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Public Health Newsletter

Edition 4 2016

Public Health Newsletter

Hello fellow students, Welcome to the 4th Edition of the Public Health newsletter here at the University. Thank you to the previous editors Edmund Harper and Grace Sinclair who did a great job of the 3rd edition. Within this edition you will find journeys of fellow graduates, messages from the student reps and programme leads, academic achievements, meet the team interview as well as an inspirational story from lecturer David Smith plus much more. We hope you enjoy reading it. Thank you to everyone for their contributions, the newsletter is a great way for Public Health students to showcase the great work that they are doing. So please let us know if you have any exciting news for the next edition. Sally and Denver

Guest Editors: Sally Leach and Denver Garrison

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Public Health Newsletter

Contents

Page 3 Message from Programme Leads Page 4, 5 & 6 Meet the student reps Page 7 Harry Persaud Scholarship Page 8 Graduation—2015 Page 9 Roanna— graduated 2015 Page 10 Janet Musama— graduated 2013 Page 11 Sonia—graduated 2013 Page 12 Cecilia Ashu Page 13 Student Conference Page 14 Employability Path Page 15 & 16 Why join a study group at university? Page 17 Institute of Health Promotion & Education Page 18 & 19 David Smith - Sabbatical Page 20 Meet the team interview—Carlos Page 21 Dates for your diary Page 22 Student Gala Page 23 Election of new student reps

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Public Health Newsletter

Message from Programme Leaders

Here we are in term two already. Where does the time go? Term one is always hard with everyone getting back into the studying routine and the long dark nights. Sometimes I don’t see day light at all, coming in and going home from work in the dark , I’m sure it’s the same for all of you! But, this week, I started to feel that spring may be around the corner. The daffodil buds on my commute have started to bloom into flowers. I often think this annual miracle by Mother Nature is symbolic for student development too. Term one can be tough and each year, as you progress, brings different challenges. In autumn everyone is getting back into the swing of things after a long summer break and most students feel excited if a little anxious about the new and increased expectation that the academic year brings. But, by term two everyone (staff included) has settled and students have found their feet and are managing the demands of a new academic level. Spring is the time of year when you can start looking forward, whether that is job hunt-ing, volunteering or implementing some of the feedback from lecturers. Term one with all its uncertainties is behind us, term two is unfolding and you are in charge. Look to the fu-ture and to how you can make this term, term two and the rest of this academic year your best one yet!

I became the Programme Leader for Health and Wellbeing last year. The pro-gramme has undergone some radical changes in terms of its aims and objectives it’s commitment to graduate employability and the need for students to graduate with the appropriate skills and knowledge, transferable across a range of public health and wellbeing environments. I look forward to continuing the excellent work achieved by my predecessor, Nevin Mehmet, and developing the programme in conjunction with staff and students

Charlotte Jeavons

Vince La Placa

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Public Health Newsletter

Meet The Reps 2016

It was just over two years ago when I came to the open evening at the Avery Hill Campus to enquire about doing a Public Health degree. Now here I am over two years later having just finished my first semester. Studying for a Public Health degree requires commitment, and the ability to face challenges head on, as well as being flexible and willing to learn new ways of working and thinking whether as an individual or as part of a team. I am learning about my strengths and weaknesses and am utilising the support that is offered to students whilst on campus. I want to develop as a person during my time here. I have had past experience working as a motivational caller supporting those with long term conditions to manage their conditions better and stay well. I currently work as part of the outreach team for Burgess Autistic Trust. I have an ac-tive volunteer history and I am currently a volunteer with the Community Health Improvement Team for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

My name is Habiba Sebbi, one of the student reps in year one of the Public Health pro-gramme. I am a proud mother of three children, two boys aged 12 and 5, plus a girl who is 10. I work part time as a support worker and I volunteer with Family Action, working with children in care and in particular siblings that have been separated. I also enjoy socializing, love to dance and cooking. I can not believe we are near the end of the first year. Time has gone by so quick, hasn’t it? A lot has happened, from meeting new people to the first set of assignments and now exams for this term. The year has been challenging for me, having to balance studying, volunteering, work and family has been a struggle. However, I am a determined person and I want to get the best out of my University experience. I volunteered to be a cohort rep so I could improve on my communication, confidence, team and leadership skills. I am very committed, enjoying studying my degree and determined to achieve a lot from the whole experience.

