BU Research Blog

July 24, 2015

New BU Research Methods paper

Knowledge Transfer, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday the journal Health Prospect published another of our research methods papers. This latest paper on cross-national comparative research has been written by five sociologists from Northern Europe and North America: Ray De Vries (University of Michigan USA & Hogeschool Zuyd, Maastricht University, the Netherlands), Cecilia Benoit (University of Victoria, Canada), Jane Sandall (King’s College London), Ivy Bourgeault (University of Ottawa, Canada), Sirpa Wrede (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University). We have been working together on cross-cultural and cross-national issues in maternity care and midwifery since the mid-1990s. Our collaborative research led to the edited volume Birth by Design: Pregnancy, Midwifery Care and Midwifery in North America and Europe (Routledge, 2001). The book was short-listed for the British Sociological Association’s (BSA) Medical Sociology Book Prize in 2004.

The paper in Health Prospect is the latest in a series of papers addressing issues around the method of doing cross-national research. We highlight some of the specific contributions the discipline of sociology can make to cross-national comparative research in the public health field. Sociologists call attention to often unnoticed social and cultural factors that influence the way national reproductive health care systems are created and operated. The paper is published in an Open Access journal so it is easily and freely available to anybody across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

van Teijlingen, E., Benoit, C., Bourgeault, I., DeVries, R., Sandall, J., Wrede, S. (2015) Learning from health care in other countries: the prospect of comparative research, Health Prospect 14(1): 8-12. info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/13036/10525

July 23, 2015

UK Nepali community research dissemination event

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU and UKNFS jointly presented some of the key findings of their study into the UK’s Nepali community. The meeting (22 July) in the EBC was attended by local representatives of the NHS, the CCG and Healthwatch Dorset. BU Prof. Vanora Hundley, Deputy Dean for Research (FHSS), who herself has published several academic paper on Nepal or English-language academic journals in Nepal, welcomed the audience. She highlighted how the research fitted into the wider health and soial care research portfolio of the Faculty.

BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen’s presentation highlighted the issues of access the health and social services in growing Nepali community in the UK. The reports highlights health and lifestyle issues, help-seeking behaviour and the influence of culture on health-related decision making. He mentioned barriers such as language and knowledge about services (or lack thereof). The findings of this study relate to previous studies in the field of ethnic minority communities int he UK. Mr. Alan Mercel-Sanca, Chairperson of the UK Nepal Friendship Society thanked the key researchers Dr. Bibha Simkhada (BU VIsiting Faculty) and Dr. Rajeeb Kumar Sah for conducting this mixed-methods research to such a high standard. He also thanked the Big Lottery Fund for making this ground-breaking piece of work possible, and the NHS England Equality and Health Inequalities team for their interest in final report and advice on the research.

The Report offers a unique opportunity for local health crae providers and commissioners to improve their understanding of this particular ethnic minority group. In the long run the report may lead to more effectively service delivery, especially in terms of health and social services that are sensitive to the needs of the Nepali community. Moreover, the report’s findings have direct relevance to other South Asian and broader Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in the UK.

Finally, the audience heard how the report has been widely reported among the Nepali-language media to the Nepali community in the UK as well as in Nepal. This include coverage by the BBC World Service in Nepali, who interviewed Dr. Bibha Simkhada about the study.

The report is available online here!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

July 22, 2015

The Midwifery quilt online- URA scheme funded project

Fusion, Women's Academic Network jhall

As part of my EdD thesis on ‘The essence of the art of a midwife..’ http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16560/ I created a reflexive textile quilt, with each of the squares representing an entry in my research diary. Whenever I have been to conferences with my quilt the question has always been asked ‘what do the squares mean’? Though I anticipate that anyone looking at it will gather their own interpretation of the squares my stories behind them are now accessible online. In the spring of this year I applied, and was pleased to receive, funding from the BU Undergraduate research assistantship scheme in order to create a web site for the quilt. For the past six weeks George Upson undergraduate student from the BA (Hons) Media Production course has been active in designing and creating the web site with me and learning about the world of academia in a small way. I am indebted to him for his creative abilities and to Garratt Lynch and Richard Wallis for their early support in the process, and also for the URA scheme!

