The Fuse conference in four Public Partner poems

How to capture the essence of a conference about setbacks, successes and 'brilliant failures' in public health research - an event report, a news story, the results of a survey?  What about in the prose of our public partners who provided their expertise as panellists?  That is what they suggested and here they are.

The 5th Fuse International Conference on Knowledge Exchange in Public Health took place between 15-16 June 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne.  Find out more about the event, speakers and panellists on the conference website.

..the Fuse experience

PJ Atkinson, public member of Gateshead Poverty Truth Commission

PJ in the centre of a fishbowl conversation

Recently I was Invited to chat with Fuse.

Well it was a Wednesday, had nowt to lose.

They numerify and storify researching for Public Health.

And let me tell you, with very little wealth.

We had main stage speakers, panels, and side room topics, it was never droll, even sat in a fish bowl!!!

We discussed, pyramid breaking, old ideas smashing, and reforming, these people are fun never boring.

But most of all, they turn setbacks into learning, with passion and resolve.

Fuse and its people, want to adapt, grow and evolve.

Knowledge Flow

David Black, Fuse public partner and hospital governor 

(r-l) David and Irene providing their expertise on how to turn setbacks in knowledge exchange into successes

After waiting too long the day came along and it's off to the conference for me.

Knowing where I'm going, despite the traffic slowing, I'm knowing I'll be on time.

Must listen today then whisk my thoughts away to plan what I'll say tomorrow.

A script's what I need after taking heed of the need for brevity.

 

We're off and running, the introductions are made and it's welcome to one and all.

A programme, like life, which can be subject to change.

Reflections on knowledge mobilisation and mistakes.

Evidence of local knowledge exchanged at place.

 

Amid the plethora of parallel sessions and plenary panels.

The exchange of views over coffees and teas.

The paper presentations and interactive poster sessions.

Fishbowls of hot topics and Cabaret of dangerous ideas.

 

A modicum of the local and a smorgasbord of internationalism.

I entered to play at the start of the day, full of eagerness to learn.

To share a thought and to be taught a lesson by all in attendance.

Public health, its impacts and strength of this particular human endeavour.

 

Day two is here and I'm ready, with no fear.

Up on the stage, knowing what to say and trying to keep it brief.

Then before you know it's off, we go and ending with applause all-round.

To have a voice and speak it out, it's a great place to be.

 

Good feedback I'm feeling, plenary speaking's appealing.

Networking and knowledge sharing, I'm doing.

A supportive, safe space, it's a real great place.

For setbacks and solutions to be shared.

 

So, to the end game, the main themes and learning all noted.

My highlight, the brilliant afternoon keynote.

Institute of Brilliant Failures with celebration, laughter, a new way of thinking.

A refreshing concept, informing my future knowledge sharing and learning.

My First Fuse Conference

Margaret Ogden, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) representative from County Durham

Margaret (right) sharing her experience of the importance of setbacks in knowledge exchange in public health

I went to the Fuse conference in mid June 22

PPI members were invited, I met more than a few

The focus was knowledge exchange, so meaningful to me

In presenting I’d soon see how dynamic I could be

I loved the international element to this annual conference

Diversity was a theme that would get so much reference

Seldom heard communities, always a huge challenge

Dissemination of info too, a challenging thing to manage

Just how effective can knowledge exchange be

With the right expertise, it can be achieved quite easily.


I began my talk with detail of a planned PPI event

That didn’t go well, in spite of the hours which we spent

Planning, collaborating, finding the right venue

But with few attendees present, it can all go askew

We’d do better next time, was our overriding thought

For on that occasion, limited data was caught

I also referred to a further memorable meeting

Where conflict had arisen, it could have been defeating

It was really a clash of people with strong wills

I had to dig deep for new negotiating skills.


As a panel, I felt we made a great team

This experience had totally elevated my self esteem

My first face to face high profile event

At a nearby location, that was heaven sent

My mobility had worsened in the last two years

Confidence had been dented, I now had fears

I needed to get stamina back and level of fitness

I imagine my struggles were hard to witness

But as I move forward with determination and fortitude

I thanked my hosts for the invite which I’d accepted with gratitude

I didn’t make the second day of this interactive event

That had been a real shame, was my only lament.

Knitting out the Knots 

Irene Soulsby, Fuse public member from Gateshead
 

We talked a lot 

Knitting out the knots 

We talked and talked and talked 

A LOT! 

Knitting out the knots 

Comparing designs 

Line by line 

Reknitting stiches  

Holes and lines 

Redesigning our designs 

Comparing setbacks and successes 

Knitting them into things that would impress us  

Learning from each other 

With enthusiasm and sharing 

Creating our new designs.