Denver Garrison (Year 1 Public Health)

Habiba Sebbi (Year 1 Public Health)

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Public Health Newsletter

Meet The Reps 2016

Oluwatoyin Banjo (Year 2 Public Health)

My Name is Olu. Previously I attended Middlesex University where I

trained as a Mental Health Nurse and worked as a Community Psychiatrist Nurse with

East London and the City NHS Foundation Trust before enrolling to study Public Health at

UoG. I work part time as a manager of supported accommodation called Gideon Sup-

ported Housing. It is very interesting taking care of people with learning disability and

mental illness. I am married and a mother of two. I enjoy spending time with my family

like to go on holiday when I get the opportunity. I enjoy reading Christian books and

magazines and also love to watch African movies. Helping others is what I enjoy doing

most and this is the reason I established Gideon Orphanage Home, which is committed to

helping orphans, abused and abandoned children in Nigeria. This charity was established

over six years and helps 18 children. Recently I established Gideon Home for Elderly to

take care of elderly women in Nigeria. It feels good to be a prospective graduate. The first

day seems like yesterday.

My name is Sally and I am currently one of the student reps for year two Public

Health. When not at university I am a mother of two girls and also working part

time as a Therapy Assistant Practitioner for the Falls Team within the Oxleas NHS

Trust. It was my experience of working for the NHS that inspired me to study Public

Health as well as being compassionate about trying to help people. Although, my

first day at university seems like only yesterday I can’t quite believe that I am now

half way through and excited at the prospect of graduating. I have loved being at

university however, the biggest challenge for me has been juggling work, study and

family. Outside of university I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and

love going to the theatre and eating out.

Sally Leach (Year 2 Public Health)

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Public Health Newsletter

Meet The Reps 2016

It seems like only yesterday that I started University and I am quite startled to find that I am nearly finished! I must admit, it has been a tremendous challenge so far, to successfully balance my home and work life with my educational pursuits. This counts as one of my biggest achievements. I consider my strengths to be the fact that I am a hard worker, one who is self-motivated, self-disciplined and dedicated towards any venture she pursues. The downside to this is, by being too engaged and overly committed to the task at hand, I develop zero tolerance for any leniency, which isn’t always a good thing. One can’t achieve perfection in everything! My scope for improvement, which I try to combat with positive thinking mantra, would be to improve my ability to take on both success and failure in a balanced manner. One of my favourite quotes is Mahatma Gandhi’s, ‘A man is a product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes’. Maame has also recently joined Cecilia as a Student Rep in year three.

Cecilia Ashu (Year 3 Public Health)

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Public Health Newsletter

Winner of the 2015 Harry Persaud Scholarship

My first term as a Public Health student has been very exciting but it has also taken a lot of adapting to, and it definitely has not been easy. My time management and organising skills have improved dramatically, balancing my home life, studying and work has definitely taken some getting used to. As a Public Health student in the first year I was given an opportunity to apply for the Harry Persaud Scholarship, this is given to one student every year. The scholarship is £1000 ,which I felt would benefit my studies greatly. I had to write a short piece of work on how the money would benefit my learning whilst at university and what I would spend the money on to achieve this. This scholarship will make a huge difference to me because it will enable me to do more studying at home, by being able to access the internet at home. As I will be working from home more it means I will be spending less time and money on travelling to University or a library to study. This will be a huge relief to me as I am a single parent to my son Robby who is 19 months, and this will allow me to spend more time with him at home whilst also cutting down those expensive childcare costs. It will also mean I can work a little less. This allows me to focus on my assignments and have quality time with my baby, this is important as he is my motivation to do well. Although my first term has been pretty challenging, I am enjoying Public Health as

a subject and am confident that I will enjoy a long career in Public Health. Getting

my degree is important as I want to show my son that education is important and

that hard work will be rewarded.

