Participation in everyday life

Participation is a health and wellbeing outcome that occurs when an individual is involved in activities, within the context of their life, which provides that person with a sense of engagement. It is concerned with people, their occupations and their environment. This is reflected in our research activities which encompasses studies into:

• People – impact of trauma (Dr Rebecca Twinley) and life transitions (Tanja Krizaj) 
  
• Occupations – food as a lifestyle motivator (Miranda Cunningham), the lived experience of occupation (Dr Anne Roberts & Rosi Raine) and the case study database (Dr Katrina Bannigan & Dr Mary Birken)
  
• Environment – dementia-friendly flying (Dr Alison Warren & Kate Turner) and homelessness (Miranda Cunningham & Leonie Boland)
  

We are also involved in the development and evaluation of complex interventions to increase participation in everyday life, i.e. Graduating Living Skills Outside of the Ward (GLOW) (Dr Mary Birken) and occupational therapy as intervention (Dr Katrina Bannigan & Dr Mary Birken).

We host the IHC Plymouth Public Health Forum. 

Alongside our research the group organises and hosts the occupational therapy and occupational science seminar series. Dr Anne Roberts is the Chair of Occupational Science Europe and we have three honorary professors associated with the group Professors Jacqueline Akhurst (Rhodes University, South Africa); Clare Hocking (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand); Karen Jacobs (Boston University, United States). The group has methodological expertise in: 

• Auto/biography (Dr Rebecca Twinley is a member of the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group) 
  
• Public engagement with people with dementia and their carers (Dr Alison Warren and Kate Turner are members of Prime Ministers Dementia Challenge Group for Air Transport)
  
• Systematic reviews (Dr Katrina Bannigan is an accredited trainer with the Joanna Briggs Institute and a core member of the JBI Centre of Excellence at Plymouth University)    
  
• Teaching research methods (Dr Katrina Bannigan is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Visiting Professor Riga Stradins University, Latvia).