NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)

NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research. #ARCadvent Top ARC stories of the year. Day 11: Free book on the evolving landscape of public involvement in research. Picture: Detail from book cover of 'Public Involvement and Community Engagement in Applied Health and Social Care Research: Critical Perspectives and Innovative Practice'.

#ARCadvent day 1️⃣1️⃣:

Researchers from @arcnenc.bsky.social have contributed to an engaging new book which offers novel insights into meaningful Public Involvement & Community Engagement in research, covering a wide range of contexts. The eBook is open access.

arc-nenc.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-pub...

🎬 New films launched today!

United for Health: a collaboration with South Asian community group Dhek Bhal and @bristoluni.bsky.social, highlighting why involving minoritised communities in research matters.

Project funded by @hellobrigstow.bsky.social

www.bristolbrc.nihr.ac.uk/united-for-h...

YouTube video by NIHR ARC Greater Manchester Making the most of low intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

A new animation showcases the findings of PhD student Mia Bennion’s project, which explores the factors that influence patient engagement with between-session work in low-intensity CBT.

📽️ Watch the animation: youtu.be/UtqE92DA54E

👉Project info: bit.ly/4pm1xzP

NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research. #ARCadvent Top ARC stories of the year. Day 9: Standardised methods for economic evaluation of implementation strategies. Picture: Smiling woman working with a laptop computer.

#ARCadvent day 9️⃣:
Evaluating the value for money of implementation strategies to translate research into practice is a challenge

To help, @arc-west.bsky.social published a unified, standardised framework for assessing the economic impact of healthcare implementation
arc-w.nihr.ac.uk/news/from-re...

NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research. #ARCadvent Top ARC stories of the year. Day 10: Physical activity for older adults in lower socioeconomic groups. Picture: Older woman exercising.

#ARCadvent day 🔟:

A review co-funded by @arc-gm.bsky.social reveals important insights into physical activity interventions for older adults from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, highlighting key factors that could make these interventions more appealing.

arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/news/news/NE...

Artificial Intelligence to improve the Detection of acute Pulmonary Embolism (AID-PE) Pulmonary embolism (PE) can be a fatal condition requiring fast diagnosis and treatment. Artificial intelligence (AI) could help identify PE's and decide…

Go behind the scenes of @uniofbath.bsky.social and @ruhbath.bsky.social AI research project, as clinicians explain how it’s helping them to diagnose pulmonary embolisms faster and more accurately vimeo.com/1125506869?f...

⏰ A webinar on #MentalHealth for you to put in your diaries for the new year, from our partners at @capcbristol.bsky.social 👇

‘Care’ in public, patient participation as an ethical practice - Bristol Biomedical Research Centre Dr Kanwal Mand is a Research Fellow in the INSiGHTS team, part of the Mental Health in Development theme at the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. She’s also a member of the BRC Qualitative Soc...

🎈New blog by Dr Kanwal Mand explores why patient & public involvement needs an ethics of care.

By focusing on relationships, power and lived experience, we can build more inclusive, equitable PPIE. A thoughtful read on rethinking “care” in research.

www.bristolbrc.nihr.ac.uk/care-in-publ...

New study sheds light on repeat use of out-of-hours mental health crisis service - ARC West Around half of clients of an out-of-hours mental health crisis service returned for repeat support, according to a new ARC West supported study. The research, published in BMJ Public Health, demonstra...

Our latest paper finds around half of clients returned to an out-of-hours mental health safe space for repeat support. People with depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm or psychosis were more likely to re-engage. Important insights for crisis care design.
arc-w.nihr.ac.uk/new-study-sh...

Our Pain Theme have launched What We Carry at John Radcliffe Hospital – an art-science collaboration led by artist Marysa Dowling exploring #chronicpain through photography and narrative.

📆Exhibition open until 6 December

Read more online: tinyurl.com/PainWhatWeCa...

New findings of a study into the relationship between antidepressants and the gut microbiome offers fresh insights into how gut bacteria shapes the success of #antidepressants.

The findings help explain why some people respond better to treatment than others.