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Public Health Newsletter

Graduation 2015

Well, another year, another graduation and what a highlight of the year it was! The class of 2015 graduated from the painted hall on the Greenwich campus in October. It was a fabulous day and the sun was shinning. Families and friend gathered to wish the graduates well as they took their place on the stage to receive their degree from the Vice Chancellor. For me to, as the Programme Leader, I was a very proud to see all of the student graduate with Honours. As a group this was the best set of results to date. Judith Ameyaw was awarded the Heart Award, which is presented to one Public Health student each year. Judith achieved the highest grade point average in her year, which is a wonderful achievement. Judith did all this whilst being a Mum to 3 young children and sometimes acting like a Mum to others in her class! Judith was also a previous Student Representative and produced the 1st edition of this Newsletter. A prize well deserved! All the staff wish the 2015 graduates well in their future careers or study. It was lovely to hear that some of them already had jobs in health promotion or sexual health services and were using their degrees to the full - a perfect thing to hear at the end of a perfect day! Charlotte

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Public Health Newsletter

Roanna—Graduated 2015

My name is Roanna and I have just completed my degree in Public Health. Being an International student, coming to University in a different country was quite scary and I didn’t really know what to expect. My first week alone had so many new experiences, such as meeting my lecturers, meeting others on my course and also finding my way around the campus. Freshers Week helped me to meet many new friends

from various sports teams, societies and clubs. My first term was challenging but fun and I started to learn what my strengths were and also the areas I needed to improve in. One of the main changes for me was the food in the UK and it definitely took me a while to get used to it. I started a part-time job at University as a Recruitment Ambassador working at Open Days, giving campus tours and facilitating workshops on campus. This job helped me to earn some extra pocket money and also gave me many new skills such as giving presentations, improved communication skills and confidence, which I used in my course as well. My course at University contained many different extra curricular activities such as museum visits, film clubs and tea mornings for charity. This made me realise that University was not just about lectures but that there were so many other ways to learn. My final year of University was my best and most challenging year and I really narrowed in on my areas of interest, when it came to my final year project. The work placement I did, as part of my course also helped me to realise what it is like to work in the Public Health field. I could not have made it without the help and support of all my lecturers, who really took the time to help me, no matter how ridiculous my questions were. At the end of year Student Gala last May, I was given the Butterfly Award. This came as such a shock to me but I am so grateful to have won it. My years at the University of Greenwich have been the best three years of my life so far and I am looking forward to where my degree and experience is going to take me in the future. The picture above was taken after Roanna was invited to attend the Chancellor’s annual dinner. Roanna is in the middle with Pam Maras (HoD) to the left and Linda Burke (PVC) to the right.

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Public Health Newsletter

Janet Musama (Graduated 2013)

1st PH Alumni Event When studying Public Health degree at University of Greenwich, I had in my mind to go and work in a developing country and share my knowledge and experience. However, upon graduation in 2013, I got a part-time job in Health and Social Care – as Bank Team Leader, as I continued to search for a job in Public Health internationally. I had the privilege to be offered a job as Extra Care Manager. I am currently working as Service Manager with a Charity which, champions the rights of people with disabilities. The knowledge about social determinants & inequalities in health that I learnt at Greenwich serves as a major asset during my work. I have now completed a level 7 (Masters level) module with University of Worcester, so my knowledge is continuing to grow. I intend to start more post graduate study this September. Hopefully, on completion I will be able to find that after sought role in developing world. But it was a rocky start looking for a job in Public Health, to begin with. Now I feel there are a lot of jobs out there were public health knowledge and skills can be applied. The years I spent at university were the best of my life. Every single day was full of discoveries and meeting new people. I knew it might take a while to adapt to working life and have an opportunity to make new friends as well as keep old ones. When I received the invite to attend an Alumni event at Greenwich I thought it was a good idea to keep in touch with former course mates. We can easily relate to each other – after all, we were all in the same boat. We are all UoG Public Health Alumni. Meeting some of the ex-students at the Greenwich Graduate Public Health Alumni Group, created a platform to answer the ‘what should I do with my life?’ question. I was inspired by the various roles graduates were involved in as we shared experiences, exchanged advice and discussed ideas. At this point I realized that I had actually achieved a lot since leaving university and adapted to life after graduation, which added to my confidence. I was delighted find that the mentor I had as part of my Uni work experience was talking at the event and her theme was Public Health Practitioner Registration. At first I thought negatively about going back to writing profiles for submission to be assessed. But as the day progressed, I digested the idea and took it on board – I need to do this! It is the next step in my career. Alumni – stay in touch, it’s a great opportunity to network and meet friends old and new.

