Dr Susan Dewhurst
- Associate Professor & Head of Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences
- Bournemouth Gateway Building BG504, St Pauls Lane, Bournemouth, BH8 8GP
Biography
Dr Susan Dewhurst is Head of Department and Associate Professor in Exercise Physiology in the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences. Having previously worked as a lecturer and researcher in academic institutions in Scotland, NW England, Denmark and Rome, and as a Senior Scientific Officer at the Ministry of Defence, she brings a broad range of teaching and scientific experiences to BU.
Research Biography:
My main pleasure is seeing people of all ages active. This is especially true for the older age group whereby being active lets us engage with society and allows us to make the most of our latter years.
For many older people, however, being active isn’t so easy. The natural ageing process makes us more susceptible to slips and falls. When this happens confidence in our physical ability can go, along with the desire to participate in activities which we once enjoyed, whether it be visits to shopping centres or country walks. A consequence of avoiding these activities is that our physical abilities can decrease, ironically, making us more likely to fall...
My main research goal is to try to break this downward spiral that can occur as we start to become less steady on our feet. This interest includes findings new ways to identify people at risk of a fall or fall related fracture and interventions that can be put in place to help overcome these risks.
Examples of ongoing projects include a community-based project to increase accessibility to fall prevention screening and interventions. This project is targeting any adult who would like early interventions to maintain or improve their balance and reduce their risk of falls and fall related fractures.
A second research area is using my knowledge of muscle degeneration to mitigate the fall and frailty risk of adults with Chronic Kidney Disease undergoing Dialysis.
Postgraduate research supervision:
1. Fall and fragility fracture screening and intervention
2. Prevention of muscle degeneration in health and disease
3. Other areas in health ageing aligned to my expertise
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