Our research

Lifestyle factors are key determinants of health and wellbeing. Increasing numbers of people have chronic and intractable conditions, with little hope of complete recovery. This is a huge issue for the NHS. Numbers continue to grow but standard biomedical responses alone are often ineffective or come with significant debilitating side effects.

Helping people make behavioural changes to improve their well-being can offer a life-changing transformation in their ability to self-manage their illness. This is where Marjon students are contributing to key developments in partnership with local organisations. Funded by the Office for Students and Research England, we’re undertaking a research project to explore how student-led knowledge exchange can flourish.

The effectiveness of the Marjon Health and Wellbeing model is proven. Key research findings include:

80% accelerated healing rates in leg ulcer patients
Reduced disability and increased strength, fitness and physical activity in back pain patients
Improved fitness and quality of life in cancer patients, regardless of cancer type or stage

The initial focus is the sector-leading Marjon Health and Wellbeing clinics. These clinics involve our students working with members of the public to help them manage long-term conditions, prepare for cancer treatment, or enhance their everyday health and wellbeing in the workplace. And they’re a perfect example of the Marjon philosophy – working with partners for the benefit of the local community as well as offering excellent real-world learning opportunities for students.

There is strong evidence that the Marjon Health and Wellbeing clinics are highly effective at encouraging behaviour change amongst participants. The inclusion of students in their management seems to help patients relax and participating in groups in a non-medical setting is a novel approach. But we don’t yet know what the magic ingredients are! And we know relatively little about how participating in clinics helps students learn and prepare for the workforce.

Our project will develop a model of ‘student-led knowledge exchange’, this simply means that knowledge that is produced within universities is shared by students who are in dialogue with members of local communities. We’re already hearing from students about how they better understand the complexity of a condition when they are confronted with real people rather than textbooks. We want to increase opportunities for students to learn through this route: As more students go out into the workforce understanding how to promote self-management, this will transform healthcare in the 21st century.

Our recent research publications

Grigoriou, Stefania S., Krase, Argyro A., Karatzaferi, Christina, Giannaki, Christoforos D., Lavdas, Eleftherios, Mitrou, Georgia I., Bloxham, Saul, Stefanidis, Ioannis and Sakkas, Giorgos K. (2021) Long-term intradialytic hybrid exercise training on fatigue symptoms in patients receiving hemodialysis therapy. International Urology and Nephrology. ISSN 0301-1623

Rosa, Clara Suemi Costa, Giannaki, Christoforos D., Krase, Argyro, Mplekou, Meropi, Grigoriou, Stefania S., Stefanidis, Ioannis, Lavdas, Eleftherios, Pappas, Aggelos, Bloxham, Saul, Karatzaferi, Christina and Sakkas, Giorgos K. (2020) Effects of 12 months of detraining on health-related quality of life in patients receiving hemodialysis therapy. International Urology and Nephrology, 52 (9). pp. 1771-1778. ISSN 0301-1623

Millyard, Alison, Layden, Joe D., Pyne, David B., Edwards, Andrew M. and Bloxham, Saul R. (2020) Impairments to Thermoregulation in the Elderly During Heat Exposure Events. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 6. ISSN 2333-7214

Ogden, Henry B., Child, Robert B., Fallowfield, Joanne L., Delves, Simon K., Westwood, Caroline S., Millyard, Alison and Layden, Joseph D. (2020) Gastrointestinal Tolerance of Low, Medium and High Dose Acute Oral l-Glutamine Supplementation in Healthy Adults: A Pilot Study. Nutrients, 12 (10). ISSN 2072-6643

Ogden, Henry B., Fallowfield, Joanne L., Child, Robert B., Davison, Glen, Fleming, Simon C., Edinburgh, Robert M., Delves, Simon K., Millyard, Alison, Westwood, Caroline S. and Layden, Joseph D. (2020) Reliability of Gastrointestinal Barrier Integrity and Microbial Translocation Biomarkers at Rest and Following Exertional Heat Stress. (In Press)

Ogden, Henry B., Child, Robert B., Fallowfield, Joanne L., Delves, Simon K., Westwood, Caroline S. and Layden, Joseph D. (2020) The Gastrointestinal Exertional Heat Stroke Paradigm: Pathophysiology, Assessment, Severity, Aetiology and Nutritional Countermeasures. Nutrients, 12 (2). p. 537. ISSN 2072-6643

