Conference: International Technology, Education and Development Conference 2025
Dates: 3-5 March 2025

Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University

The Sonamoni Project is working with communities in rural Bangladesh utilizing human-centered design (HCD) techniques. These design principles have been applied for many years in designing consumer products and, more recently, in the fields of health and social systems. The research project is identifying solutions to reduce the number of drowning deaths in newly mobile children (6-24 months), developing prototype, and assessing the acceptability and usability of potential interventions. This interdisciplinary project is coordinated by Bournemouth University in collaboration with the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), the University of the West of England, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the University of Southampton, and Design without Borders Africa (DwB) from Uganda. Our Sonamoni project has been made possible thanks to a grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through their Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme.
As part of the Sonamoni project we arranged some serious South-South learning by facilitating a visit to DwB in Uganda in early march by two of our Bangladesh-based team, namely Notan Chandra Dutta, Research Manager and Mirza Shibat Rowshan, HCD Specialist. DwB applies HCD approaches to complex challenges faced by communities in low and middle-income countries. To gain greater insights into HCD activities the researchers from Bangladesh visited one site near Lake Victoria to observe data collection with fishermen, transporters, and local leaders. Notan and Shibat co-facilitated a four-day long Design Community Advisory Board (DCAB) workshop on the “Enhancing Fisherfolk Safety” project where fishermen, boat owners, transporters, traditional weather forecasters, health workers were the participants. To prevent drowning, HCD was applied in the workshop to generate ideas and share solutions of the lake site community from Lake Victoria of Mayuge district. Lessons learnt from the visit by two staff of CIPRB can further enrich the Sonamoni Project implementation in Bangladesh. The NIHR really values research capacity building and South-South learning in its funded projects, as well as North-South leaning, of course.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Today, Saturday morning, BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada from the University of Huddersfield was guest speaker at the third Nepal Dialogue UK webinar series of the Centre for Nepal Studies UK (CNSIK). His presentation was titled Is Nepal’s Health System fit for Purpose? Reflections on Transformations, Maladies and Future Needs. He outlined the state of health (epidemiology) as well as that of the health system. He presented a lot of change in the health of the population, in the health system, as well as issues around human resources, including the high rate of migration of health workers. He highlight that there is in Nepal insufficient investment in health, unethical practices,
He introduced some the key findings from our recently completed study on the effects of the federalisation process on Nepal’s health system. Padam was one of the co-applications on this study together with academics from the University of Sheffield, Canterbury Christ Church University and Bournemouth University in the UK, and colleagues in Nepal from Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal. The project was funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative (Grant ref MR/T023554/1). For more information on the Nepal Federal Health System Team, see: https://www.nepalfederalhealthsystem.com/. This interdisciplinary study has been disseminated in the form of eight published papers [1-8].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMWH
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Yesterday the international journal PLoS ONE published the latest paper of former Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) PhD student Dr. Sulochana Dhakal-Rai [1]. As in many countries, Caesarean Section (CS) rates are rising in urban hospitals in Nepal. However, the reasons behind these rising rates are poorly understood. Therefore, this study explores factors contributing to rising CS rates in two urban hospitals as well as strategies to make a more rational use of CS. Dr. Dhakal-Rai was supervised by Dr. Juliet Wood, Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen all based in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.
The paper highlights that high CS rates in the private hospital reflects the medicalisation of childbirth, a public health issue which needs to be urgently addressed for the health benefits of both mother and baby. Multiple factors affecting rising CS rates were identified in urban hospitals. This study provides insights into factors affecting the rising CS rate and suggests that multiple strategies are required to stem the rise of CS rates and to make rational use of CS in urban hospitals.
The journal is Open Access and the paper is freely available to read in Nepal (and elsewhere) for anyone with internet access.
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The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) INSIGHT programme is a unique opportunity designed to inspire and equip the next generation of health and social care researchers. As part of its commitment to fostering a world-class research workforce, the NIHR INSIGHT programme offers a transformative experience with numerous benefits:
This morning ResearchGate alerted us that our paper ‘The importance of pilot studies’ [1] had reached 500 citations.