Alumni events like this are a great way to build a community of PH graduates from UoG,

and you never know who you’re going to bump in to!

Details of the next PH Alumni event will be emailed soon—watch this space. An event is

being planned for the summer.

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Public Health Newsletter

Sonia Kirkland (Graduated 2013)

Graduated 2013

This is me, Sonia Kirkland, receiving a performance recognition award from the prison Governor where I work. I was recognised locally through our staff recognition process. This was for im-provements to the staff and prisoners physical and interpersonal environment via a workshop and the introduction of pictorial work guides for prisoners with low literacy and numeracy or non-English speakers. Sonia is one of the guest speakers at the Student Gala this year, which is being held on the 27th May.

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Public Health Newsletter

Cecilia Ashu (3rd year)

Coping with competing demands for mature students

JUGGLE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT: Life as a Working Mum in Full Time Education. Some have gone through that route; a whole lot of others are currently navi-gating the path, yet are more to follow! Yes, it is a never-ending pattern. Not just surviving but succeeding during your time at university while wearing many hats is a completely different experience. There is no choice left but to ‘juggle until you make it.’ I have not had the luxury of simply being a student. It has been tough these past years. Balancing a demanding job, raising chil-dren while attempting to excel on my course has been extremely challenging. More so because unfortunately, I am a bit of an over-achiever thus, the added pressure I put on myself required me to push myself beyond limits. The re-sult? An extreme state of both emotional and physical fatigue. Things HAD to change! I HAD to make these changes. My perspectives were one of the first things requiring revision. Fast forward to the last few months of my degree, reflecting back, all I can say is that it can be done. Others have done it, why couldn’t I? Why can’t you? Difficult but realistic choices have had to be made, lots of planning and strategies have had to be implemented. I have had to set and re-adjust priorities along the way. I am quite successfully, managing to walk the well trodden student path towards the end of the road — graduation. Of course, it may not end after successful completion of the programme but having walked that path equates to having armed yourself with a set of valuable life skills. Stay healthy, think positive (yes, there are days I have wanted to quit education or work). Do NOT quit! Once you hit that balance, it does not have to be perfect; as long as you can make it work for you, the path becomes a lot more manageable. I see my student years as preparation for a life post-degree where I will have to balance a full time career with family life and perhaps, even more education. It can be done, can’t it?

Jimmy Dean

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust

my sails to always reach my destination.

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Public Health Newsletter

Student Conference 6th July 2016

Association for Medical Humanities at The University of Greenwich

How can Medical Humanities benefit health professionals? Body Talk: Whose Language?

Come and network with colleagues interested in this exciting and developing interdisciplinary field. Share the experiences of others who use a Medical Humanities approach to inform and enhance their professionalism, and reflect on the implications for your current and future practice. This is the first student conference run by the AMH and it forms part of a three day international Medical Humanities conference focussing on body and representations (language) across different populations and in a range of health environments. We invite you to come and present your posters. This innovative student conference is directed at student health professionals and aims to: • Encourage an understanding of the role and relevance of Medical Humanities within healthcare settings. • Explore how medical humanities can improve creative and ethical perspectives in professional practice. • Expand your understanding of the therapeutic relationship through Medical Humanities. The conference also offers an opportunity to take part in Master classes with leading educators in the field such as Professor Rita Charon, Professor Alan Beakley, Professor Zoë Playdon, Dr. VassilkaNikolova and Dr Alison Williams.