The Midwifery quilt maybe accessed here http://www.midwiferyquilt.co.uk/

Dr Jenny Hall

July 21, 2015

Improving Nepali’s health & social care in the UK: Presentation of key findings 22 July at BU

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Bournemouth University presents some of the key findings of the first study of its kind of the Nepali community in the UK. The report also shows the way forward for improved UK Nepali community NHS and social care provision. The research is a joint initiative between the UK Nepal Friendship Society, Bournemouth University in collaboration with the South East London Nepali community and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

Key findings from the report suggest in particular that the elderly Nepali population struggle to access cultural appropriate health and social care. This results in people accessing health services too late. Further research is needed on mental health, especially on loneliness and social isolation in the elderly, but also on minorities within the broader community as well as those with limited English language skills. Its recommendations have potential transformational value for the relationship between this ethnic minority, most well-known for its Gurkha community, and the NHS and social care providers.

Many Nepali people evidenced that they struggle with accessing and navigating NHS services, and that there are significant confidence-building requirements that need to be addressed concerning a revealed need for experiencing more equitable NHS customer service provision. The lead author Dr. Bibha Simkhada is Visiting Faculty at BU.

Ruth Passman of NHS England, Head of Equality & Health Inequalities commented:

“This report and its findings indicate the scale of the need for the NHS to have a better understanding of the needs of the Nepali community accessing in an effective and equitable way, and through its profile of health and wellbeing seeking behaviour of the community for the NHS to have the opportunity to better address in partnership with the Nepali community, its particular needs.”
Prof. Gail Thomas the Dean of the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences added: “Bournemouth University has a long-standing history of health and health promotion research in Nepal. This study amongst the Nepali community in South London reminds us of the importance of addressing health and well-being issues in ethnic minority communities in the UK.”

Mr. Tej Bahadur Chhetri, the Acting Ambassador and Charge D’Affaires at the Embassy of Nepal sent the following message:

This report is a most helpful contribution, to promote much needed change in healthcare provision for the Nepali community, especially with the fast approaching 200 years of special friendship and diplomatic relations between Nepal and the UK. The link between the two countries started with the Gurkha regiments becoming part of the British Army, and having been so to this day. The UK Nepali community will clearly benefit from the report and its recommendations’

Alan Mercel-Sanca, the Chairperson of the UK Nepal friendship Society added: “We particularly appreciate Dr Bibha Simkhada and Dr Rajeeb Kumar Sah’s dedication and high quality research in the Nepali community. We would also like to thank the Big Lottery Fund for making this ground-breaking piece of work possible, and the NHS England Equality and Health Inequalities team for their great interest in the value of the research. The Report offers a unique opportunity for our evolving NHS and the Ministry of Health to better understand and more effectively meet the needs and hear the Voice of the Nepali community – it clearly has direct relevance to other South Asian and broader Black & Minority Ethnic communities using and seeking to access an NHS that is equitable and effective.”

The presentation will take place tomorrow Wednesday 22nd July at 15.00 in the Executive Business Centre on Holdenhurst Rd. The meeting will be introduced and opened by Prof. Vanora Hundley, Deputy Dean for Research & Professional Practice in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. Prof. Hundley herself has published several academic paper on Nepal or English-language academic journals in Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

@EvanTeijlingen

July 17, 2015

FoL event: What’s your story? Childbirth over the last 60 years.

Festival of Learning, Fusion, Public engagement jhall

Midwifery educators and researchers from CMMPH Dr Jen Leamon and Dr Jenny Hall, with help from Shelly Anne Stringer RDO, spent the day in an empty space engaging creatively with shoppers in the Sovereign Shopping centre in Boscombe. As part of BU Festival of Learning this is an ongoing project to consider the social history and contexts around people’s stories of birth. The childbirth process has in the last 60 years moved from being a private event shared by woman, their partner and the midwife to become a public one shared via many formats

of multimedia.

The day was spent encouraging members of the local community to contribute to a visual timeline of personal experiences of receiving or providing midwifery care, over the last sixty years.
The aim had been to engage local people in order to interrogate the local history of birth in the area. However on the day we gathered a wealth of stories from mothers, partners, grandparents and children with tales from the 1960’s to the present day but with a very international flavour!