Profs. Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen, both in BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) have published several methods papers [1-6] on the importance of (a) conducting pilot studies, but also (b) reporting on their outcomes and lessons learnt. It started more than two decades ago with lessons learnt from the Scottish Birth study [2]. Followed by a methods paper in a sociology journal [3], one in a midwifery journal [4] and one in a family planning journal [5]. The icing on the pudding was an encyclopedia entry in 2003 [6].
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Congratulations to Dr. Karim Khaled on the latest paper from his BU Ph.D. research. This article ‘Ethical Issues and Challenges Regarding the Use of Mental Health Questionnaires in Public Health Nutrition Research‘ [1] was published earlier this month in the international journal Nutrients.
Karim is currently based at Birmingham City University, and the paper is co-authored with his Ph.D. supervisors Dr. Fotini Tsofliou and Prof. Vanora Hundley in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.
This paper addresses the potential burden of completing mental health questionnaires on (a) participants and (b) researchers. This examines ethical issues and challenges of using such scales and questionnaires, providing a real-life case study where the Beck’s Depression Inventory-II was used.
The ethical considerations raised by using mental health questionnaires in epidemiological research include incorrectly identifying participants as depressed or non-depressed; inability to identify participants for referral procedures due to the anonymous nature of some research studies; an increased burden on participants through depression and suicidal questions; and the high expectation of participants towards the researcher.
Preventative measures to reduce these challenges include choosing appropriate cut-off scores for correctly identifying participants; highlighting whether mental health questionnaires used may elicit negative emotional or psychological reactions related to suicide ideation; specifying the criteria for referral to clinical services; detailing the intended referral processes; including approaches where the researcher directly connects participants with a psychological service provider; and including a passive referral method such as contact details for participants to initiate their own referrals to clinical care. The authors offer a guide for researchers aiming to collect data on mental health through questionnaires, and they conclude that ethical challenges should be considered and reviewed at all stages of the research project.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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Colleagues are invited to our Bangladesh Midwifery Academic Writing & Publishing Workshop
This online workshop is an introduction to the world of academic writing and publishing. The workshop organisers, Professors Hundley and van Teijlingen will introduce the basic structure of an academic article, highlight the importance of selecting the most appropriate journal, reading and following the author instructions, understanding the role of the journal editor and that of peer reviewers. The authors will use the submission requirements of the Journal of Asian Midwives as an example.
The ZOOM event will be held this Tuesday 18 February 14.00-16.00 UK time. FHSS colleagues who are interested in joining this introductory workshop with midwives and midwifery researchers from Bangladesh can use the following link:
Yesterday ResearchGate alerted us that our paper ‘The importance of positionality for qualitative researchers‘ [1] has been read 500 times.
This methods paper was only written last year by Bournemouth University M.Res. student Hannah Gurr, her M.Res. supervisors Dr. Orlanda Harvey, Dr. Louise Oliver and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in collaboration with Prof. Madhusudan Subedi from Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal.
In the paper we remind qualitative researchers about the importance of critical reflection, and why they need to explain their positionality to readers of their work. This account can be relatively straightforward, but there are occasions when this process of reflection and outlining one’s positionality is much more complicated. This method-paper explains this process. It outlines, using examples of different occasions and situations, where and why such complications may arise, for example, around values and personal experiences. It concludes with further practical advice on writing the section on positionality for novice social scientists.
Well done Hannah!