Poster Prizes of £50, £30 and 3 runners up of £15 each. When? 6th July 2016 from 09:00 to 13:00 (registration from 08:30) Where? University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich How much? £20

Deadline for submission of posters is 1st March 2016. Limited student accommodation available. For more information and to register online; https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/hsc/bt/schedConf/index Further questions please contact:- Carlos Moreno Leguizamon C.J.Moreno@greenwich.ac.uk Student volunteers needed to join Carlos and the organising committee to help with this event. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your teamwork skills and be part of something really exciting! For more information please contact Carlos via C.J.Moreno@gre.ac.uk

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Public Health Newsletter

Q: What is the Employability & Careers Service? A: This is a service offered to students at the University of Greenwich. www.gre.ac.uk/employability. Q: What services are offered? A: An E-Learning Centre,1-2-1 CV and application checks, 1-2-1 Careers Advice, Mock interview support, and support in securing a job after graduation. Q: I am in my first year. Isn’t it a bit too early to be thinking about graduate jobs? A: The Employability & Careers Service describe what is a ‘Employability Path’ that begins from your 1st year right up until your final year at University. Q: I would like to access the 1-2-1 CV support . How do I go about it? A: The Career Clinic is based at the Student Centre, Southwood House., Avery Hill Campus. It is a drop in where you can have 1-2-1 support for up to 15 minutes. Bring a print out of your CV. Q: What day and time? If I can’t get to the campus on that day or time what other options do I have? A: Wednesday, 2-4pm. If you are unable to come to the campus then call 0208 331 8810 (Mon—Thurs 10am—2pm) or email employability@gre.ac.uk with your full name, student ID and contact telephone number. Employability will be a key theme in this years Student Gala—27th May

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Public Health Newsletter

Habiba Sebbi (1st year)

Why join a study group whilst at university?

As students, we spend most of our time at university working on projects, preparing for assignments, presentations and exams. Therefore, it is high time we learnt to make the most of all this time spent on studying. Although self-studying is good, joining a study group is one way of enhancing your understanding of the concepts you are studying. The following are advantages of study groups and the strategies for making study groups effective. Benefits of Joining Study Group The following are the greatest benefits of joining a study group.

Improve your notes: Study groups provide an excellent means for you to compare class lecture notes. Comparing notes allows you to fill in any information or important concepts you may have missed during lectures.

Sharing talents: Since everyone has individual talents and unique insights, group members

can learn from each other. Study groups will provides you an opportunity to benefit from the talents and knowledge of the other group members.

Support system: University can be very stressful, so it is advantageous to seek support from

people in similar situations that can provide you support. Joining or forming a study group is a great way to give and receive motivation and support from fellow students and group members. And if you become sick or are unable to attend class, you can get notes from members of your study group.

Cover more material: Working in groups makes it possible to focus on more concepts since

multiple people can review more material than just one. Many groups decide to assign topics to individual group members to research and study and then provide a summary for the group. This strategy allows students to learn a lot more, in a lot shorter time, than if you were to study each topic on your own.

It makes learning fun! Studying with a group is a great way to liven up your study sessions. It can be very monotonous and draining to spend long hours alone in the library. Joining a study group and studying in a group environment makes learning much more fulfilling and enjoyable.

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Public Health Newsletter

Why join a study group whilst at university?

Developing an Effective Study Group It's recommended to keep study groups between 4 to 6 people. People often socialize too much

and cannot cover as much material in smaller groups. In bigger groups, some group members do not contribute as much and organization can be a problem. With 4 to 6 people in your group you'll minimize socialization and maximize individual contribution.

The most effective study is completed in study groups comprised of members with the common

goal of earning good grades. Students dedicated to succeeding in school usually complete assigned reading, take extensive notes, and clear up confusion by asking questions and contributing to the group. Depending on the subject matter, sometimes it's advantageous to select group members with unique talents or knowledge.

It is best to study in environments without distractions and areas where group members can communicate freely. Most college libraries contain group study rooms. Studying out in the open can work, if your group isn't going to become a distraction to others. It is best not to study more than 2 to 3 hours at a time when studying in a group. During long sessions, group members tend to socialize more and do not study as productively. However, study sessions under an hour tend to be rushed and unproductive since only a few subjects can be discussed. If you plan to meet regularly with a study group, organize sessions at the same location and time.

This way, individual members can have time to properly prepare prior to meeting with the group. Having your study group at the same time each week allows students to fit it into their permanent schedule at time when they're going to be available the entire year.

Maximizing the Value of Study Group Sessions Create clear objectives and goals: Prior to each session, group members should discuss what they hope to achieve, so the session is productive and stays on track. Be prepared: Group study can be very ineffective if individual members come unprepared for sessions. Each member of the study group should review lecture notes, complete select readings from the textbook, and identify specific subjects to study.

