Bursaries

The Science for Prevention Academic Network (SPAN) is offering bursaries of up to € 800 to early career delegates to assist in covering workshop and associated fees, travel and accommodation costs for the entire duration of the 2015 EUSPR conference.

Poster Prizes

SPAN will issue prizes at the conference for the best posters by early career delegates. There will be 3 prizes of € 120, € 80 and € 50, plus each prize winner will receive 1 year’s free EUSPR membership.

EUSPR Awards

EUSPR will issue five awards at the conference, including one EUSPR/SPAN award.

 

Pre-Conference Workshops, 21st October 2015

See the following link for details of the workshops:

Workshop Details

Conference, 22nd – 24th October 2015

We are very pleased to announce that the keynote speakers for the conference are:

• Hugo Harper, Behavioural Insights Team (UK) – Automatic behaviour change in public policy and health
• Dr Esther K. Papies, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology and School of Psychology, University of Glasgow (UK); Dept. of Psychology, Utrecht University (ND) – Health goal priming, Or: How to benefit from nonconscious motivational routes to health behavior
• Prof Reinout W. Wiers, University of Amsterdam (ND) – Assessing and Changing Implicit Cognitive Processes in Addiction: Implications for Prevention
• Dr Nick Axford, Dartington Social Research Unit, UK – Are evidence-based programmes dead?
• Prof Paul van Soomeren, DSP-groep (ND) – Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: lessons learned
• Prim Dr Polonca Truden Dobrin, National Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia (SI) – Towards Better Health and Reducing Inequalities in Health – Changing the preventive health care for children and adolescents in Slovenia

Biographies

Plenary Session 1.1 – Hugo Harper

Hugo is a Senior Advisor in the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team with a focus on Public Health Policy. As well as working closely with the Department of Health and Public Health England in the UK he has spent time in both Singapore and Australia developing the adoption of a more behavioural approach to policy design. Hugo holds an MSc, with distinction, in Behavioural and Economic Sciences from the University of Warwick, as well as a BA in Psychology and Physiology from Oxford University.

Hugo Harper Abstract

Plenary Session 1.2 – Dr Esther K. Papies

Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology and School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, (UK); Dept. of Psychology, Utrecht University, (ND)

Esther K. Papies is a social cognitive psychologist studying the processes underlying the regulation of behavior and behavior change, especially in the domain of health. Her research uses mainly social cognition methods and focuses on the question of how behavior is regulated as a function of environmental cues and personal goals. Esther received her PhD in 2008 at Utrecht University, and was awarded with the Dissertation Award of the Dutch Association of Social Psychological Researchers, the Early Career Award (Jaspars Award) of the European Association for Social Psychology, and a VENI-grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Esther worked as an Assistant and then as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Utrecht University, before joining the University of Glasgow in 2015.

Esther’s current research further develops our understanding of nonconscious processes in self-regulation. She studies how simulating earlier rewarding experiences contributes to desire, and to failures of self-regulation. She is developing tools to prevent unhealthy environmental influences on desire and behavior, such as the portion size effect. Finally, she integrates insights from contemplative science to develop mindfulness approaches for dealing with desire. Esther has published widely on all these topics, see http://papies.socialpsychology.org for downloading selected publications.

Esther Papies Abstract

Scientific Round Table – Prof. Dr. Reinout W. Wiers

Reinout Wiers is Professor of Developmental Psychology & Faculty Professor of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on better understanding the (neuro-) cognitive processes involved in the aetiology of addiction and related disorders and to use this knowledge to develop new interventions. Professor Wiers has published over 200 papers and chapters on this topic (google scholar link) and together with colleagues has developed the alcohol-related approach avoidance task (AAT) as a novel measure of automatic, implicit appetitive tendencies toward alcohol (Wiers et al, 2009). Based on the AAT, Prof Wiers has developed automatic action tendency retraining as an intervention designed to decrease alcohol consumption in students (Wiers et al., 2010), and increase abstinence in alcoholic patients (Wiers et al., 2011; Eberl et al., 2013). This work has also been recently extended into web-based interventions (Wiers et al., 2015). Reinout co-edited the Handbook of Implicit Cognition and Addiction (SAGE, 2006) and is senior editor of the prime journal on substance abuse (Addiction) and serves on the editorial board of several other addiction journals. Further information on Prof Wiers’ work can be found at: http://www.uva.nl/over-de-uva/organisatie/medewerkers/content/w/i/r.w.h.j.wiers/r.w.h.j.wiers.html

Reinout Wiers Abstract

Plenary Session 2.1 – Dr Nick Axford

Nick is a Senior Researcher and Head of What Works at the Dartington Social Research Unit. He
leads a team that focuses on identifying effective interventions to improve child well-being through a
combination of evidence reviews and evaluations (mostly randomised controlled trials).

