LSE Health is hosting a ESRC-funded seminar on ‘Reproductive morbidity and poverty’ on the 6th of November, 2010. They invite the submission of abstracts from now, with the deadline on the 31st of July.

Poverty reduction is a core target in the international development agenda. Reproductive morbidities include physical disorders such as fistula and infertility, as well as maternal depression and mental ill-health. For every maternal death, there are an estimated twenty women with maternal morbidities. Although these morbidities cause widespread disability and reduce the quality of life, they receive little attention as public health problems. The burden of reproductive health morbidities falls heaviest on the poor who often do not have access to essential health care and services.

More informaiton on the seminar, and the call, can here found in this pdf.

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies International Conference 2010, on the topic of Understanding ageing: Health, wealth and wellbeing at fifty and beyond, is being held at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford from the 14th to 16th of April.

This is an international conference bringing together researchers working in the economic, social, psychological and health fields to present state of the art analyses of ageing processes; pinpoint existing gaps in knowledge and identify priorities for future research and data collection.

The keynote speakers are: Jim Heckman, University of Chicago; David Barker, University of Southampton and Jack Guralnik, National Institute of Ageing.

The focus of this conference is the use of longitudinal data from studies such as the British Birth Cohorts and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to understand life-course determinants of healthy ageing, including the effect of early-life circumstances on outcomes in later life.

Research using such data is essential to inform sound policy that can address the needs of an ageing society. Themes addressed in the conference include: Frailty, disability and physical functioning at older ages; Ageing and cognition; Employment at older ages and transitions to retirement; Economic and financial circumstances over the life-course; Ageing, social participation and wellbeing in later life; Government policies and the ageing population.

Further information and booking is available as the conference website: www.ageingconf.org

Booking is now open, with an ‘early bird discount’ available.

December 2010 will see the 10th International Seminar on Medical Geography, whose main topic is “Health and Solidarity“.It is to be held in Rome, Italy.

This GEOMED 2010 1st Circular details the initial considerations for the conference.

The Health Geography Research Group (HGRG) of the RGS have announced a call for papers for a number of sessions due to take place in the coming year’s annual Royal Geographcial Society- Institute of British Geographers conference.

The sessions cover the following themes:

• Healthy Countrysides?: exploring geographies of rural health
• Healthy Places
• Geographies of (dis)ability, (ill) health, emotion and affect
• ‘Geographers helping’ – Undertaking fieldwork through a participatory role in the ‘helping’ professions
• Body to Body: geographies of donation and transplantation
• Climate Change Adaptation and Human Health
• The Spatial Dimensions of Health

More information on these sessions, including abstracts, deadline (1st of Feb 2010) etc, here.

More information on all sessions at the RGS here.

The Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) are hosting a training workshop from 6-10 April 2010 at the University of St. Andrews on the topic of “Advanced Analysis of Linked Health Data“.

This is an intensive five-day course on the theory and practice of analysis of large sets of linked health or social data at an intermediate to advanced level. Advanced principles of epidemiology are combined with hands-on practical exercises in the implementation of computing solutions. This course follows on directly from the highly successful Introductory Analysis of Linked Health Data course run by Professor Holman in St Andrews from12-16 September 2009. As part of the course two lunchtime seminars will be presented by David Preen and Rachael Moorin to illustrate their latest linkage research.

The course co-ordinators are Professor D’Arcy Holman, Associate Professor David Preen and Associate Professor Rachael Moorin.

The course assumes that students have completed Introductory Analysis of Linked Health Data or have equivalent knowledge. The computing component of the unit assumes a facile competence in the preparation of computing syntax for SPSS, SAS or STATA and familiarity with the statistical analysis of linked data files at an introductory to intermediate level.

More information SHIP Workshop 2010 pdf.

The University of Surrey are hosting a workshop on the ONS longitudinal study specifically geared towards exploring population and health trends.

Workshop: Exploring population and health trends – the ONS Longitudinal Study
Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales.

Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

The workshop is free to attend, booking and further information is available here.

A call for papers has been issues for a Special Edition of Espace, Populations, Sociétés (December 2010).

Espaces, Populations, Sociétés is an interdisciplinary and international journal, and has published original contributions in French, English and Spanish since 1983. Espaces, Populations, Sociétés is a thematic journal, with each issue focussing on a specific topic.

