

Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Sulochana has been very productive in terms of publications based on her Ph.D., as this is the seventh paper based on her research! She published six previous papers [1-6], in addition during her time as BU Ph.D. student Sulochana also contributed to a book chapter [8[ as part of the textbook Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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This week the international scientific journal Midwifery published Ms. Joanne Rack’s second paper from her PhD research. This latest paper ‘The Pregnant Pause: Engaging and Involving Public Contributors in Maternal Health Research‘ [1] appeared online two days ago. This paper focuses on Joanne’s PPI (Patient Public Involvement) in prepartion for her PhD research. The public contributors of PPI groups can include an extensive range of people, including patients, family members or carers, people from allied organisations, service users, and members of the general public who have an interest in research for other reasons. Participants bring their unique perspectives and experiences that can help to shape and inform the research process. This type of involvement ensures that maternal health research is grounded in the needs and preferences of those it aims to serve and grows a sense of ownership and investment among those who use the services but also those who provide them. Joanne stresses that PPI is an essential element for all maternal health endeavours.
Joanne is doing a Clinical Doctorate in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) specialising in personalised care for women of advanced maternal age. This PhD study is matched-funded by University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) NHS Foundation Trust and Bournemouth University. Her PhD is supervised and supported by Profs. Vanora Hundley, Ann Luce and Edwin van Teijlingen at BU and Dr. Latha Vinayakarao in Poole Maternity Hospital. The first PhD paper with Joanne as lead author was her research protocol ‘Understanding perceptions and communication of risk in advanced maternal age: a scoping review (protocol) on women’s engagement with health care services’ published int he summer of 2024 [2].
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Today and yesterday (January 7-8) academics involved in MIHERC (Maternal and Infant Health Equity Research Centre), the successful interdisciplinary collaboration to address challenges in maternity care, met in Bournemouth. MIHERC is led by Sheffield Hallam University, along with Bournemouth University, South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub (SYDHH) and the Health Determinant Research Collaboration, Doncaster. In addition, a range of local and national partners are recognised. MIHERC is one of the nine groups of UK universities making up the new NIHR Challenge Maternity Disparities Consortium. This NIHR Consortium aims of tackling inequalities in maternity outcomes, focusing on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy.
Our second planning meeting highlighted our collective strengths including our expertise in community engagement and PPIE (Public & Patient Involvement & Engagement); intelligent digital solutions in maternity service delivery; research into under-served communities; and capacity building of both communities and maternity staff. The first planning meeting was held late last year at Sheffield Hallam University.
MIHERC is the only midwifery-led collaboration with a strong community engagement and digital inclusive research. MIHERC will work with various NHS Trusts as well as charities such as the Active Pregnancy Foundation, Active Dorset, and Maternal Mental Health Alliance.
This weekend a new issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives appeared online [1]. Its latest editorial focuses in part on research ethics. The editors highlight the new World Health Organization (WHO) guidance for best practices in clinical trials [2]. The new WHO guidance was picked up at the 24th FERCAP International Conference “Maximizing Benefits through Responsible Conduct of Research” held in November 2024 in Nepal. FERCAP is the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region.
FERCAP reminded us that research as a social activity should improve health and quality of life for both targeted and general populations. One notable message from this recent conference was the need for shorter and more comprehensible consent forms to make them user-friendly without sacrificing clarity. The other interesting development is that of so-called “decentralized clinical trials”. Decentralized or point-of-care trials can increase the diversity of clinical trial enrollment by increasing its accessibility, for example where elements of the trial are delivered at home and/or data are collected electronically by trial participants instead of researchers. These are exciting new developments in thinking about research ethics.
The Journal of Asian Midwives is Gold Open Access and hence freely available online.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
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The first editorial of The Lancet Public Health [1] highlights a public health issue close to our work in Bangladesh, namely the risk of drowning, especially in young children. “Anyone can drown. No one should” are the words of the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in its first Global status report on drowning prevention, published two weeks ago (Dec. 2024). According to The Lancet Public Health this landmark report dissects the drowning burden globally, at the country level, and the trends since 2000, presents an overview of the key strategies to prevent drowning, and provides a benchmark for tracking prevention efforts in the future. Importantly, this report sheds light on a tragic, neglected, mostly preventable public health issue.
We are grateful to The Lancet Public Health for raising this important issue in 2025, since Bournemouth University (BU) is currently engaged in research project in this field called ‘Sonamoni’. This an interdisciplinary study is a collaboration with CIPRB (the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh), the University of the West of England (in Bristol), the University of Southampton, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and Design Without Borders (DWB) in Uganda. Sonamoni aims to design and develop interventions to reduce the number of young children drowning in Bangladesh.
This public health project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website.
The interdisciplinary team at BU includes three faculties and six member of staff: Dr. Mavis Bengtsson, Dr. Kyungjoo Cha, Dr. Mehdi Chowdhury, Dr. Yong Hun Lim, Mr. John Powell, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. We recently published the first paper ‘Drowning Prevention should be a Public Health Issue in Nepal related to this project [2].