Nick joined DSRU in 1997. He has been Co-Editor of the Journal of Children’s Services since 2006 and
is a member of the Early Intervention Foundation Evidence Panel and an Advisor to the Board of the
European Society for Prevention Research.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Geography with European Study, an MSc in European Social Policy Analysis,
and a PhD in Social Work and Probation Studies. Nick is a recipient, with Tim Hobbs, of the Kamerman
and Khan Award from the International Society of Child Indicators.

Dr Nick Axford Abstract

Plenary Session 2.2 – Prof Paul van Soomeren

Paul van Soomeren (1952) is one of the founders and CEO of the Amsterdam based research and consultant bureau DSP-groep which has a staff of about 50 academically qualified people. Paul van Soomeren works as management consultant and policy researcher for national and international governments and institutions.

He is director of the board of the International CPTED Association (crime prevention through environmental design; www.cpted.net) and the European as well as the Dutch Designing Out Crime Association. In that capacity he travels all over the world to lecture on these subjects.

Areas of expertise include urban planning and design, crime prevention, safety/security, education, social management and welfare/health issues mainly on the neighbourhood level . For several years Paul has chaired the CEN/TC325 working group which designed the first general standard on the prevention of crime and feelings of urban insecurity by urban design and planning (CEN standards in the series 14383). Paul is member of the Management Committee of the EU COST action TU 1203 on crime prevention through urban design and planning (http://costtu1203.eu) and he is visiting professor of the Adelphi Research Institute of the University of Salford (UK, Greater Manchester).

Paul studied Social Geography, and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Amsterdam. He worked for the Dutch Ministries of Justice and Interior Affairs (National Crime Prevention Institute) for three years before he founded DSP-groep in 1984.

Paul van Soomeren Abstract

Plenary Session 3 – Prim Dr Polonca Truden Dobrin

Prim. Dr. Polonca Truden Dobrin is a medical doctor, specialist in epidemiology and public health at the National Institute of Public Health. She obtained her Master of Science in Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her main areas of work:  Activities related to child public health in particular to preventive health care services, health services research, population health monitoring, methodology of health and health care statistics, development of routine data sources, analyses and reporting of health and health care data. Supervision of medical doctors on specialisation in public health and teaching responsibilities in specialisation programme in public health and paediatrics. Preparation of project proposals, collaboration in projects financed by DG Sanco, DG Research and Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Currently she is involved in planning and coordination of health activities, projects and policies. She is leading the working group on preventive programme for children and adolescents in Slovenia including screenings and health checks and promoting settings-based approaches to health improvement. The group have conducted comprehensive health needs assessment to inform changes in preventive care and workforce development.

She is a member of the EVIPNet working group for Slovenia. She has participated in the situation analysis and is currently involved in the preparation of evidence brief for policy on primary health care development and financing.

She is a country agent for MOCHA project on comparison and appraisal of existing national models of primary care for children in European countries, bringing together multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder views, to identify and promote the most effective approaches to prevention, primary care and equity of access.

She is a member of the national coordination group for the Diabetes control strategy and action plan.
She participated in the estimation of diabetes type II cases in Slovenia using routine data system on drug prescription.

Prim. Dr. Truden Dobrin was previously the head of Centre for Population Health Research. She was involved in monitoring inequalities in health and led the group that published on inequalities. Their work led to many initiatives and projects in this important area.

Polonca Truden Dobrin Abstract

 

Workshop 1. “Introduction to systematic reviews” registrations have closed as the workshop is fully booked.