Dr. Lou Oliver, Dr. Orlanda Harvey & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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Congratulations to Dr. Debbie Almeida in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, who published her latest article late last month colleagues and students. This article SKIN TEARS: FRICTION INJURIES IN THE ELDERLY AND NURSING DIAGNOSES is in Portuguese and addresses the decline in organic functioning predisposes to a reduction in the human body’s response capacity, increasing the state of vulnerability and fragility of the elderly, especially in relation to the skin. This work aimed to organize nursing diagnoses to support nurses in proposing intervention and care for elderly people with friction injuries or skin tears. Exploratory study, carried out in two stages, with a literature review from December/2022 to March/2023, and structuring of nursing diagnoses. Eleven studies published in the last ten years on skin tears in elderly people were analyzed and 14 nursing diagnoses were structured. Preventive, care and therapeutic measures for skin tears were addressed, as aspects to structure nursing diagnoses for elderly people. Assertive diagnoses are fundamental for the correct planning and implementation of committed and safe assistance, influencing the quality of life of the person assisted
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Reference:
Tobse, L., Santos, dos Santos, B.B., Costa da Cruz, D.M.O., de Paulo, J.G., Almeida, D.G. (2025). SKIN TEARS: LESÕES POR FRICÇÃO EM PESSOA IDOSA E OS DIAGNÓSTICOS DE ENFERMAGEM. Arquivos de Ciências da Saúde da UNIPAR, 28(3):914–933, https://doi.org/10.25110/arqsaude.v28i3.2024-11494
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Abier Hamidi recently conducted the first of two Patient and Public Involvement workshops with Arabic women. Mentored by Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr. Pramod Regmi, and funded by FHSS QR Pump Prime, Abier explores Arabic women’s understanding of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWGs) and their access to health services. During this initial workshop, three Arabic women actively contributed their insights and experiences to refine the questionnaire, design the survey dissemination strategy, and ensured ethical, linguistic, and cultural considerations were met.
The survey is set to launch in May, and with the help of the women, will be distributed nationwide. Once the survey closes, the women will be invited to the second workshop, where they will collaborate with Abier to interpret the results.
Abier Hamidi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Wellbeing & Long-term Health, working on a Cancer Research UK-funded study under the supervision of Professor Steven Ersser, researching Early Detection of Skin Cancer. Her PhD thesis is titled ‘Understanding the gender and religious context of women and HIV in Libya: A mixed-methods study’. Supervisors: Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.
Thank you very much for all those who attended last Wednesday’s monthly online session organised by BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH). This event featured PhD student Mr. Shafkat Hossein who spoke about his thesis research ‘Using Human-Centred Design (HCD) to develop community-led interventions to prevent drowning among children under the age of 2 in rural Bangladesh’.
His work is part of an interdisciplinary study called ‘Sonamoni’ in which BU collaborates with CIPRB (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 second speaker at the CMWH event was Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, who spoke about trials and tribulations of conducting, running and managing interdisciplinary studies. His talk was largely based on three three published papers co-written with BU academic and Faculty of Health & Social Sciences Visiting Faculty members on interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary working [1-3]. There are, of course, differences between multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary and the even more integrated level of working called transdisciplinary. At the same time the individual member of an interdisciplinary team needs to have individual field-based expertise in their own discipline, e.g. sociology, nursing, chemistry or law to bring required knowledge and skills to that team.
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The Dorset Indian Association in collaboration with the NHS Wessex Cancer Alliance and Bournemouth University ran a very successful Cancer Awareness Event at Bournemouth University today Saturday, 25th January 2025. At the event a range of experts from University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust spoke about the risks and prevention and early detection of various cancers, including bowel, lung, breast, skin, head and neck and other cancers. The presentations also included early detection and aspects of mental health in cancer patients. BU’s Professor Steve Ersser, for example, spoke about a currently on-going interdisciplinary health education project in the cancer field.
There were separate opportunities for the audience to get on breast screening and health checks, provided by the Dorset Breast Screening Unit, LiveWell Dorset and staff based in BU’s Faculty of Health and Social Science.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences


Congratulations to Dr. Soluchana Dhakal-Rai whose latest research paper ‘Explaining rising caesarean section rates in urban Nepal: A mixed-methods study’ has been accepted today by the international journal PLOS One [1]. Sulochana graduated last November with a Ph.D. from Bournemouth University; photo shows her with the BU-based supervisors: Dr. Juliet Wood, Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.
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
References:
van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V, Dhakal Rai, S., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2022) Identifying an appropriate Title, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 39-47.
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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