence translation. Ways in which quality nutrition research can be synthesised and evidence effectively translated into practice were the focus of the Fourth Annual International Summit on Medical and Public Health Nutrition Education and Research.SettingWolfson College, University of Cambridge, and Addenbrookes Hospital at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, in July 2018.Key findingsOpen communication and collaboration across disciplines and systems, including transfer of knowledge, ideas and data through international knowledge application networks, was presented as a key tool in enhancing nutrition research and translation of evidence. Increasing basic nutrition competence and confidence in medical professionals is needed to encourage the implementation of nutrition therapy in prevention and treatment of health outcomes.ConclusionsA sustained focus on producing quality nutrition research must be coupled with increased efforts in collaboration and building of knowledge networks, including educating and training multidisciplinary health and medical professionals in nutrition. Such efforts are needed to ensure nutrition is both reliable in its messaging and effective in translation into healthcare.

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Evaluating Social Work: Progress and Prospects

Research on Social Work Practice ◽

10.1177/104973159700700301 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 291-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Juliet Cheetham

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Research Policy ◽

Full Potential ◽

Social Worlds ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Social Work Research ◽

The Social ◽

Evaluative Research ◽

Evidence Of Impact

Within the past decade, evaluative research has achieved an established and well-regarded place within the repertoire of social work inquiry. Although increasingly wide-ranging and methodologically sophisticated, social work evaluation still has to contend with important challenges. These include taking greater account of the several audiences of research, namely, service users, practitioners, and policy makers; developing, through a variety of research methods, the range and quality of evidence of impact; and drawing research, policy, and practice into closer union. To reach its full potential, social work research must focus both on individuals and their social worlds and must therefore be firmly rooted in the social sciences.

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Translation of Evidence into Practice: Public Health Nutrition Research

Journal of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka ◽

10.4038/jccpsl.v27i1.8417 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 254

Author(s):

Renuka Jayatissa

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Health Nutrition ◽

Nutrition Research

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Knowledge translation and health policy for burden of disease

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.1380 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

E Pallari ◽

S T Thomsen ◽

H B M Hilderink

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Knowledge Translation ◽

Burden Of Disease ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Regional Office ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Public ◽

European Public ◽

Disability Adjusted Life ◽

Life Years

Abstract A key goal of most Burden of Disease (BoD) studies is to support public health policies. However, while the concepts of BoD and Disability Adjusted Life years have been introduced more than 25 years, BoD researchers are still struggling to find better ways to translate their findings and communicate them to the relevant decision makers and other stakeholders. To address this gap, the burden-eu COST Action aims to generate better guidance of the use of BoD metrics in policy-making processes. In collaboration with experts in knowledge translation and risk communication, the Action will compile good practices in knowledge translation and develop a roadmap to integrate knowledge translation in national BOD studies. To support these objectives, collaborations have been established with knowledge translation experts from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and the European Public Health Association. During an initial meeting of the “knowledge translation” working group, 29 participants identified elements in the pathway from evidence generation to practice that need to be addressed. Building on the outcomes of this meeting and the inputs from the knowledge translation experts, this presentation will introduce the knowledge translation framework, and address some of the challenges in identifying best routes to reach out to the public and policy-makers. Specific emphasis will be placed in profiling the context, actors and processes of each country within the policy triangle, and drawing on best and worst example case studies. Additionally, the process will be discussed to co-create a toolkit or guide for using BoD evidence in policy and practice. The session will conclude with an interaction with the audience to learn about the perceived barriers for implementing knowledge translation within the BoD framework.

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