We are very grateful to all those who sat and took the time to share their personal stories and were willing to add to the timeline. The stories were both moving and unexpected- that’s how research goes sometimes! More will develop on this project over time. We are also grateful to the team at the Sovereign centre who were so accommodating.

July 10, 2015

UK Nepali Community Equality in Health & Social Care Study

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday (July 9th) saw the launch of the report based on a study of the Nepali Community in the UK on Equality in Health & Social Care. The joint project between the UKNFS (UK-Nepal Friendship Society) and Bournemouth University was funded by the National Lottery and supported by The Embassy of Nepal in London, the Non Residential Nepali Association [NRNA UK], and NHS England. The presentation of the report ook place at the NRNA UK head office in Woolwich.

The Chief Guest of Honour at our launch was Mr Sushil Thapa from the Embassy of Nepal, representing His Excellency Mr Tej Bahadur Chhetri, Acting Ambassador of Nepal to the UK. The chief guest speaker was Dr. Habib Naqvi, NHS England Head of Equality, who highlighted the Report and its recommendations. The Principal Investigator Dr. Bibha Simkhada, who is also Visiting Faculty in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, presented the key findings to the audience. Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen gave a short presentation settign this report in the wider portfolio of resarch related to Nepal conducted at BU. Mr. Alan Mercel-Sanca, Chairperson of UKNFS commented:

‘We particularly appreciate Dr Bibha Simkhada and Dr Rajeeb Kumar Sah’s dedication and high quality research in the Nepali community. We would also like to thank the Big Lottery Fund for making this ground-breaking piece of work possible, and the NHS England Equality and Health Inequalities team for their great interest in the value of the research. The Report offers a unique opportunity for our evolving NHS and the Ministry of Health to better understand and more effectively meet the needs and hear the Voice of the Nepali community – it clearly has direct relevance to other South Asian and broader Black & Minority Ethnic communities using and seeking to access an NHS that is equitable and effective.’

The Report’s Executive Summary can be found here!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

July 4, 2015

Paper published based on prestigious scholarship

Awarded & submitted bids, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU academics Ms. Lesley Milne, Prof. Vanora Hundley and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in collaboration with BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (Liverpool John Moores University) and Ms. Jillian Ireland (Community midwife NHS Poole) published there latest paper yesterday in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. The paper ‘Staff perspectives of barriers to women accessing birthing services in Nepal: a qualitative study’ originated from research conducted in small maternity hospitals in Nepal.

The project was funded in 2013 through the first ever WellBeing of Women-Royal College of Midwives International Fellowship Award. This Fellowship was the first of its kind. It was established to enable midwives to further develop research interests in midwifery, maternity services, pregnancy, childbirth and women’s health from an international perspective.

The Scholarship competition was open to RCM midwives undertaking research in the UK or abroad which would address Millennium Development Goals 4 (Reduce Child Mortality) and 5 (Improve Maternal Health). Lesley Milne in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Heealth (CMMPH) was the first and very worthy recipient of this award.

Based on the fieldwork we published our paper in BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth an Open Access journal. The paper highlights that Nepal has made significant progress with regard to reducing the maternal mortality ratio but a major challenge remains the under-utilisation of skilled birth attendants. We found other studies had explored women’s views of the barriers to facility birth; however the voices of staff who offer services have not been studied in detail. This research explored the views of staff as to the key reasons why pregnant women do not give birth in a maternity-care facility when they exist.

This study highlights a multitude of barriers, not all of the same importance or occuring at the same time in the pregnancy journey. It is clear that staff are aware of many of the barriers for women in reaching the facility to give birth, and these fit with previous literature of women’s views. However, staff had limited insight into barriers occuring within the facility itself and were more likely to suggest that this was a problem for other institutions and not theirs.