Many thanks to our public partners for taking the time to write their fantastic poems for this Fuse Open Science Blog. 

If you are interested in joining the Fuse Public Partner Network please visit the dedicated Public Involvement section on our website.

52 weeks in public health research, part 41

Posted by Amelia Lake and Mark Welford

From Amelia Lake: Is it really 19 years since I started my first degree in human nutrition & dietetics at Glasgow Caledonian University?? It is! Three years were spent living on Byres Road completely in the central hub of a vibrant neighbourhood. I was there last week reflecting on changes good and bad but mainly missing the buzz of the west end of Glasgow.

From Amelia Lake: New Fuse Director Prof Ashley Adamson presents about public health nutrition at the Human Nutrition Research Centre (HNRC) Newcastle University 20 year anniversary event.

From Mark Welford: I saw this illustration by Cartoonist André Carrilho on The Independent newspaper's website under the headline "What's wrong with how the West talks about Ebola in one illustration".  Coincidently a day earlier, Professor Eugene Milne had used the same image in his guest lecture "How Fit For Purpose Is The New English Public Health System?" at Durham University to illustrate his point about the response to Ebola.  

From Mark Welford: Martin White and Jean Adams use twitter to thank everyone in Fuse and the Institute of Health & Society at Newcastle University for a great send off (they're both heading to the University of Cambridge).  They were particularly impressed by the Fuse branded draft excluder/snake created by Avril Rhodes, our resident knitter extraordinaire!  But what's this got to do with public health?  Well this extract from the letter introducing Fuse snake to the pair might shed some light on the matter:

"We snakes have had a bad reputation since the Garden of Eden which I’m working to improve constantly. For example, I’m not without academic qualifications myself – I am a Graduate of the Royal Academy of Draught Excluders and have the letters GRADE after my name (at every opportunity). GRADE members have undertaken a number of prestigious and tough draught excluding assignments, including, the Castle of Mey, Wormwood Scrubs, the House of Lords, York Minster (brrgh – chilly one that!) and Parkside.

"GRADE members are at the cutting edge of public health. We know cold kills (statistics demonstrate this unequivocally) and that Winter warmth campaigns make a real difference – please, we don’t need a four year evaluation or a meta-analysis to tell us. Consequently, GRADE members are constantly rushing to new assignments.

"I am working tirelessly to get a minimum level of insulation in all British homes and compulsory inclusion of solar panels in all new builds, running a special competition to improve the aesthetics of these panels (don’t they look awful??) in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects. I’m no stranger to slithering my way into the boardrooms of Wimpey, Persimmon, Councils up and down the land, and current party conferences to make my point, and present them with incontrovertible evidence without any reference to “p” values, and whilst speaking with forked tongue. I’ve worked personally with Everest (and all the rest) to improve window draught proofing – even though it could put me out of a job."


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A reminder from the Fuse blog group:

Each Thursday of 2014 we’ll try and post around four pictures on the Fuse blog that capture our weeks in public health research, from the awe-inspiring to the everyday and mundane. Given that more of the latter than the former exists in most of our lives, we foresee problems compiling 208 images worth posting on our own. So this is going to have to be a group project. Send an image (or images) with a sentence or two describing what aspect of your week in public health research they sum up and we’ll post them as soon as we can. You don’t have to send four together – we can mix and match images from different people in the same week.

Normal rules apply: images you made yourself are best; if you use someone else’s image please check you’re allowed to first; if anyone’s identifiable in an image, make sure they’re happy for it to be posted; nothing rude; nothing that breaks research confidentiality etc.

Email your posts to m.welford@tees.ac.uk or contact any member of the Fuse blog group.

Introducing Fuse duck: coming to a university near you to save Albert Park’s pond

Posted by Avril Rhodes and Peter van der Graaf

Remember when there was a brief outbreak of blog posts on knitting? Remember branded goods and the debut of the Fuse gloves? The gloves flopped spectacularly, strangely no one wanted them, at all. I have the world’s only pair. That was not terribly good news as I still had a wool mountain at home and a one pair of Fuse gloves didn’t make so much as a small dent in the mountain.

Undeterred and still working my way through the mountain, three years on, the latest product is the Easter Fuse duck. Easter Fuse duck is inspired by the brave ducks of Albert Park, who live just across the road from AskFuse HQ, Parkside, Teesside University.  These outstanding ducks co-exist with a number of environmental challenges. These include, without any trace of exaggeration, fishermen with their trailing lines (and a nice line in swearing), large quantities of unsuitable food thrown at them by passers-by, rubbish of all kinds floating around (humans are behind this too), unruly groups on outsize fowl shaped pedalos, and noise pollution from many sources including a café, play park, a roller skating track, and seasonally, a full size funfair. Otherwise it’s a rural idyll.

