Students join GRaCE for Nuffield Research Placements

Two sixth form students joined GRaCE over the summer for a six week research placement, arranged through the Nuffield Foundation.

Jess (left) and Naa Adei (right) with Dr Buckingham at the celebration event

After spending some time getting familiar with the different aspects of GRaCE, students Jess and Naa Adei chose topics to focus on. Jess decided to investigate how the mental health report produced after a myGRaCE self-assessment can be used to create an image, with properties or composition based in some way on the results of the assessment; while Naa Adei looked at dynamically producing a musical piece from the report.

The idea of using a myGRaCE report to generate some form of art or music is potentially of therapeutic benefit to service users. By creating an item based on the results of an assessment, the user is given a personal and unique reward for taking an active role in caring for their own health. These types of rewards also offer a new way to present an informative summary of a report, or to recall a particularly important assessment through a memorable piece of art and the feelings it invokes.

Jess and Naa Adei each produced a report and a summary poster discussing their time with the GRaCE team, and their findings and ideas, which they presented at the Nuffield 2017 West Midlands Celebration Event, held at Coventry University.

We wish them both the very best of luck in their academic careers, and will use their work as the basis for future research to improve service user engagement and the therapeutic value of myGRaCE.