Edwin van Teijlingen, Lesley Milne & Vanora Hundley

CMMPH

@EvanTeijlingen / @VanoraHundley

Reference:

Lesley Milne, Edwin van Teijlingen, Vanora Hundley, Padam Simkhada and Jillian Ireland, Staff perspectives of barriers to women accessing birthing services in Nepal: a qualitative study, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 2015, 15:142 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/15/142

July 3, 2015

‘Meet the Editors’ at BU Midwifery Education Conference

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Dr. Jenny Hall and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen are holding a lunchtime at today’s (Friday 3rd July 2015) BU Midwifery Education Conference (#MidEd15) in Business School. The one-hour session is advertised under the title ‘Believe you can write!’ Both BU academics are editors and on editorial boards of several prestigious health journals across the globe.

Over the past few years CMMPH staff have written and published several articles on academic writing and publishing. Some of these papers have been co-authored by BU Visiting Faculty, Dr. Bri jesh Sathian (Nepal), Dr. Emma Pitchforth (RAND, Cambridge), Ms. Jillian Ireland (NHS Poole) and/or Prof. Padam Simkhada (Liverpool John Moores University).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen & Dr. Jenny Hall

CMMPH

Twitter accounts: @HallMum5 / @EvanTeijlingen

June 23, 2015

CMMPH at the 10th International Normal Birth conference

jhall

Grange-over-Sands in Lancashire was once again a beautiful setting from 15^th-17^th June for one of the most inspirational midwifery research conferences. Attracting a significant international attendance from eminent researchers, clinicians and user representatives from as far afield as Australia, China, Canada, Brazil and across Europe (many regular attendees), the conference is now in its 10^th year. Hosted by Professor Soo Downe and her team from UCLAN, it brings together researcher across all maternity professions, to present and debate work primarily relating to physiological birth. Two members of CMMPH were presenting (and tweeting!):

Professor Vanora Hundley discussed ‘Do midwives need to be more media savvy?’, a presentation created with Professor Edwin van Teijlingen and Ann Luce, based on a previous FoL public debate at BU relating to the role media plays in creating fear in childbirth https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/engagement/fear-in-childbirth-are-the-media-responsible/ . She highlighted the need for midwives to be more aware of how to work with the media in order to harness the power to present positive messages, as well as understanding impact on women and health care providers. A paper on this presentation is accessible from: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21600/

Jenny Hall with Maltese midwives and other delegates

Dr Jenny Hall presented as part of a symposium with midwifery colleagues from Malta on an ongoing educational project relating to promotion of physiological birth in Malta. Malta has one of the highest Caesarean section rates in Europe and the team have been working together to develop midwives confidence in facilitating physiological birth as well as supporting them to educate women and families.

All delegates also received a copy of the book ‘Roar behind the silence: why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care’, that includes chapters by two BU authors: Dr Jenny Hall and Consultant midwife, Katherine Gutteridge. ( see http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2015/02/28/stop-the-fear-and-embrace-birth/ for further information)

As usual the conference provided extensive opportunity for networking and developing links for future collaboration in a considerably relaxing environment.

A tweet storify and photographs of the whole conference are available which includes contribution from BU researchers:

https://storify.com/SagefemmeSB/normal-labour-birth-10th-research-conference

https://animoto.com/play/M21BCHDHihSqkH3LdxU0hw

June 13, 2015

Prof. Paul Lewis awarded OBE

Awarded & submitted bids Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Professor Emeritus Paul Lewis who is listed on this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Professor Lewis has been awarded his OBE for Services to Mothers, Midwives and Maternity Services. Bournemouth University celebrated the retirement of Professor Lewis in October 2011.¹ He had been leading midwifery education at Bournemouth University since 1995. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) recognised his contribution to the midwifery profession by including his name on the Register of Honorary Fellows of the RCM.

Amongst his many contributions to the field, Prof. Lewis was a founding member of the journal The Practising Midwife. Just a few months ago Prof. Lewis co-authored a paper under the title ‘The loss of midwifery supervision: to mourn or rejoice?’ This paper was published in the March 2015 edition of The Practising Midwife. This paper ‘reflected on and discusses some of the possible consequences of the NMC’s decision to end statutory supervision of midwives in the UK.²

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Tully, S. and Tobias, J.H., 2011. The retirement of the UK’s first male professor of midwifery – Paul Lewis. MIDIRS Essence (Dec. issue).
Lewis P, Freemantle D and Ireland J., 2015/ The loss of midwifery supervision: to mourn or rejoice? The Practising Midwife 18(4): 12-16.