Pre-conference workshops are convened with our Science for Prevention Academic Network (SPAN) partners on 21st October 2015:

1. Introduction to systematic reviews. Convened by Geoff Bates & Angelina Brotherhood, Liverpool John Moores University, UK; University of Vienna, AT

2. Analysing longitudinal data with hierarchical linear models and identifying subgroups in prevention research. Convened by Dr Ferdinand Keller, Ulm University Hospital, DE

3. Writing for publication and publishing papers. Convened by Dr Kimberley Hill, University of Northampton, UK

An overview of the workshops can be found below, or select the links above to be directed to details of each workshop.

Early Career Bursaries and activities

In collaboration with SPAN the conference will hold several events and initiatives for early career delegates, see the following link for details.

Early Career Activities

As part of SPAN’s aim to establish stronger links to professional networks, they will again be offering bursaries of up to € 800 to early career delegates to assist in covering workshop and associated fees, travel and accommodation costs for the entire duration of the EUSPR conference. Workshop participants are encouraged to attend the EUSPR conference following the workshop. The EUSPR conference fee will have to be covered by participants.

Please note: bursary applications are now closed.

1. Introduction to systematic reviews.

Systematic reviews aim to identify and synthesise as much evidence as possible to help answer a research question. They follow a pre-determined and explicit methodology including clear eligibility criteria that studies must meet to be included in the review, a systematic and comprehensive search strategy, assessment of the validity of findings for included studies and systematic synthesis of findings. This rigorous approach enables the reader to understand how and why the review was carried out, and to ensure the review can be replicated and updated.

This workshop is aimed at anyone who is interested in finding out about how to undertake a systematic review, or would like to apply systematic review techniques and methods to their literature reviews to improve their quality and reliability. It will be useful for attendees to bring their own laptop with them to enable them to fully take part in all workshop activities. However, this is not an essential requirement.

The workshop will provide an overview of the steps involved with undertaking a systematic review and give participants the opportunity to discuss key concepts and take part in practical sessions undertaking steps in the systematic review process. It will start with an overview of the key concepts behind systematic review, followed by a step-by-step guide on how to conduct a systematic review. This will cover concepts including developing inclusion and exclusion criteria, creating a search strategy, identifying evidence, undertaking data extraction, critically appraising evidence and synthesising findings. A discussion of the key issues involved with doing a ‘review of reviews’ will also be facilitated. Throughout the day workshop participants will have the opportunities to try out some of these techniques and examples of systematic reviews will be provided for group discussion.

Programme

Geoff Bates is a researcher at the Centre for Public Health. With a background in Health Psychology he works in the Centre’s Evidence Review team who are responsible for producing systematic reviews and other evidence reviews on a broad range of public health topics. He has been a part of reviews on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on PSHE education and hepatitis B, and WHO concerning violence against individuals with disabilities. In addition, Geoff is responsible for research exploring environmental issues in public health and has carried out research in the alcohol and substance misuse fields.

Angelina Brotherhood is currently a doctoral researcher in sociology at the University of Vienna, Austria. Previously she worked at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, where she also led a systematic ‘review of reviews’ covering the evidence base for a range of interventions and risk behaviours as part of the EU co-funded ALICE RAP (Addiction and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe Reframing Addictions) Project.

2. Analysing longitudinal data with hierarchical linear models and identifying subgroups in prevention research.

In order to analyze longitudinal data, different statistical approaches can be used. The workshop will start with a short overview of hierarchical linear models which present one feasible method to model data over time. These models encompass both analysis of variance models and growth curve models (random regression). They allow to model person specific effects, intermittently occurring missing values and potentially unequal survey dates. The main focus will then be placed on new approaches with which subgroups of progress curves can be identified (growth mixture modelling – GMM). While the first approach assumes that essentially the same growth trajectory describes all change occurring over the assessment points, or the subgroups with different trajectories are known (e.g. treatment condition, gender), GMM tries to identify differences in growth parameters across unobserved subpopulations, resulting in separate growth models for each subpopulation (latent class). GMM will be illustrated by means of the statistical program Mplus. Participants should have a background in basic statistics and ordinary regression analysis.

