Category / REF Subjects

Pregnancy & COVID-19 in UK: New study published

NHS, Women's Academic Network, writing

This morning the editor of the Frontiers in Psychiatry emailed us that the paper reporting the findings of the baseline data of a large-scale epidemiological study into pregnancy during COVID-19 in the UK has been published [1].  The interdisciplinary research team includes researchers from University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (Dr. Latha Vinayakarao & Prof. Minesh Khashu) and Bournemouth University (Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen). 

This longitudinal study explores how the SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19] pandemic affected the mental health of pregnant people in the UK.  In mid-to-late 2020, we recruited 3666 individuals in the UK for the EPPOCH pregnancy cohort (Maternal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Effect of the Pandemic on Pregnancy Outcomes and Childhood Health). Participants were assessed for depression, anxiety, anger and pregnancy-related anxiety using validated scales. Additionally, physical activity, social support, individualized support and personal coping ability of the respondents were assessed as potential resilience factors.

Participants reported high levels of depression (57.05%), anxiety (58.04%) and anger (58.05%). Higher levels of social and individualized support and personal coping ability were associated with lower mental health challenges. Additionally, pregnant individuals in the UK experienced higher depression during the pandemic than that reported in Canada. Finally, qualitative analysis revealed that restrictions for partners and support persons during medical appointments as well as poor public health communication led to increased mental health adversities and hindered ability to make medical decisions.

The study highlights the increased mental health challenges among pregnant individuals in the UK during pandemic. These results highlight the need for reassessing the mental health support measures available to pregnant people in the UK, both during times of crisis and in general.

Reference:

  1. Datye, S., Smiljanic, M., Shetti, R.H., MacRae-Miller, A., van Teijlingen, E., Vinayakarao, L., Peters, E.M.J., Lebel, C.A., Tomfohr-Madsen, L., Giesbrecht, G., Khashu, M., Conrad, M.L. (2024) Prenatal maternal mental health and resilience in the United Kingdom during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A cross-national comparison, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1411761

BU Emeritus Professor contributes to Transforming Society

Publishing

Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, who was invited to contribute a post to the influential social science blog Transforming Society. See details here: Transforming Society ~ Now is the winter fuel payment of our discontent. The blog concerns the highly topical winter fuel payments and Jonathan’s policy analysis and its impact.
Congratulations
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CWLTH Research Seminar

The Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH) will be hosting its first virtual Research Seminar of the new academic year on Thursday 27th October at 13:00.  Dr Heidi Singleton will be speaking about her systematic review of interventions for managing eczema.  All are welcome to attend by clicking HERE.  For more information about this meeting or for information about the CWLTH, please contact cwlth@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory academics – would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?

REF Subjects

We are currently recruiting for an Output Champion to help support preparation for our next REF Submission to Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory. The deadline for expressions of interest is 11 October 2024. 

This role is recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome.

We are currently preparing submissions to thirteen units (otherwise known as UOAs). Each unit has a leadership team with at least one leader, an output and impact champion. The leadership team are supported by a panel of reviewers who assess the research from the unit. This includes research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, digital artefacts and conference proceedings) and impact case studies. We currently have vacancies in the following roles:

Output Champion – 32 – Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

All roles require a level of commitment which is recognised accordingly with time to review, attend meetings, and take responsibility for tasks.

Undertaking a UOA role can be enjoyable and rewarding as two of our current champions testify:

“As UOA Outputs Champion you develop a detailed knowledge of all the great work that colleagues are doing related to the subject, and the different outlets used for disseminating their work.  As an outputs committee member, you also get to know what research is going on across BU, and it’s interesting to see the differences between disciplines.  It’s a good way develop your knowledge of the bigger picture of BU’s research, and also to understand the importance of REF and how it works in practice.  You do spend quite a bit of time chasing colleagues to put their outputs on BRIAN for REF compliance but hopefully they forgive you!”

Professor Adele Ladkin – UOA 24 Output Champion

“As a UoA 17 impact champion, I work closely with the UoA 17 impact team to encourage the development of a culture of impact across BUBS. I try to pop into Department / research group meetings when I can to discuss impact, and I’ve enjoyed meeting people with a whole range of research interests. Sometimes it can be tough to engage people with impact – understandably; everyone is busy – so it’s important to be enthusiastic about the need for our BU research to reach the public. Overall, the role is about planting the seeds to get researchers thinking about the impact their work might have in the future (as well as the impact they have already had, sometimes without realising!)”

