Pulse Magazine - Vol 03 Wellbeing Edition

PULSE

MAKING AN IMPACT...

IN THE

GLOBAL CHALLENGES:

OUT OF EVERY CHALLENGE COMES OPPORTUNITY. HERE AT SWANSEA UNIVERSITY WE HAVE RESPONDED TO EVERY CHALLENGE THAT COVID-19 HAS THROWN AT US. WELCOME TO THE THIRD EDITION OF PULSE MAGAZINE.

The Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) launches its first app to support digital inclusion of older persons

SWANSEA NAMED IN UK TOP 10 FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE Swansea University is one of the top ten universities in the UK for environmental and ethical issues, the new league table compiled by People and Planet, published by The Guardian, has revealed. People & Planet’s University League is the only comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities. £132 MILLION SWANSEA BAY CITY DEAL CAMPUSES PROJECT GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT The Swansea Bay City Deal Campuses Project is supported by funding from the UK and Welsh Governments as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal. The investment will be used to promote innovation and business growth in the expanding Medical and Sports Technology sectors and lead to products like Smart Garments being developed. The project, which plans to generate over 1,000 jobs in the Swansea area, is predicted to be worth over £150 million to the regional economy by 2033. SWANSEA RANKED 26TH IN THE STONEWALL WORKPLACE EQUALITY INDEX Swansea University has been named in the UK’s top 100 most inclusive employers for LGBTQ+ staff, for the sixth time in a row. The Stonewall Top 100 Employers list is compiled from the Workplace Equality Index – the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.

AS WE BEGIN THE LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY FROM THE GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, THE IMPORTANCE OF WELLBEING AND ITS ROLE IN HUMAN HEALTH IS BEING BROUGHT TO THE FOREFRONT OF RESEARCH.

GENIAL Science is a collaborative research project between Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) and Swansea University, comprising academics, clinicians, PhD and MSc students. Funded by Health and Care Research Wales, the project is committed to advancing wellbeing theory and practice and the team behind it has developed a framework to help understand and improve ‘whole health’. Co-founder, Professor Andrew Kemp of Swansea University’s School of Psychology, explains: Society faces several major interrelated challenges, which have an increasingly profound impact on global health and it is incumbent on us in the university and research sector to work towards overcoming such challenges in order to promote individual, community and planetary health and wellbeing. Through the GENIAL Science project, we have identified the importance of promoting wellbeing when seeking to improve health, especially in regards to people

I am delighted to welcome you to the latest edition of our Pulse Magazine. Once again, the last year has brought about unprecedented change and uncertainty. But as we emerge from the pandemic, we have taken great pride in looking back at the accomplishments of our staff and students alike - both on academic and personal levels. Throughout this difficult period, we have seen wellbeing and mental health come into sharp focus in the public eye and, here at Swansea, these are areas of long-standing research interest. Post-pandemic, we have seen a great increase - and interest - in our research into young people’s mental health in particular; which in turn is influencing policies and plans for the future on a national level.

I am proud of both staff and student achievements this past year; they have shown great fortitude and resilience by overcoming adversities head-on, while continuing to support our local community, each other and the NHS. This edition of Pulse will give you a glimpse of some of the amazing work that has taken place this past year and I sincerely hope you can see yourself as part of our wonderful community in the future. The world needs bright, driven and caring people more than ever, people like you! I look forward to seeing you in Swansea very soon.

“Our theory has been applied to improve ‘whole health’ in various populations” Professor Kemp

living with chronic conditions whose conditions must be managed, and for whom cure is seldom an option. We have laid the foundations for a transdisciplinary scientific model of wellbeing that offers under-realised potential for promoting the ‘whole health’ of individuals, communities

now facing humanity including the climate catastrophe.

This research has been published in the Global Advances in Health and Medicine journal and led to a prestigious Advancing Health Care award

for Outstanding Contribution to Research Delivery.

and nature, contextualised by many of the major challenges

Professor Keith Lloyd Pro-Vice Chancellor, Executive Dean