Ensure participation: Every member of a study group should actively participate. A great way for each member to contribute is to assign specific topics and have each member instruct the group. Teaching is a great way for individuals to retain information. Stay focused: Before each session, someone should be assigned to manage it. The person charged for leading a session must ensure it is productive, stays on track and all necessary material is covered. The person responsible for managing the session should also schedule breaks to avoid getting burned out.

Now that you are aware of the benefits of a study group, why not go join or form one. Good luck and have fun studying.

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Public Health Newsletter

JOIN A PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION AND SHOW

EMPLOYERS YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR CHOSEN

DISCIPLINE

Do you want to..?

• Join a community of people working in the field of health

promotion and education?

• Have access to a free, high quality, international,

peer- reviewed journal on health education and health

promotion published 6 times per year?

• Contribute to debate, advocacy and consultation about

contemporary health promotion and public health?

• Have access to a bi-monthly newsletter and members’

Website for people working in health promotion?

• Dependent on membership status, be eligible to use the

post-nominal MIHPE or FIHPE?

If you have answered YES to at least ONE of these questions then

the Institute of Health and Promotion is for YOU!

JOIN TODAY at WWW.ihpe.org.uk VISIT www.ihpe.org.uk for further details

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Public Health Newsletter

David Smith—Sabbatical

You may have noticed that Dr David Smith was not around much in term 1?

He was taking a three month sabbatical from the University to concentrate on

his research. Below are two short summaries of what he was working on

while he was away. David is now back in the saddle and teaching again.

Despite having a relatively high standard of palliative care in the UK significant

differences in knowledge, access and usage of these services exist among

different social and ethnic groups. End of Life Practices and Palliative Care in

BME groups was a 12 month feasibility study funded by Health Education

Kent Surrey Sussex and conducted by Dr David Smith, Dr Carlos Moreno

Leguizamon and Dr Stephanie Grohmann along with Ellenor Lions Hospice in

Gravesend, Diversity House in Sittingbourne and the Medway Ethnic Minority

Forum. Professional interviews, a series of Learning Alliance meetings and

focus groups with members of three groups (Black/Black African; Gypsies/

Travellers; South Asian) with significant populations in the Mid and North

Kent region were conducted. The research set out to examine beliefs and

practices surrounding the end of life; knowledge and experiences of palliative

care and to document their palliative care needs. While significant differences

in relation to end of life practices existed both between and within the groups

(e.g by gender and generation) common issues emerged with respect to

palliative care services included limited knowledge of available services;

communication issues; the extent that formal care was considered

appropriate or inappropriate and a preference for family based care were

expressed to varying degrees and with notable generational differences e.g. it

was expressed by participants that younger members were more favourable

towards advance care planning and palliative services. Recommendations

included a greater awareness of intersectional issues (e.g. how ethnic. class,

gender and other variables) combine and better provision of home based

care would help in meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse ageing

population.

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Public Health Newsletter

David Smith—Sabbatical Continued......

Barriers and Facilitators to MMR Immunisation in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT)

communities was a 6 month study funded by the University of Greenwich and

conducted by Dr Paul Newton and Dr David Smith. The aims of the study were to

consider why MMR levels are low among GRT communities and to develop

strategies to increase them. While there is a lack of large scale evidence it is known

that GRT children are represented in a significantly high (x100 higher than in the

general population) number of measles cases and have low levels of MMR

immunisation. This research conducted a small-scale exploratory survey of 14 GRT

mothers living on sites in Kent to gain some basic data on MMR coverage in GRT

communities in the region. Five focus groups with 16 GRT mothers were also held.