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson – UOA 17 Impact Champion

How to apply

All those interested should put forward a short case (suggested length of one paragraph) as to why they are interested in the role and what they think they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by 5pm on 1 March 2024

Further detail on the role and the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

Role Descriptor

Process and criteria for selection

For further information please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, a member of the current UOA Team or your Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice with queries.

Upcoming BU systematic review training

Awarded & submitted bids, PG research, Publishing, writing

With the upcoming Bournemouth University  systematic review module co-ordinated lead by Prof. Vanora Hundley, the following announcement was timely today:

Your article reached 400 reads

Article: Evidence-based health care in Nepal: The importance of systematic reviews

The systematic review course is part of the INSIGHT programme.

 

Reference:

  1. van Teijlingen, E. R., Simkhada, B., Ireland, J.C., Simkhada, P. P., Bruce, J. (2012). Evidence-based health care in Nepal: The importance of systematic reviews. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 1(4), 114–118. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v1i4.5498

Insights from the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group

Women's Academic Network

Stepping into the world of data science at the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) Data Study Group from September 9-13, 2024 was an exhilarating experience. As the national institute for data science, the ATI’s strong connections to academia and industry set the stage for a week of intensive collaboration and problem-solving.

Joining the Transport for London (TfL) project within the hackathon-style event, I found myself amidst an eclectic team of 11 individuals, each bringing a unique set of skills and backgrounds to the table. The project’s challenge of identifying physical assets on the London Underground from point cloud data presented a thrilling opportunity to apply our collective expertise to a real-world problem.

The task at hand was no small feat – analysing point cloud data to pinpoint key track features along the London Underground network. With collected image data, our goal was to automate the detection and classification of critical track components such as sleepers, rails, signalling equipment, and more. Our team’s approach was multifaceted, involving rigorous preprocessing, segmentation model training, and advanced data analysis techniques. By leveraging tools like U-Net and SAM 2 for image segmentation and employing post-processing methods to extract valuable insights from the predicted masks, we made strides towards achieving our objectives.

As an individual who recently completed a PhD thesis on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes,” this opportunity to apply my research expertise in a practical setting was both challenging and rewarding. The seamless blend of academic knowledge and hands-on problem-solving during the ATI Data Study Group not only expanded my technical skills but also reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling complex data challenges.

Thanks to The Alan Turing Institute,  especially TuringDSG organisers for an incredible opportunity. I would like to extend my gratitude to my PhD supervisor Dr. Wei Koong Chai for supporting my professional and personal development.

Assemgul Kozhabek (Computing Department, SciTech  )

Understand what hate crime and discriminatory abuse are and how best to respond to them

Over the summer, Jane Healy (Principle Academic in Criminology at Bournemouth University) led an inter-disciplinary research team at Bournemouth University and Royal Holloway which has conducted a survey to evaluate approaches to safeguarding adults who experience hate crime and discriminatory abuse. 

Responses were received from across the UK, identifying challenges and providing examples of good practice. We are keen to share these findings as widely as possible.

The team are hosting a webinar where they will outline the context of hate crime and discriminatory abuse and discuss the anonymised findings and next steps, in a free online event on Tuesday 22 October 2024, from 12pm to 13:30pm. 

Please click on this link to reserve your tickets: Exploring restorative practice approaches to safeguarding adults Tickets, Tue 22 Oct 2024 at 12:00 | Eventbrite 

Please forward to anyone who might be interested in learning more about hate crime and discriminatory abuse, and the research findings.

We look forward to seeing you all at the online event.

Jane Healy and team

Congratulations to BU Visiting Faculty Dr Ans Luyben

international, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Ans Luyben on the publication of her latest midwifery article ‘How to promote midwives’ recognition and professional autonomy? A document analysis study’ [1]. This latest paper will appear in the forthcoming November issue of the international scientific journal Midwifery, published by Elsevier. 