June 12, 2015

New BU authored paper in latest issue of Journal of Asian Midwives

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

The latest issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives includes an article Twinning in Nepal: the Royal College of Midwives UK and the Midwifery Society of Nepal working in partnership by BU Visiting Faculty and NHS Poole midwife Jillian Ireland, co-authored by Joy Kemp (RCM Global Professional Advisor) and BU Professor Edwin van Teijlingen.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in the UK has twinned with the Midwifery Society of Nepal (MIDSON) to help strengthen the latter, through its Global Midwifery Twinning Project (GMTP). The GMTP aims to strengthen midwifery and develop leadership, advocacy, and campaigning skills both at the level of the association and at the individual midwife level. Reciprocity is an important aspect of twinning as the RCM also hopes to strengthen midwifery in the UK through greater engagement of its members and a raised profile of global maternal and new-born health. This paper describes the importance of collaboration between established national midwifery organisations and newly established ones. It includes a case study outlining the experience of a UK midwifery volunteer in Nepal. The paper ends with some thoughts on the effects of the GMTP project on midwifery in Nepal.

This paper is part of a larger body of research work conducted by the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health in Nepal.

Reference:

Ireland, J, van Teijlingen, E, & Kemp, J. (2015) Twinning in Nepal: the Royal College of Midwives UK and the Midwifery Society of Nepal working in partnership. Journal of Asian Midwives. 2(1):26–33.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

June 1, 2015

Birth paper cited one hundred times in Scopus

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

We have just been alerted that our paper has been cited for the hundredth time in Scopus. The paper ‘Maternity satisfaction studies and their limitations: “What is, must still be best’ was published in Birth. The paper originated from the Scottish Birth Study which we were both part of in our previous academic posts at the University of Aberdeen.

This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of satisfaction studies in the field of maternity care, including the issues that service users tend to value the status quo (i.e. What is must be best) . The implications are that innovations, of which users have no experience, may be rejected simply because they are unknown. The paper warns that problems may arise if satisfaction surveys are used to shape service provision. We advised that satisfaction surveys should be used with caution, and part of an array of tools. While involving service users is important in designing and organizing health services, there is still the risk that using satisfaction alone could end up promoting the status quo.

Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Rennie, A-M, Graham. W., Fitzmaurice, A. (2003) Maternity satisfaction studies and their limitations: “What is, must still be best”, Birth 30: 75-82.

May 20, 2015

New paper by PhD student Sheetal Sharma

PG research, Publishing, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

Sheetal Sharma, PhD student in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH), published her latest paper this week in the Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities [1]. The paper ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A New Version of English? raises the question whether we are beginning to see a new variant of English.

The paper is co-authored with Mrs. Pragyan Joshi from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kathmandu and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Sheetal’s PhD research focuses on the evaluation of a large-sclae maternity care improvement intervention in rural Nepal.

The paper is based on listening to people in Nepal speaking English and reading their writing in English. English is a living language and different native and non-native speakers develop English in slightly different ways. This paper argues that it is time to consider whether we should study the English spoken by native-Nepali speakers (Nepenglish) as a separately developing variant of English. The question is particularly intriguing since Nepali English bears such a similarity with Indian English, as both are largely based on originally Sanskrit-based languages. The focus is particularly on how native-Nepali speakers express themselves in English.

Reference:

Sharma, S., Joshi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A new version of English? Asian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences 4(2): 188-193. www.ajssh.leena-luna.co.jp/AJSSHPDFs/Vol.4%282%29/AJSSH2015%284.2-21%29.pdf

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

May 19, 2015

Inter-professional Education Dementia Themed Study Day

mboard

Last Friday we delivered the second dementia themed study day for the undergraduate students in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. In total about 500 students attended over the 2 days. Students from adult nursing, mental health nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social worker, nutritional students, Operating Department Practitioners attended.