Ogden, Henry B., Fallowfield, Joanne L., Child, Robert B., Davison, Glen, Fleming, Simon C., Delves, Simon K., Millyard, Alison, Westwood, Caroline S. and Layden, Joseph D. (2020) Influence of aerobic fitness on gastrointestinal barrier integrity and microbial translocation following a fixed-intensity military exertional heat stress test. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 120 (10). pp. 2325-2337. ISSN 1439-6319

Paterson, Juliet and Gibson, Kass (2020) (Chapter 11) PERFORMING IN CHAOS: COACHING TRANSITION TO YOUNG TRIATHLETES USING POSITIVE PEDAGOGY. In: Applied Positive Pedagogy in Sport Coaching: International Cases. Routledge, New York. ISBN 9781003043812

Gorczynski, Paul Filip, Gibson, Kass, Clarke, Nathan, Mensah, Tyrone and Summers, Rory (2019) Examining mental health literacy, help seeking behaviours, distress, and wellbeing in UK coaches. European Physical Education Review. ISSN 1356336X (Submitted)

Gorczynski, Paul, Currie, Alan, Gibson, Kass, Gouttebarge, Vincent, Hainline, Brian, Castaldelli-Maia, João Mauricio, Mountjoy, Margo, Purcell, Rosemary, Reardon, Claudia L., Rice, Simon and Swartz, Leslie (2020) Developing mental health literacy and cultural competence in elite sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. pp. 1-15. ISSN 1041-3200

Gibson, Kass (2020) ANIMALS, SPORT, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. In: Sport and the Environment: Politics and Preferred Futures. Emerald. ISBN 9781787690301

Thompson, Jonathan, Gabriel, Lynne, Yoward, Samantha and Dawson, Pamela (2021) The advanced practitioners’ perspective. Exploring the decision‐making process between musculoskeletal advanced practitioners and their patients: An interpretive phenomenological study. Musculoskeletal Care. ISSN 1478-2189

Defever, Emmanuel, Mwaanga, Oscar, Lee, Barbara and Jones, Michelle (2020) Evaluation of Practice to Promote Physical Activity in Schools in a Unitary Authority in England. Public Health. ISSN 0033-3506 (In Press)

Budzynski-Seymour, Emily, Conway, Rebecca, Wade, Matthew, Lucas, Alex, Jones, Michelle, Mann, Steve and Steele, James (2020) Physical Activity, Mental and Personal Well-Being, Social Isolation, and Perceptions of Academic Attainment and Employability in University Students: The Scottish and British Active Students Surveys. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1543-3080

Dorling, H, Mwaanga, O and Jones, Michelle (2020) Implementing physically active teaching and learning in primary school curricula in the United Kingdom. Education 3-13. ISSN 0300-4279 (In Press)

Defever, Emmanuel and Jones, Michelle (2021) Rapid Realist Review of School-Based Physical Activity Interventions in 7- to 11-Year-Old Children. Children, 8 (1). ISSN 2227-9067

Budzynski-Seymour, Emily, Jones, Michelle and Steele, James (2021) Influence of Public Health England’s Change4Life Disney Branded 10-minute Shake Ups on Children’s Post Activity Affective Response. Communications in Kinesiology, 1 (2). ISSN 2767-0732

Jones, Michelle (2019) Getting Young People Moving: Challenges, Myths and Opportunities. [Video]

Budzynski-Seymour, Emily, Jones, Michelle and Steele, James (2021) Can Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Help Children Be Physically Active? Exploring the Immersive Qualities of Les Mills’ and Marvel’s “Move Like the Avengers” Video. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (13). ISSN 1660-4601

Lanario, Joseph W., Hyland, Michael, Wei, Yinghui, Jones, Rupert C. and Masoli, Matthew (2020) Comparison of the effects of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary symptoms on health-related quality of life in patients with severe asthma. Respiratory Medicine, 162. ISSN 09546111

Hyland, Michael E. (2020) A reformulated contextual model of psychotherapy for treating anxiety and depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 80. ISSN 0272-7358

Westwood, Caroline S., Fallowfield, Joanne L., Delves, Simon K., Nunns, Michael, Ogden, Henry B. and Layden, Joseph D. (2020) Individual risk factors associated with exertional heat illness: a systematic review. Experimental Physiology. ISSN 09580670

Chan, Zoe Y.S., Au, Ivan P.H., Zhang, Janet H., Ferber, Reed, Shum, Gary L., An, Winko W. and Cheung, Roy T.H. (2020) Effects of deceptive footwear condition on subjective comfort and running biomechanics. Translational Sports Medicine. ISSN 2573-8488