The paper identified challenges in Belgian midwives’ recognition and professional autonomy and provided recommendations to address them, emphasizing the importance of recognized authority in midwifery. Implementing these recommendations can positively impact midwives’ recognition and autonomy in Belgium as well as in other countries.  Ans has long been affiliated with the Centre of Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) as Visiting Faculty and she works in the Frauenzentrum (Centre for Women’s Health), Lindenhofgruppe, Bern, Switzerland.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

Reference:

  1. Vermeulen, J., Buyl, R., Luyben, A., Fleming, V., Tency, I., Fobelets, M. (2024) How to promote midwives’ recognition and professional autonomy? A document analysis study Midwifery, 138: 104138.  

Paper with a difference

international, open access, Publishing, writing

Last night ResearchGate informed us that our paper ‘Understanding health education, health promotion and public health‘ had reached 6,000 reads [1].  This reflective paper in an Open Access journal tries to bring a little more clarity in the confusion around the difference between the concepts of health education, health promotion and public health. We argue that such confusion does not limit itself to the individual terms but also to how these terms relate to each other. Some authors and public health practitioners use terms such as health education and health promotion interchangeably; others see them clearly as different concepts.

In this theoretical overview paper, we have first of all outlined our understanding of these individual terms. We suggest how the five principles of health promotion as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) fit into Andrew Tannahill’s model from 2009 [2] of three overlapping areas: (a) health education; (b) prevention of ill health; and (c) health protection. Our schematic overview places health education within health promotion and health promotion itself in the center of the overarching disciplines of education and public health. We hope our representation helps reduce confusion among all those interested in our discipline, including students, educators, journalists, practitioners, policymakers, politicians, and researchers.

The paper is co-authored by a primary school teacher based in Dorset, and four professors who have a combined experience in the wider public health field of over a century.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, K., Devkota, B., Douglas, F., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Understanding health education, health promotion and public health, Journal of Health Promotion 9(1):1-7.
  2. Tannahill, A. (2009). Health promotion: The Tannahill model revisited. Public Health, 123(5),396-399. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2008.05.021

MaGMap: Mass Grave Mapping

conferences, international

Mapping projects related to mass atrocities and human rights violations are prevalent across the globe. Despite their often well-intentioned origins, there has been minimal practical research and subsequent output focused on what constitutes effective mapping. Furthermore, there is a lack of guidance on how to balance the pursuit of justice with the need to protect victims and affected communities. This raised an essential question: where, when and under what circumstances should mapping of mass graves be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised?

 

In 2022, Professor Melanie Klinkner and Dr Ellie Smith secured Leverhulme funding to address this critical question. As of August 30th, 2024, the project’s output has been completed and is now available as an open-access resource for global use. The output is accessible both online and in a physical format, consisting of a comprehensive workbook accompanied by a set of removable tools designed to guide practitioners through the mapping process. These tools include:

 

  • Mapping Process Flowchart: The flowchart illustrates the life cycle of a mass grave, highlighting the key stages and considerations at each step, all guided by the protection of rights.

 

  • Mapping Decision Tree: Accompanying the flowchart, the decision tree highlights concerns and necessary actions that must be addressed before progressing with mapping at each stage.

 

  • Risk Register: This element assists in decision-making processes by enabling logging and evaluations of risks and subsequent mitigation strategies.

 

Upon completion of the research Dr Ellie Smith outlines that:

“Mapping mass graves in an open-source format has the potential to provide longer-term protection of the site, as well as a means of countering revisionism, but is not without risks. The aim of our MaGMap tools is to enable anyone involved in mass grave mapping to do so in a way that is safe for survivors, witnesses and the families of victims, and preserves the integrity of the site as a crime scene”.

 

For Professor Melanie Klinkner the finalisation of these resources means that:

“Theoretical, transferable foundations have been laid to inform continued research and current mapping of atrocity practices. In fact, much of what we have learned during the course of the project now guides our own approach to building a regularised global mass grave map. This is significant: it will enable us to fully appraise the scale and magnitude of mass graves across the world in a rights-compliant and safe manner”.

 

Dr Ellie Smith will be presenting the findings of MaGMap this week at the European Society of International Law Conference in Lithuania.