Programme

Dr Ferdinand Keller is head psychologist at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Psychotherapy at the University Hospital in Ulm. Over the past years he has been interested in a wide range of statistical methods and published on IRT/latent class models to validate questionnaires as well as on the use of (latent) growth modelling to describe and predict patient progress.

3. Writing for publication and publishing papers.

The workshop will provide guidance and feedback to early career delegates who are currently preparing a manuscript for an article. The session will include a key note talk, structured group feedback (20 – 30 min per article), and panel discussion from senior researchers on their own experience followed by discussion and response to participant’s issues as identified in a brain storming session. The workshop is aimed at delegates with limited experience of publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Facilitators

• Facilitator: Dr Kimberley Hill, University of Northampton, UK
• Senior researchers to support entire day through their input and expertise: Prof David Foxcroft, Prof Rosaria Galanti and Prof Michal Miovsky (keynote speaker).
• External speaker for keynote: Prof Michal Miovsky, Charles University in Prague, CZ
• Organisation/handling of applications: Matej Košir, Oxford Brookes University, UK, and Dr Kimberley Hill, University of Northampton, UK.

The workshop will be limited to up to 15 participants (first come first serve as long as eligibility criteria have been met). See the following links for the programme and the special requirements for participation in workshop 3 (no special requirements for attending workshop 1 or 2).

Programme Requirements

Closing date for registrations (workshop 3 only) – 3 weeks before the workshop (1st October 2015)

Dr Kimberley Hill is a Chartered Psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at The University of Northampton. She also sits on The University of Northampton’s Research Ethics Committee. Kimberley recently completed her PhD and Associate Lectureship at Oxford Brookes University. Her research focuses on the development of young people, promoting health and preventing health risk behaviours. This includes investigating the contexts in which social behaviours, such as excessive alcohol consumption, are conducted.

Michal Miovský, MA, PhD is Professor of Clinical psychology at Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic). He graduated from the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno in 1998. In 2002, he received a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology at Palacky University in Olomouc. In the same year, he was employed as a researcher at the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic. He started his professional carrier as a volunteer and therapist at a Drop-in centre and in school prevention. Later he established a therapeutic centre for drug users and led a group of treatment facilities (Therapeutic community, Aftercare, Day centre and Substitution centre) in NGO “Podane ruce” in Brno.

He is vice-dean for non-medical health study programs at the 1st Medical Faculty and Head of the Department of Addictology of the 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague and General Teaching Hospital in Prague. He led in the creation and establishment of Bachelor (BC), master (MA) and postgraduate (PHD) addiction study programmes at Charles University in Prague.

He is vice-president of ISAJE (International Society of Addiction Journal Editors) and Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Adiktologie (Addictology), having established the Journal with his colleagues in 2001. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery; Czech and Slovak Psychiatry; and other Journals. His speciality is in the area of qualitative methods and research in the field of addictions, prevention and clinical research (like ADHD etc.).

For more details:
www.adiktologie.cz
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michal_Miovsky

The online programme can be found

here

Pre-conference workshops – 21st October 2015

Workshops will run concurrently between 09:30 – 16:00. Registration from 09:00.
1. Introduction to systematic reviews. Convened by Geoff Bates & Angelina Brotherhood, Liverpool John Moores University (UK); University of Vienna (AT)
2. Analysing longitudinal data with hierarchical linear models and identifying subgroups in prevention research. Convened by Dr Ferdinand Keller, Ulm University Hospital (DE)
3. Writing for publication and publishing papers. Convened by Dr Kimberley Hill, University of Northampton (UK)

Lunch and coffee breaks will be provided as part of the workshop fee. Find out more about the workshops here, including the programmes.

Conference Day 1 – 22nd October 2015

EUSPR Members’ Meeting
09:30 – 10:00 Conference registration and welcome coffee (for Members’ Meeting attendees only)
10:00 – 12:00 Members’ Meeting

EUSPR Early Careers Forum Launch and Networking Event
The launch event is fully booked, please see here for further Early Career activities taking place during the conference.
11:30 – 12:00 Conference registration (for Forum launch event attendees who have not yet registered for the conference)
12:00 – 13:45 Early Careers Forum Launch and Networking Event (includes lunch)

Conference start – 12.00 on 22nd October 2015

Conference Close – 13.30 on 24th October 2015