Between them the women had 66 children of whom 48% had not received any

MMR vaccinations (compared to 92.3% coverage in the general population). Four

main explanations for low rates of coverage emerged from the focus groups: First,

lifestyle and access e.g. the location of sites often in isolated locations, frequent

evictions and travelling; second, mistrust and an aversion to engaging with

healthcare staff; third, perceptions of risk for example frequent poor health of

babies and infants made some reluctant to immunise; and strategies to minimise

risks associated with MMR e.g. a preference for immunisation when the child is

older and having individual injections rather than the combined vaccine were

favoured by the vast majority. The findings suggest that immunisation levels would

increase if there was better outreach (e.g. vaccination on site) and if the injections

could be administered separately instead of in ‘one shot’ which many considered

an excessive burden for young babies. The findings found that beliefs and attitudes

towards MMR varied, were broadly similar to those of the wider population and

did not play a major role in explaining low uptake. Instead a lack of outreach

provision, situational constraints related to lifestyle and the impact of pre-existing

and severe social and health inequalities frame decisions over childhood

immunisation and are the most significant factors in explaining low uptake.

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Public Health Newsletter

Meet the Team Interview with Carlos Moreno Leguizamon

Carlos is among the few member in the Faculty of Education who teaches across various programmes: Public Health, Health and Wellbeing, Educational Doctorate, Doctorate of Philosophy in Health and Social Care, Education or Psychology and the Master of Science in Advance Practice. 1. When did you start working for the university? In 2003 at the Natural Resources Institute at the Medway campus. And the Faculty of Health and Education at Avery Hill in 2007. 2. Did you always want to be a lecturer? I did, but I was not fully conscious of it till much later in life. People from my generation in Colombia, South America, used to teach to people from poor neighbourhoods once we were at the university. So I did as a younger person. At that time, we thought that it was important to teach how to read and write to poor people so they could learn to decide by themselves! 3. What do you enjoy most about your job? The interaction with all types of people (students and colleagues) 4. What's your one biggest pet peeve? My worst pet peeve is to see how we as humans are more and more in love with form but not content. To be committed to content means to think critically about everything and this is a painful process on many occasions! 5. What's your one annoying habit? Not being able to talk in a calm way when I get angry!! 6. Do you have a favourite book? Yes, Opus Nigrum or the Abyss in English from Marguerite Yourcenar. She was the first woman elected to the Académie Française for the quality of her writings. 7. Do you have a favourite film? Yes, yes Children of Heaven (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118849/). It is a magnificent Iranian movie! 8. What is your favourite food? Food (s) you mean. Indian, Tai, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Mexican… 9. What would be your one super power? To make people understand that our willpower and autonomy is due to us and not to any external force… 10. What were your best/worst subjects in school? Best philosophy. Worst: the bad teaching of mathematics! 11. If you could invite any celebrity to dinner who would it be? Unfortunately, this “cult” to celebrities is part of what I mentioned before. It is just about love to form without rarely any content!! I would like to interview Obama when he finishes his term…just to know how certain ways of power work behind the curtains!

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Public Health Newsletter

Important dates for your diary

Dates specific to Public Health programme

Easter Holidays: 21st March until 4th April 2016 Examination period: from 2nd May to 20th May 2016 Student Gala: 27th May – more details will be sent to you via email. Including instructions

of how to book your place. Next Public Health newsletter: Summer / Autumn 2016 Ratification of 2015-16 results for Public Health students at the Progression and Award

Board Meeting 14th June 2016 Official end of academic year 26th June 2016 – Do not book any holidays before this date!

Conferences your may be interested in

FPH Annual Conference and Public Health Exhibition 2016 Public health in a cold climate: Melting hearts and minds with evidence 14-15 June 2016, Brighton http://www.fph.org.uk/fph_annual_conference_and_public_health_exhibition_2016 The 2nd International conference on Public Health (ICOPH 2016) will be held on 28th and 29th of July 2016 in Sri Lanka http://publichealthconference.co/2016/ Uganda-UK Healthcare Summit (London) Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation Saturday, 30 April 2016 from 09:00 to 18:30 http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uganda-uk-healthcare-summit-london-tickets-17877433886?aff=ebrowse

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Public Health Newsletter

SAVE THE DATE 27th May 2016

Join us at the University of Greenwich for the annual

Student Gala! This is a day that we dedicate to you.

It’s a chance for you to come and spend the day with colleagues past and present. You can also network with charities and other Public Health & Wellbeing Professionals.

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Public Health Newsletter

Election of new student Reps 2016-2017

Early next year we will be looking for new student reps. Ideally we like to have two people per year group to share the responsibility. If you are interested please contact: Charlotte: C.jeavons@greenwich.ac.uk