The aim of the day was for the students to gain an insight into the lived experience of dementia and see the person beyond the diagnosis. The humanising values framework underpins the undergraduate courses and the students were encouraged to consider how they can deliver humanised care and avoid de-humanised care, when caring for people with dementia.

There were a range of sessions and delivery styles that engaged the students throughout the day. A carer spoke with compassion about how she looks after her husband who has Alzheimer’s, the students felt this insight would encourage then to work more closely with family members. Throughout the day many speakers showed films of people with dementia talking about their experiences, the students feel as a result of seeing these they will take more time to hear the voice of the person they are looking after. Working in pairs the students shared an aspect of their life story with each other. By doing this they were able to consider the value of individual life history in supporting the person with dementia.

There were further sessions sharing some of the research the faculty are undertaking with people with dementia. For example Dr Jane Murphy discussed her work around nutrition and offered some very practical tips that the students can take to practice to assist a person with dementia with their diet. Dr Michelle Heward from BUDI shared some of the innovative work being undertaken by this team. The day concluded with a presentation by the Alzheimer’s society, very timely in light of this being Dementia Awareness week.

One of the highlights for many students was a role play by five different health care professionals (Dr Bethan Collins,(OT), Carol Clark and Debbie Neal, (physio), Sheeran Zsigo and Margarete Parrish (Social workers), Lesley Elcock and John Tarrant (ODP), Michele Board (Nurse)), who discussed their individual roles when caring for a person with dementia. This emphasised to the students the importance of collaboration when caring for a person with dementia. Health and social care is too often fragmented, with services based on professional and institutional boundaries when it should be co-ordinated around the needs of patients. Following the Care Act 2014 a duty was placed on local authorities to promote the integration of care and support services with health services. The role play demonstrated to the students the importance of integrated care and the interprofessional team working (and playing) together!

There were many positive comments from students including this one from an adult nursing student,

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you for today. Personally I feel this course has started with a bang and it’s been a shock. Todays reminded me why I’m doing this and its made feel more determined to keep working hard. So thank you for that”.

Michele Board, Senior Lecturer Nursing Older People.

May 10, 2015

Paper by BU academics used as example in Dutch university newsletter

Publishing, Research Integritiy Edwin van Teijlingen

The March 2015 newsletter of the Dutch University of Groningen’s School for Behavioural & Cognitive Neurosciences dedicated two pages to the question: ‘How to pick the right journal?’ The author of the English-language newsletter contribution, Liwen Zhang, offer its readers a brief introduction on journal selection for a scientific manuscript. The newsletter piece is based on two papers which both share their submission stories and suggestions of journal selection. We were pleased to see that one of these two papers is by two Bournemouth University professors: Hundley and van Teijlingen. Their paper which gives advice on one specific aspect of academic publishing is called ‘Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper’ [1]. It was published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in 2002.

Reference:

vanTeijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2002) Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper, Journal of Advanced Nursing 37(6): 506-511.

May 9, 2015

Nepal earthquake follow-up

Public engagement, Research Integritiy Edwin van Teijlingen

Shortly after the earthquake in Nepal I posted on the BU Research blog as we have a long-standing presence in Nepal. We have been working there for nearly ten years, conducting research largely around community-based interventions. Several Bournemouth University colleagues (and many based elsewhere) have indicated that they have donated (or will do so) to our intervention partner, the UK-based Buddhist charity Green Tara Trust. Thank you everyone for this generous support. It has brought tents and food to rural communities in an area where we have been working for eight years. The support also has had an incredible effect on our Nepalese team, raising their spirit and encouraging them in their relief efforts.

Donations to Green Tara Trust from individuals have just reached £35,000. As there is always the question how best to support victims in such disasters, I would like to show how supporting a small existing local organisations has direct benefits. Green Tara staff in Nepal supplied medicines, blankets and basic food supplies such as rice, lentils and cooking oil for a period of one month to 130 of the poorest families in in the hills in and around Pharping within days after the earthquake when the after-shocks were still going on. Please, note the guys carrying huge sacks of rice up the mountain at the left hand side of the lorry bringing the Green Tara relief. Loads of places in the affected rural areas can only be reached by foot making the relief effort more difficult.