🔗 tinyurl.com/yp5s763j

People living with obesity denied joint replacement surgery contrary to national guidelines - Bristol Biomedical Research Centre People with a high body mass index (BMI) are being denied joint replacement surgery, despite guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) saying decisions on whether to...

📣 New research paper!
🚫 People living with obesity are being denied joint replacement surgery contrary to national guidelines 🪡

👉 www.bristolbrc.nihr.ac.uk/people-livin...

#JointReplacement #overweight #obesity

New £1m fund to accelerate research access to data - southwestsde-nhs-uk The South West Secure Data Environment (SDE) is encouraging organisations that hold health and social care data in the South West to share more of their data, to drive ground-breaking research and inn...

🚀New £1m ‘data readiness’ funding call!

🛠️Organisations holding health and social care data in our region can apply for a share of £1m to make their data research ready through our #SDE.

👍Find out more here:
www.southwestsde.nhs.uk/new-1m-fund-...

#PoweredByNHSData #DataSavesLives #Research

Avoidable knee surgery cancellations: a costly, painful problem Results highlights an urgent need for efficiency programmes

Thousands of NHS #knee replacement operations are ❌ cancelled at short notice every year, many for avoidable reasons, a new study led by 🇬🇧 @bristoluni.bsky.social's @bristolbrc.bsky.social shows. This costs the #NHS 💷 millions of pounds and increases waiting times for patients. #surgery

The NIHR ARC West newsletter - December edition In this edition: Cerebral palsy protection milestone; Bereavement inequities among Black British people; 5G rollout in workplaces "behind expectations"; New GP approach to HIV testing; Plus much more

📮Just published! Our December email newsletter

So many stories in this edition:

Cerebral palsy protection milestone
Bereavement inequities among Black British people
5G rollout in workplaces "behind expectations"
New GP approach to HIV testing

Plus much more

mailchi.mp/nihr/nihr-ar...

Somali men’s workshop sheds light on barriers and opportunities for prostate cancer conversations - Bristol Biomedical Research Centre A recent community workshop brought together Somali men in Bristol to talk openly about prostate cancer – a topic which, for many, was associated with fear and uncertainty. The event, held at the East...

A recent Somali men’s workshop in Bristol opened honest conversations about prostate cancer, tackling fear, language barriers & misconceptions.

Community-led spaces, trusted facilitators & culturally tailored info are key to improving awareness & support.

www.bristolbrc.nihr.ac.uk/somali-mens-...

2025: Structural racism and cultural misunderstanding compound grief | Centre for Academic Primary Care | University of Bristol

Structural racism & cultural misunderstanding compound grief for Black British/Black Caribbean communities, study finds.

Authors call for widespread changes to improve bereavement experiences & access to support.

📰News: tinyurl.com/yc5tvucm
📄Paper: tinyurl.com/2eremjs4

#NationalGriefAwarenessWeek

New HPV Inform website

📰News!🎉We are delighted to announce the launch of a new HPV Inform website for families & professionals about the HPV vaccine. The website will contribute to overcoming misinformation & provide access to information which can help protect teenage children’s health. More ▶️ tinyurl.com/3ueeex3n

❄️ Read our final national newsletter of the year!
mailchi.mp/nihr/decembe...
for the latest roundup of news, blogs & opportunities from NIHR ARCs across the country.

❄️ Browse #ARCadvent this month, with daily posts on 1-25 December revealing the most popular stories of 2025!

Knee surgery cancellations costing NHS millions says Bristol University study A total of 9,403 knee replacement surgeries were cancelled between 2018-2023, according to a study.

⏰ Just 9 hours left to watch Wendy Bertram talking about her research revealing the shocking number of cancelled #NHS knee operations, on @bbcpointswest 👉 bit.ly/4iD8Q3Q

If you miss it, read about it on @BBCNews 👉 bit.ly/48duhET

#WaitingTimes #KneeReplacement #KneePain

⭐New Bristol Continuity of Care Calculator ⭐ helps GPs measure continuity of care - a key step towards improvement.

🔹The tool, developed by @chris-salisbury.bsky.social & colleagues, launched today.