In this special issue the aim is to present a variety of empirical and conceptual papers which illuminate risks for health in societies, as operating at and across different geographic levels from the local, regional, national and international levels, and in developing and developed countries.

Papers are sought which address risks for health in societies in various ways, through the development of theoretical and conceptual frameworks, analysis of primary or secondary empirical data, qualitative or quantitative review of existing literature, or policy analysis. For example, this might include:

-     The unequal distribution of risks for health within and across societies, vulnerability and resilience

-     The influence of social, economic, cultural and policy context for risk and health

-     New and emerging (infectious) diseases and sanitary crisis

-     New risks and uncertainties for health

-     The impact of globalisation on health

The co-editors of the thematic issue on Health, Risk, and Society are: Alain Vaguet, Department of Geography, University of Rouen (Upper Normandy), France. Laboratory CNRS-IDEES, 6266. Mylene Riva, Department of Geography, Institute of Hazard and Risk Research, and the Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University, UK.

Ideas should initially be submitted in the form of a 350 word abstract by 15th January 2010, send by email to alain.vaguet@univ-rouen.fr and mylene.riva@durham.ac.uk.  Decision of acceptance of abstracts is 15th February 2010. Final date for submitting articles will be April 30th 2010.

An enthusiastic qualitative researcher is required to join the research team of the Leverhulme Trust-funded project ‘Place, Culture and Film: An Investigation of Migrants’ Health Making Practices.’ The postdoc will be involved in all aspects of the research, including: recruitment, data collection and analysis; post-production film editing and dissemination activities; and management of project records. Training in visual methodology will be provided if required.

The successful candidate will have completed a PhD in the Social Sciences or Humanities using qualitative methods, have excellent organisational and communication skills and preferably have experience of working with BME groups and one or more years postdoctoral research experience.

The post is based in the Department of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, with fieldwork conducted in the London Borough of Greenwich.

Salary will be within the range of £24,063 – £26,793 per annum (pro rata to £30,079 – £33,492, full time equivalent) inclusive of London Allowance, depending on skills and experience. Start date is 1st Sept. 2009.

The research is directed by Professor Isabel Dyck. Please contact for informal discussion of the post on 020 7882 5416 or by email: i.dyck@qmul.ac.uk

Further details of the post and an application form can be found here

Closing date for applicants is 30th June.

 National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study: one-day introductory workshop in Scotland
On Thursday, 11 June, 2009, CLS will hold a one-day introductory workshop on National Child Development Study (NCDS) and 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The workshop will take place at the University of Stirling, Scotland. This event, organised jointly by CLS and the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), is open to researchers considering using data from the most recent sweeps of the surveys.
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The taught component of the workshop includes:
survey design, data coverage and methodology
patterns of attrition
an introduction to the Idealist data dictionary
accessing the data via ESDS
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During the hands-on component, participants will have the opportunity to carry out SPSS or Stata analyses using sub-sets of NCDS/BCS70 data, with support from members of the CLS cohort studies team.
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Further details, including the programme, are at: http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/news/eventdetail.asp?id=”2206“

Poverty and Reproductive Health in Poor Countries: Issues, Measurement & Evidence

BSPS day meeting

Sponsored in collaboration with the ESRC

Venue: New Academic Building (NABL09), LSE

Friday 29th May, 2009

Background

The burden of out-of-pocket expenditure related to reproductive health service

use remains largely unexplored in poor country contexts. The knock-on effect of

poverty on reproductive health is difficult to quantify given limited crosssectional

and longitudinal evidence as well as lack of representative data on

health related expenditure at the individual level. Apart from the indirect costs,

there is a lack of evidence on user-fees and institutional subsidies in the public

and private sector and how these influence treatment/ care seeking behaviour,

both short-term and long-term. Generating evidence through cross-country

studies is essential to design effective and sustainable policies to enhance

reproductive wellbeing of individuals.

Aims

1. To examine evidence on the pathways through which poverty affects

reproductive health at the individual, household, institutional and community

levels in poor countries, with a regional focus on Asia and Africa.

2. To provide a forum for debate on the short- and long-term impact of poverty

on reproductive wellbeing

3. To discuss the challenges in measuring and interpreting empirical evidence

on poverty and reproductive health

This day meeting is open to all, and is free-of-charge but there is only limited space available.

However, PRE-REGISTRATION is essential, also for access to New Academic Building and for security related reasons – please email Ms. Anne Shepherd (pic@lse.ac.uk ) or phone: 020 7955 7666.