As we have been working with women’s groups in the community for years Green Tara staff know who the poorest people and where to find them. In addition, they provided tents to 200 families who have lost their homes. One very local solution (rather than flying in tents from the UK) was purchasing the tents elsewhere in Nepal. As we have a second field site in a part that is hardly affected by the earthquake near the Indian border, staff there bought hundreds of tents covers, put them on a bus to Kathmandu where local Green Tara staff picked them up and took them rural areas in the hills near Pharping.

Government-controlled health posts in rural Nepal often run out of medical supplies even before the earthquake. Therefore, Green Tara Nepal donated several boxes of essential medicines to two health posts in the area in case of outbreaks of infections, such as diarrhea or respiratory tract infections. Most of the time I would complain about the fact that you can buy just about any kind of medicine under sun over the counter in pharmacies shops in Nepal, but on this occasion is was very helpful.

Thank you again for keeping those affected by the earthquake in your thoughts. You can donate to Green Tara!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

May 7, 2015

Reverse Mentoring, Fusion and Threshold Concepts

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, REF Subjects, student research gretad

Writing a blog post about our experience at the ABS (Association of Business Schools’) annual conference on Learning, Teaching and Student Experience, 27-29 April 2015, has proven to be a great way to fill in the time waiting for a plane back from York, UK!

Louise (Preget), Deborah (Taylor) and I (Milena Bobeva) had been to York to present the work from the first stage of the Fusion project on Reverse Mentoring (RvM) in Higher Education. This student:staff co-creation/co-production project examines RvM, a strategy where younger, less experienced employees share their knowledge and expertise with a more senior person. Our team has studied industry practices as viewed and experienced by our placement and post-placement students.

The conference was a brilliant opportunity for academics within UK Business Schools to share and showcase best practice in a number of key streams including internationalisation, blended learning, the changing student and employability. Bournemouth University had a strong lobby there with five academics and three publications, including two by Dr Sukanya Ayatakshi, who presented some assessment and engagement practices on the fully online International Business and Management undergraduate programme.

There was unanimous agreement amongst the BU team that the most interesting session at the conference was the talk on ‘Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge’ delivered by Prof. Ray Land from Durham University. It stressed the importance of challenging our habitual practices as both learners and educators and made us recognise RvM as a threshold concept. Further detail of this seminal work is available here and on this website.
For those interested in finding out more about reverse mentoring and the findings of the Fusion project, we will be running a session at the Festival of Learning: 3-5pm on the 14^th July 2015 in PG142-144.

May 5, 2015

International Day of the Midwife, Edinburgh 2015

Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has organised a conference today to celebrate the International Day of the Midwife in Edinburgh. The conference ‘Midwives for a Better Tomorrow’ has a very international focus. Speakers include: Frances Day-Stirk, president of the International Confederation of Midwives, Mary Renfrew, who led The Lancet series on midwifery, and Frances McConville from the World Health Organization. The conference also reported on the RCM Global Midwifery Twinning Project, which was funded by THET and included three low-income countries: Nepal, Cambodia & Uganda. In attandance was BU Visiting Faculty (and Poole midwife) Ms. Jillian Ireland, who was one of the volunteers who went out to Nepal.

This year’s International Day of the Midwife conference co-incides with the centenary of the 1915 Midwives (Scotland) Act. This celebration reminds us of the importance to have government recognition and regulation for the profession of midwifery. The latter is still lacking in many low-income countries, such as Nepal. There is a large body of evidence which supports that skilled midwifery care has the potential to significantly reduce maternal and child mortality and increase wellbeing.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Category / Nursing & Midwifery

The Midwifery quilt online- URA scheme funded project

FoL event: What’s your story? Childbirth over the last 60 years.

‘Meet the Editors’ at BU Midwifery Education Conference

CMMPH at the 10th International Normal Birth conference

Prof. Paul Lewis awarded OBE

New BU authored paper in latest issue of Journal of Asian Midwives

Birth paper cited one hundred times in Scopus

Reverse Mentoring, Fusion and Threshold Concepts

International Day of the Midwife, Edinburgh 2015

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