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Rehabilitation research has long remained in the shadows of other health/medical disciplines, despite its immense potential to reshape patient outcomes and community health. The Rehabilitation Research Symposium Series in Qatar is a significant initiative aligned with global and national frameworks such as the WHO’s (World Health Organization) Rehabilitation 2030 and Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
Advancing Rehabilitation Research: Building Capacity for Evidence-Based Practice: Level 2 Rehabilitation Research Symposium serves as a powerful response to the growing call for a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to rehabilitation, both locally and globally. The second day of this symposium, tomorrow (January 4th 2025), includes a session by Bournemouth University’s Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. He has been invited to help build research capacity in the field of academic writing and publishing.
Bournemouth University collaboration in Qatar centres on academics and clinicians based at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC). HMC has been appointed as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, under auspices of Ministry of Public Health in Qatar.
On Boxing Day and the following day (Dec. 27th) a member of our research team, Amshu Dhakal based at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHSS), presented findings from our Nepal Federal Health System Project in Kathmandu. The event, Nepal Health Conclave 2024, was organised by the Ministry of Health and Population and supported by WHO (World Health Organization) Nepal and UNFPA. The event aimed to help strengthen Nepal’s health services. This year’s conclave, themed “Bridging the Gap Between Global Expertise and National Needs”, brought together Nepalese diaspora health professionals and national stakeholders to foster collaboration and innovation in health systems.
Amshu presented two posters at the event: (1) The Impact of Decentralisation on Health Systems: A Systematic Review of Reviews which systematically reviewed how decentralisation affects health systems globally, highlighting key opportunities and challenges across WHO’s six building blocks; and (2) Transforming the Health System in Nepal: The Impact of Federalisation, which examined how the transition to a federal system reshaped Nepal’s health system, identifying gaps, opportunities, and actionable recommendations for improvement.
Our research team produced policy briefs in collaboration with government officials/stakeholders from all three levels of government. The policy briefs can be accessed at the website of our Nepal Federal Health System Project. This study was funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1] to study the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move from a centralised political system to a more federal government structure in 2015. This joint project was led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, Canter Bury Christ Church University and two institutions in Nepal, namely MMIHS and PHASE Nepal.
In late 2022 further funding was awarded by the Medical Research Foundation to Prof. Julie Balen, from Canterbury Christ Church University, to disseminate the findings of our UK Health Systems Research Initiative-funded research in Nepal. In terms of academic dissemination, we have published eight papers from this interdisciplinary project [1-8].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
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This past week, as part of her work with McMaster University in Canada, Bournemouth University’s (BU) Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) postgraduate PhD student Joanne Rack published a paper in BMJ Open. This Open Access paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of midwifery research in Canada [1]. Joanne is currently doing a Clinical Doctorate in the specialising in personalised care for women of advanced maternal age. This PhD study is matched-funded by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust and Bournemouth University [BU].
Her PhD is supervised and supported by Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen in CMWH, Prof. Ann Luce, deputy dean in BU’s Department of Communication & Journalism as well as Dr. Latha Vinayakarao in Poole Maternity Hospital.
The second midwifery paper ‘Importance of Expanding Midwifery-led Units and Midwifery Care in Reducing Maternal Deaths in Nepal‘, which is also Open Access, has a different international focus, this time on Nepal [2]. The paper is co-authored by Dr. Preeti Mahato and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Dr. Preeti Mahato, formerly in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, is currently based at Royal Holloway, University of London.
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Dr. Pramod Regmi in the Centre for Wellbeing & Long-Term Health published two new academic papers just before Christmas on health and migration. The first one was called ‘Health and Wellbeing Among Nepali Migrants: A Scoping Review’ [1], and the second one has the title ‘Returning Home to Nepal after Modern Slavery: Opportunities for Health Promotion’ [2]. Both papers are Open Access and, hence, freely available online!
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Congratulations to Anjana Paudyal, PhD student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS), on the first publication from her PhD work. Anjana’s PhD research focuses on human trafficking in Nepal. Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery and it is a common crime aggravated by poverty, political instability, illiteracy, unemployment, as well as climate change. Despite being a global problem, modern slavery is understudied and poorly understood. Victims of modern slavery are exploited and can experience significant physical, psychological, or sexual, and reproductive health problems. Until recently, there has been little research, especially in low-income countries such as Nepal, around the need and opportunities for health promotion and education in this vulnerable group.
Her PhD fits in with Bournemouth University’s collaboration with the Unites States-based La Isla Network, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Nepal Development Society. Led by La Isla Network, we are leading the first-ever international effort to research and address trafficking among Nepalese labour migrants. The work is funded by a $4 million cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, International Programs.
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Professor Kate Welham and Professor Vanora Hundley have been appointed as members of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot panels.