Chan, Zoe Y.S., Zhang, Janet H., Ferber, Reed, Shum, Gary L. and Cheung, Roy T.H. (2020) The Effects of Midfoot Strike Gait Retraining on Impact Loading and Joint Stiffness. Physical Therapy in Sport. ISSN 1446-853X (In Press)

Law, Elizabeth M., Aggarwal, Rajesh K., Buckhurst, Hetal, Kasaby, Hosam E., Marsden, Jonathan, Shum, Gary L. and Buckhust, Phillip (2020) Visual Function and Subjective Perception of Vision following bilateral implantation of monofocal and multifocal intraocular lenses: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery. ISSN 0886-3350 (In Press)

Shiwei, Mo, Chan, Zoe Y.S., Lai, Kenneth K.Y., Chan, Peter P.K., Wei, Rachel X.Y., Yung, Patrick S.H, Shum, Gary L. and Cheung, Roy T.H. Effect of minimalist and maximalist shoes on impact loading and footstrike pattern in habitual rearfoot strike trail runners: an in-field study. European Journal of Sport Science. ISSN 1746-1391

Mo, Shiwei, Lau, Fannie O.Y., Lok, Alan K.Y., Chan, Zoe Y.S., Zhang, Janet H., Shum, Gary L. and Cheung, Roy T.H. (2020) Bilateral asymmetry of running gait in competitive, recreational and novice runners at different speeds. Human Movement Science. ISSN 0167-9457 (In Press)

Wei, Rachel X.Y., Chan, Zoe Y.S., Zhang, Janet H.W., Shum, Gary L., Chen, Chao-Ying and Cheung, Roy T.H. (2020) Difference in the running biomechanics between preschoolers and adults. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy. ISSN 14133555

Theofilidis, George, Bogdanis, Gregory C., Stavropoulos-Kalinoglou, Antonios, Krase, Argyro, Tsatalas, Themistoklis, Shum, Gary L., Sakkas, Giorgos K., Koutedakis, Yiannis and Karatzaferi, Christina (2020) The effects of training with High Speed Interval running on muscle performance are modulated by slope. Physiological Reports. ISSN 2051-817X (In Press)

Law, Elizabeth M., Aggarwal, Rajesh K., Buckhurst, Hetal, Kasaby, Hosam E., Marsden, Jonathan, Shum, Gary L. and Buckhurst, Phillip J (2021) Predicting the Postoperative Addition Power of a Multifocal Intraocular Lens at the Spectacle Plane. Journal of Refractive Surgery, 37. ISSN 1081597X (In Press)

McCormick, Alister and Anstiss, Paul A. (2020) Self-talk and endurance sports. In: Self-talk in sport. Routledge, New York, pp. 1-11. (Submitted)

Taylor, Adrian H, Taylor, Rod S, Ingram, Wendy, Anokye, Nana, Dean, Sarah Gerard, Jolly, Kate, Mutrie, Nanette, Lambert, Jeffrey D, Yardley, Lucy, Greaves, Colin, King, Jennie, McAdam, Chloe, Steele, Mary, Price, Lisa, Steeter, Adam, Charles, Nigel, Terry, Rohini H, Webb, Douglas, Campbell, John L, Hughes, Lucy, Ainsworth, Ben, Jane, Ben, Jones, Ben, Erwin, Josephine, Little, Paul, Woolf, Antony and Cavanagh, Chris (2019) Adding web-based behavioural support to exercise referral schemes for inactive adults with chronic health conditions: the e-coachER Randomised Controlled Trial. HTA journal series. (In Press)

Downey, John, Bloxham, Saul, Jane, Ben, Layden, Joseph D. and Vaughan, Sam (2021) Person-Centered Health Promotion: Learning from 10 Years of Practice within Long Term Conditions. Healthcare, 9 (4). ISSN 2227-9032

Downey, John, Shearn, Katie, Brown, Nicola, Wadey, Ross and Breckon, Jeff (2021) Behaviour change practices in exercise referral schemes: developing realist programme theory of implementation. BMC Health Services Research, 21 (1). ISSN 1472-6963

Henry, Ian, Dowling, Mathew, Ko, Ling-Mei and Brown, Phil (2020) Challenging the new orthodoxy: a critique of SPLISS and variable-oriented approaches to comparing sporting nations. European Sport Management Quarterly. pp. 1-17. ISSN 1618-4742