Future Events

AWARD/CHIRAL/QUIC Conference 'It's all in the mix' 4 December 2008, Swansea
** Abstract Deadline Extended**- 5 November 2008
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) produce high-quality evidence about the effectiveness of new treatments. Increasingly, quantitative and qualitative methods are used within RCTs to gather a fuller picture of new interventions and how they work. This conference will explore issues of compatibility and costs of mixing methods. Full details of how to register for this conference please click Registration Form
Call for poster abstracts: Do you have experience of mixing methods in health related research? If so, we are interested in hearing about your results and/or the process. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed anonymously and successful submissions will be published on the AWARD website.
Deadline: 5 November 2008
Guidelines and Submission Form

999 EMS Research Forum Conference 'What's New in Emergency Pre-hospital Care Research' 26 November 2008

This Conference is organised by the 999 EMS Research Forum in collaboration with the University of Sheffield and the National Ambulance Research Steering Group. Abstracts are invited for submission with particular emphasis on new models of care and roles including Emergency Care Practitioners. Abstract submission deadline: 20 October 2008.
To register, and information regarding the submission of abstracts for this conference, please click Registration and Abstract Submission

CHIRAL Seminars
An excellent way to share and update knowledge, meet people, find out something new. These are held regularly throughout the year at Swansea University. Past speakers have included Professor Helen Snooks, Professor John Williams, Sandra Carlisle, Dr Giles Croft. For further information about the Chiral Seminars please contact Angela Evans or see Chiral website

Health Challenge Wales Seminars
PHIRN, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, is running a free quarterly seminar series. The Evidence for Policy Seminar Series aims to make a major contribution to maximising the relevance of research for policy and facilitating evidence based policy for health improvement by bringing together key academics, practitioners and policy makers. For more information click here

Past Events

Involving People Progress Meeting 19 March 2008 Swansea
AWARD’s Alison Porter and Angela Evans, along with Colin Thomson from the Involving People network, gave a presentation on how members of the public have contributed to the UPCUUCS project on accessing unscheduled health care.
For photographs of the event please click here. Please note this is a large document.

Small-Scale Evaluation in Health
This practical guide, co-authored by Professor Helen Snooks (AWARD), sets out the basics of designing, conducting and analysing an evaluation study in healthcare. The authors take a practical approach covering all the basics and assuming no previous knowledge or experience of evaluation.
To order a copy of this book please click here

QUIC/AWARD Conference 'It's all in the mix' 5 December 2007
This conference combined workshop style and oral presentations. Oral presentations were from key speakers in the field of mixed methods in health service research; for further information click here.

Following a Call for Poster Abstracts, the successful entrants were shortlisted and subsequently peer-reviewed at the conference. Successful submissions are available to view here.

Photographs of the event available here and here.
Please note: These are large documents.

JRCALC Annual Conference 27 November 2007
Each year JRCALC holds a conference for those involved in out-of-hospital care with an ambulance clinical focus. The event provides an educationally recognised opportunity for paramedics, doctors, nurses and all those involved in delivering care 'at the sharp end' to get together and discuss challenges, research and controversial topics in the conducive surroundings of a leading London Royal Medical College. The event this year was held at the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Red Lion Square, London.

AWARD Conference: North Wales 2007
An AWARD Conference was held on Friday 30th March 2007 at University of Wales, Bangor. The theme of the conference was 'Working together to deliver evidence based care'- improving health, improving care, improving knowledge. For an overview of the conference please click here

TRUST Workshop
The Thematic Research network for emergency and Unscheduled Treatment (TRUST) put on its first workshop on January 17, 2007 in Bridgend, Wales. The workshop was entitled: “Ideas into action; making research happen’. For more information about TRUST click here.

Good Clinical Practice Training
The GCP training days held in July 2006 at Swansea University, jointly hosted by AWARD and T Symons Associates Clinical Research Consultancy received excellent feedback.

999 EMS Research Forum: Harrogate, 28,29,30 June 2006
This year AWARD supported the 8th meeting of the 999 EMS Research Forum which was held within the main programme. AMBEX There were presentations of peer-reviewed research, poster sessions, an evening reception, workshops and awards for high quality research.
Peer reviewed abstracts
Peer reviewed abstracts selected for the 999 EMS Research Forum 2006 for presentation at Ambex are now in print in the Emergency Medicine Journal (EMJ). Twenty abstracts have been published, and include a range of topics - from the onscene care of patients with head injuries to the evaluation of emergency care practitioners. Prizes were awarded for: 1. Department of Health sponsored 'Best research paper' won by Emma Knowles from Sheffield University - Emma won a trip to a conference in the USA; 2. EMJ sponsored 'Best Poster' won by Ian Jones from Pre-hospital Emergency Research Unit, Cardiff - Ian won a £75 book token; 3. Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) sponsored 'Research most likely to affect practice' won by Nadine Levick from Maimonides Medical Centre, New York - Nadine won a £75 book token.

AWARD/CHIRAL Conference Swansea, 21st June 2006
'Building R&D in health and social care in Wales: Improving health, improving care, improving knowledge'
This conference was a tremendous success, jointly hosted by Mid and West Wales AWARD and CHIRAL, the Centre for Health Information, Research and Evaluation in the School of Medicine at Swansea University.

Systematic Review Symposium Cymru
AWARD held its First Systematic Review Symposium Cymru in April 2006. The event was opened by Professor John Williams (Director of the Welsh Office of Research and Development, WORD). This was followed by a presentation by Dr Fergus Macbeth (Director of the National Cancer Centre for Cancer). Systematic Reviews: What are they? What is going on in Wales? Brief overviews were then given by representatives from three other established review groups in Wales: Dr Mike Shelley from the Cochrane Urological Cancers Group, Dr Alison Kemp from the Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group, and Mr Philip Satherley from the Wales Centre for Evidence Based care, which is a Collaborating Centre for the Joanna Briggs Institute.
The second session included presentations about important review groups outside of Wales. This included presentations by Professor Mike Clarke from the Cochrane Collaboration and Dr Nerys Woolacott from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York University. The afternoon session focused on the latest methodological issues relating to systematic reviews and included a presentation by Professor Gordon Guyatt from McMaster University in Canada; Dr Alison Weightman from the Support Unit for Research Evidence at Cardiff University; Dr Alex Sutton from the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester; and Dr Mark Petticrew from the MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University. Systematic reviews for public health: new challenges and new directions The day was brought to a close with a discussion on the future direction of systematic reviews in Wales.