Albert Park duck pond, Middlesbrough

It’s a tribute to the persistence of nature that despite everything so-called sophisticated humans do to disrupt duck life they continue, and even flourish. Pollution might be one thing somewhat out of our hands (although  not entirely), but why do we keep dropping litter, paying others to tidy it all up, and making it difficult for wildlife? It’s such a commonplace public health hazard (especially in urban areas) spoiling everyone’s enjoyment and consuming resources in the clean-up.

Fuse duck decided it was high tide (boom-tish!) for action; luckily, Fuse duck recognises the value of collaboration wearing the life-belt featuring our combined University colours. He is appealing to all Fuse researchers for help in finding a new home for him after all the public health dangers he faced and to learn more about how to combat these dangers for his fellow feathery friends in Albert Park. With all the expertise in Fuse on tangled-up fishing lines (complex systems), unruly groups (behaviour change), healthy eating in the face of austerity (health inequalities), play parks and roller skating tracks (early life and adolescence), hearing aids (healthy ageing) and knowledge of duck language (translational research), Fuse duck is keen to meet the researchers that can save his pond!

Fuse duck hard at work

So our environmental warrior would like to go on a road trip to visit all the Fuse Universities and public health researchers within them: to sit in on their fascinating meetings, experience their randomised controlled trials (RCTs) first hand, join their physical activities, share coffee mornings and indulge in the latest evidence review with long and incomprehensible titles. If you would like Fuse duck to visit you for a week, please let us know and he could be winging his way in your direction. All we ask is that you let us know how he is getting on in your public health wonderland by writing about his adventures and posting photos on the blog.

After his tour de force, Fuse duck has plans to fly further afield to see our friends in practice and policy land, so watch this space!

Can you give Fuse duck a good home?  If so then email Avril Rhodes on Avril.Rhodes@tees.ac.uk

An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove

Posted by Avril Rhodes

Many is the time in Fuse-land when we think and dream of little else but Fuse branded goods. I know what you’re thinking of, the inevitable parade of pens, pencils, post-it notes, folders, mouse-mats, highlighter pens and so on. I also know that you’ve got a stash of these at home when you’ve filled those plastic bags at conferences, and that sometimes you’ll look wistfully at a pen as you think, “What is that logo?” “What does that stand for?” perhaps ten years after the critical event. There are masses of these things in the Rhodes household – and most of the pens don’t work all that well!

Fuse-land has had its thinking cap on though with an eye to more imaginative branded items and yes, we’ve come up with the ultimate Fuse branded item. Superlative claims just don’t do it justice…..it….

• Can be used uniquely to celebrate, and indeed, publicise “Fuse at Five” 
• Is a fashion item of note 
• Will keep you warm in the coldest of winters (and recent summers) 
• Makes a useful gift for your gran 
• Is cheap to produce…mmm… sorry I mean economic 
• Will coordinate with any wardrobe 
• Fits in with the latest trend for “yarn bombing” – this is really current 
• Will appeal to all those crafty academics out there 
• Might be the beginning of a new career if the research grants just dry up 
• And will be the envy of all the other UKCRC Centres 

And what is this unique item? It is the Fuse gloves – each digit crafted in a Fuse colour following the order of the Fuse swirl – from the outside to the centre and from the centre to the outside; for reasons of egalitarianism. Dead easy for all you knitting folk – just get a standard glove pattern, a selection of wools, and away you go! And much cheaper than buying the Fuse Communications Officer a black sports car with a fuse logo on the driver’s door. Perish the thought!

Fuse gloves - designed, knitted & modelled by Avril, photo by Mark

So, of course this begs a question – what else could we make, and quickly? The Fuse scarf – a bit dull but could be done. The Fuse beanie hat – possibly only to be seen on a mountain top, which might defeat the object of spreading the word, but you have to admit, tempting to work the motif in the round. The Fuse tea cosy – maybe? Egg cosies for all the family? A laptop woolly cover or carrying case? A mobile phone sock?      

Having made Fuse proto-gloves, I now need further inspiration – what’s next? As I know the Fuse gloves will be such an attractive fashion item, I’m prepared, selflessly, to offer them as a prize to anyone who can come up with the best suggestion for an “alternative” branded good! I look forward to receiving your suggestions…now where are my needles?