The next REF exercise, due to take place in 2029, will deliver an expanded definition of research excellence – recognising the wide range of research, roles, and people that are essential to the UK’s research system.
A key part of this is the development of the PCE element – assessing the research culture and environment of institutions and how research and researchers are supported.
The PCE pilot panels will explore the practicality of submission and assessment of the various elements of PCE.
Professor of Midwifery Vanora Hundley, who will sit on the UoA 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy) panel, said: “People, the research culture and the environment in which researchers work are vital to supporting excellent research.
“I am delighted that REF have made People, Culture and Environment (PCE) a focus for REF2029 and I look forward to working with the panel to develop robust processes to support the PCE element.”
Professor of Archaeological Sciences Kate Welham, who will sit on the pilot panel for UoA11 (Computer Science and Informatics) said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the development of fair and transparent approaches that recognise how quality research is created across the UK. I am really looking forward to working with everyone taking part in the exercise.”
The experience and feedback of the panels will be included in the final pilot report, which will inform the REF 2029 guidance on PCE.
To find out more about the PCE pilot and REF 2029, please visit the REF website
Prof. Gabriele Bammer, the editor of the i2Insights blogs, highlighted in her ninth annual review that a post created by Bournemouth University academics was one of the website’s most popular contributions in 2024. This BU contribution ‘Learning to use Appreciative Inquiry‘ by Dr. Rachel Arnold is in the top eight most viewed this year – in fact it’s the second most viewed blog!
Dr. Rachel Arnold has been lead author on several research papers in the field of Appreciative Inquiry [1-2], in collaboration with current and former Bournemouth Academics, Professor Emerita Sue Way, Dr. Preeto Mahato (now at Royal Holloway, University of London) and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Rachel has also been a contributor to a major textbook in the field [3-4].
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This week ResearchGate notified us that our methods paper ‘The Importance of Pilot Studies‘ [1], published 22 years ago in The Nursing Standard, has now been read 170,000 times! Prof. Vanora Hundley and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen wrote this more elementary paper after publishing an in-depth academic paper on a pilot study into assessing maternity care in Scotland [2]. The latter paper described their learning from a pilot study which we conducted prior to a cross-national study of births in Scotland.
The methods paper in the Nursing Standard is also their most highly cited paper. Today Google Scholar lists it with 2,035 citations, interestingly this is not the case on SCOPUS as The Nursing Standard is not listed on SCOPUS. Researchers seem to be quoting this paper in their research methods section when they have done pilot or feasibility study for a larger-scale study.
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Race Equity Month – Can the UK finally tackle health disparities in maternity care?
Last week Prof. Hora Sultani, who leads the joint bid submitted by Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and Bournemouth University (BU) in reply to the ‘NIHR Challenge: Maternity Inequalities funding call’, wrote an article on the website of the Council of Deans for Health. This piece with the title ‘Race Equity Month – Can the UK finally tackle health disparities in maternity care?‘ can be freely accessed (click here!). One of Prof. Soltani’s key arguments is that it is vital that national policy makers and service providers collaborate with researchers and communities to co-design and provide practical solutions for such important maternity challenges in UK society.
Prof. Soltani was writing on behalf of the UK Network of Professors in Midwifery and Maternal and Newborn Health, an organisation to which both Profs Hundley and van Teijlingen belong.
Last month ResearchGate informed us that our paper ‘Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused’ has been read 300 times [1]. This paper started as a discussion among the authors about how many students, researchers, and authors of academic papers do not seem to know the difference between methodology and methods. This is true in many academic disciplines.
In simple terms, the term methods refers to the research tools and techniques; for example, in the qualitative field, interviews are a tool to collect data, and in the quantitative field, a questionnaire-based survey is an example of a data collection tool. Methodology is a broader concept as it refers to the overall approach to the research, includes a justification for this approach, and links to research philosophy, i.e., how we produce knowledge. This methodological note aims to explain the confusion, drawing on examples from the published literature in education research and beyond. It also considers the complexities and crossovers. The final section ends with key advice to researchers and authors on key mistakes to avoid regarding the difference between methods and methodology, including covering this in early supervision discussions.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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As part of our long-standing Memorandum of Agreement between Bournemouth University and Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Nepal, Dr. Pramod Regmi taught a postgraduate class in Kathmandu last week. Pramod, who is Principal Academic in International Health in the Centre for Wellbeing and Long-term Health (CWLTH) in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, addressed M.Sc. students about the finer aspects of research methods. Tomorrow (Sunday 24th November) I have been invited to speak to the same MMIHS postgraduate students about research theories and paradigms.
The process of internationalising higher education institutions through collaborative partnerships like this one between BU and MMIHS, brings benefits to both institutions’ staff and students. This collaboration has led to many BU staff and students visiting Nepal, and many MMIHS staff and student visiting Bournemouth. The collaboration has also led to several successful grant applications and nearly twenty academic publications [1-17].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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