🔹It's free, easy-to-use & works with UK GP practice systems.

👉 tinyurl.com/mvrrr34u

#GPSky

NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research. #ARCadvent Top ARC stories of the year. Day 1 The healing power of creative arts. Picture: Silhouette of a person singing and dancing

#ARCadvent day 1️⃣:
The healing power of creative arts

This year, our national #ARCseminar webinar series explored how creative arts can improve both the wellbeing and involvement in research of different communities

▶️ Read more & watch the recordings:
arc-w.nihr.ac.uk/news/the-hea...

World AIDS Day 2025: Community-led innovation and policy action in the fight against HIV December 1st is World AIDS Day. Our latest research highlights how community-driven initiatives and policy innovation are reshaping the fight against HIV – while global funding cuts threaten hard-won ...

📰News!📰Today is #WorldAIDSDay. Our latest research highlights how community-driven initiatives & policy innovation are reshaping the fight against #HIV, while global funding cuts threaten hard-won progress. More➡️ tinyurl.com/y6y8xnnd
@jhorwood.bsky.social, @bristoluni.bsky.social @nihr.bsky.social

Last-minute knee surgery cancellations ‘cost millions and ramp up waiting lists’ There was also a ‘great cost’ for affected patients.

📣 We're in the news!
📰 Our research is in the @the-independent.com 👇
bit.ly/3Xv0yBc

Avoidable cancellation of knee replacement operations costs NHS millions and increases waiting times - Bristol Biomedical Research Centre Thousands of NHS knee replacement operations are cancelled at short notice every year, many for avoidable reasons, according to a new study published today [1 December]. This costs the NHS millions of...

📢 New research!
🚨 Avoidable cancellation of knee replacement operations costs NHS millions and increases waiting times 🚨
👉 bristolbrc.nihr.ac.uk/avoidable-ca...

@bristoluni.bsky.social @researchnbt.bsky.social

Exploring data sharing with Children of the 90s - southwestsde-nhs-uk A new project will explore how data from Children of the 90s can be made available through the South West Secure Data Environment (SDE).

Our new project with @bristolbrc.bsky.social will explore how data from @childrenofthe90s.bsky.social can be made available through our SDE. We're aiming to establish a framework for trusted data sharing between SDEs and longitudinal research projects.

www.southwestsde.nhs.uk/data-sharing...

🧩 Researchers from the NIHR ARC East of England have developed a free, informative resource to help professionals working with migrants to better understand the causes of food poverty among migrants and provide more effective support.

Access the resource here▶️ arc-eoe.nihr.ac.uk/news-blogs/n...

Conversations about knowledge mobilisation with public contributors - ARC West Dr Helen Baxter, Research Fellow in Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation at NIHR ARC West, reflects on how knowledge mobilisation is relevant to public contributors. This blog was written by Hele...

🤔 What is knowledge mobilisation and why does it matter to public contributors?

Dr Helen Baxter explores how conversations, relationships and shared perspectives help turn research into real-world impact.

arc-w.nihr.ac.uk/conversation...

#KnowledgeMobilisation #PublicInvolvement

❄️🗓️🎀 Count down to the holidays with our popular #ARCadvent calendar from all ARCs across the country!

☃️🎁👉 Follow #ARCadvent from 1-25 December for daily posts unboxing the most clicked-on ARC stories of the year

📧 Join our national newsletter tinyurl.com/ARCsnewsletter

Voice of the Voiceless: How we co-produced materials to help reduce stigma for people receiving opioid substitution therapy in pharmacies - ARC West Voice of the Voiceless is a collaboration between people who receive opioid substitution therapy (OST) for opioid dependence, University of Bristol academics (Dr Vicky Carlisle, Dr Adam Holland, Dr Je...

💡 New booklet!
Helping reduce #stigma for people who receive #opioid substitution treatment, and empower them in their interactions with pharmacy staff

💬 Read the blog by @vic-carlisle.bsky.social about how they co-produced the booklet 👉 arc-w.nihr.ac.uk/how-we-co-pr...

@capcbristol.bsky.social