It’s been a few months since my last blog post and I have been very busy with my food poverty and dementia work. Firstly, as my alter ego; the Chairman of East London Food Access @ELFA_Ltd , a social enterprise based in Hackney East London who provide affordable access to fruit and vegetables to those on low incomes. Food poverty is gradually pushing its way up the political agenda and our tiny organisation is right in the thick of providing one solution to chronic food poverty and is researching our effectiveness with University College London!
I have also been busy putting finishing touches to a dementia resource I have designed to help identify behavioural feeding difficulties in dementia and provide suggestions for overcoming these difficulties at mealtimes. I recently gave a presentation on TheDMAT during Nutrition & Hydration Week 17-23 March 2014 which you can watch here: ‘Can a simple tool be used to identify and treat behavioural feeding difficulties in people with dementia?’ Hosted by: Lee Martin, Registered Dietitian & Researcher.
More on this another time this blog is not the appropriate place, however…..
I also have a fantastic announcement I would like to share which will bring a whole new element to the blog. I have been offered a research position at Kings College London (KCL) working in the Diet & Gastrointestinal Health research group. This is a very exciting opportunity and King’s is somewhere I have always wanted to work.
The team at KCL have already published some fantastic research on the FODMAP diet. They are at the forefront of research looking into its long term safety and the interactions of the diet with your gut bacteria. KCL are a centre of excellence for research and also work with the Monash University in Australia researching FODMAP restriction.
I am going to continue the blog while working at King’s so it will come as no surprise that it might take on a slightly more research focused theme. Hopefully I can help provide some useful insight into the growing evidence around this remarkable nutritional intervention for Irritiable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Personally I cannot wait to start; it’s a new career for me in the academic world of research after 5 years working in the NHS as a dietitian. I finished my masters in clinical research in October 2013 so to get my first research role on a topic I am really interested in amazing. I am going to miss some things about my old job role, especially the learning disability team in Hackney whom I work closely with and the patients I see in that role.
It’s great to get the interaction with people from the blog and on twitter along with the interaction I will get with all dietitians being trained in the FODMAP approach in my new role. Look out for some new developments with the King’s FODMAP team soon!
Anyway wish me luck, I have just started this week! See you back online soon.