Category / REF Subjects

New CMMPH international midwifery publication

international, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Professor Vanora Hundley in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication of her latest international paper ‘How do midwives in Slovenia view their professional status?’ [1]. slovenia midwifery 2015

The paper explores Slovenian midwives’ views of their professional status, linkng this to the participants’ educational background. Most participants did not consider midwifery to be a profession in its ow right. Midwives with secondary education were more likely to consider practical skills to be important than theoretical midwifery knowledge. In general Slovenian midwives did not feel enabled to practise autonomously causing them several ethical dilemmas. All participants with midwifery secondary school education thought that obstetrics jeopardises midwifery scope of practice, but only half of the B.Sc. participants thought this. One-fifth of all participants estimated that midwifery is also threatened by nursing. The respondents reported feeling a lack of control over their professional activity and policy making; however the majority of midwives claimed that they were willing to take on more responsibility for independent practice. The authors conclude that Slovenian midwifery cannot be considered to be a profession yet. It faces several hindrances, due to its historical development.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

Mivšek, P., Pahor, M., Hlebec, V., Hundley, V. (2015) How do midwives in Slovenia view their professional status? Midwifery 31(12):1193-201

Psychology & Marketing Publication co-authored by Miguel Moital, PhD

Congratulations to Miguel Moital from the Department of Events & Leisure, Faculty of Management, on his new publication which appears in the latest issue of Psychology & Marketing. The paper, entitled “Segmenting the Business Traveler Based on Emotions, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intention” is the result of a collaboration with Angel Millan and Maria Luisa Fanjul from Spain. The study demonstrates that the relationship between emotions and satisfaction is not unidirectional as far as business tourism is concerned. For two of the four segments, the valence of emotions translated into an opposite level of satisfaction/intention.

Miguel Moital, PhD

Screenshot of Psychology & Marketing Article

 

Full reference

Campos, A. M, Fanjul, M. L., and Moital, M., 2016. Segmenting the business traveler based on emotions, satisfaction and behavioral intention, Psychology & Marketing, 33(2), 82-93

 

 

 

I like a good spreadsheet!

I’m Sharon Docherty and I have just joined the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) team as a Research Fellow in Quantitative Methods. My background is in Biology with a particular interest in Physiology and I’ve been involved in clinical research for the past 12 years. I also have lots of experience working with large datasets (too many years to think about) and love trying to figure out the best way of presenting results.

My main area of research interest is looking at the effects of clinical conditions (neck pain, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes) on people’s perception of vertical. How we perceive upright is dependent on our brain’s ability to integrate visual, vestibular (inner ear) and proprioceptive (positioning of joints) information. When the information from one of these systems is faulty, the brain has to overcome this by relying on signals from the other sources. This could lead to problems such as an increased risk of falling.

Some of you may already know me as I have taught across various programmes (Anatomy and Physiology, Research Methodology) within Health and Social Sciences. I’m also one of the co-founders and organisers of Bournemouth Café Scientifique, a public engagement forum for discussing scientific ideas.

So what will I be doing? As a member of the BUCRU team I am here to help you with any health related research you may be doing/thinking about doing. In particular, I can help with the design of quantitative studies as well as what to do with the collected data. I am also here to support you with developing grant proposals. You can find me on the 5th floor of Royal London House or email me sdocherty@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Shakespeare festival: open call for digital ideas

international

British Council

What is it about?

BBC Arts Online and the British Council, supported by the GREAT Britain campaign, are collaborating to enable audiences, in the UK and overseas, to experience and discover the best of British Shakespeare in all art forms. The plan is to open with a 24 hour live-stream on 23 April 2016 and to offer new content on a regular basis over six months.

The British Council, on behalf of the GREAT Britain campaign, is calling for ideas from artists and cultural organisations across the UK. Funding is available for international rights clearances and to support the production of new content.

Five key cultural organisations are already working with  to provide world-class content – Shakespeare’s Globe, The Royal Opera House, the British Film Institute, Hay Festivals and the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Shakespeare400 consortium coordinated by King’s College.

The content will be hosted on BBC Shakespeare Lives (bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives ) and promoted internationally by BBC Worldwide online ( bbc.com/culture) so global rights need to be cleared . The campaign will be supported by social media campaigns in order to drive audiences to this unique festival.

This is an unprecedented partnership project for the BBC and the British Council and  believe it has great potential for all organisations involved to increase their international reach and reputation.

How can I get involved?

We are particularly looking for ideas which appeal to younger audiences and convey the diversity and creativity of the UK’s Arts sector. If you are interested in applying, please complete the attached form.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE TUESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2016

Click here for more information including the application form.

Latest BU Nursing publication

Centre for Excellence in Learning, writing

Scammel J Clin Nurse 2016Congratulations to Janet Scammell, Vanessa Heaslip and Emma Crowley in FHSS on their new publication which appeared at the very end of 2015.  Their most recent paper is the first systematic review of service user involvement in non-mental health specific preregistration  nurse education.  The paper ‘Service user involvement in preregistration general nurse education: a systematic review’ is published in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. [1]

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

  1. Scammell, J., Heaslip, V., Crowley, E. (2015) ‘Service user involvement in preregistration general nurse education: a systematic review’ Journal of Clinical Nursing 25:53-69.

Proposed New Research Centre: Centre for Social and Cultural Research

social researchExpressions of Interest sought:

A new interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary Research Centre is proposed by Professor Ann Brooks, Prof of Sociology and Head of Research and Professional Practice in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work (HSS). The Centre has already attracted academic colleagues from across BU and is designed to encourage the building of research synergies across different disciplinary areas.

The aims of the new Centre are as follows:

  • To offer an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary Research Centre, to include social and cultural fields of research from across the Faculty and cross-Faculty, to develop research synergies and provide a productive and dynamic research culture;
  • To provide for a wide range of methodologies that address both theoretical and applied areas of research that contribute to building a platform for a range of research collaborations, publications, grant funding, conferences and consultancy;
  • To provide an inclusive intellectual forum for research across social and cultural spheres providing national and international outreach for networking building on established relationships;

 

The range of research areas covered by the proposed new Centre to date includes:

  • Gender based areas of research covering the media, women’s history,  education, health, social work and emotional labour (among other areas);
  • Emotions, intimacy and relationship analysis from a social and psychotherapeutic perspective, including emotional vulnerabilities and emotions and social change;
  • Physical and mental health around the concept of stigma;
  • Protection and safeguarding in social work and social care
  • Media based research including historically based research on women and the media. Media and popular culture;
  • Psychological and cross-cultural aspects of consumer behaviour and experience in tourism and leisure;
  • Cultural and social deprivation in sociological and social work research;
  • Citizenship, education and social diversity and marginalisation;
  • Academia, public intellectuals, HE policy debates. Research positions in academia.

 

The wide range of research interests will provide colleagues with opportunities to participate in events locally, regionally and nationally and provide opportunities to work collaboratively with colleagues who may be located in different faculties.

Expressions of Interest in the proposed new Research Centre are welcome. Please contact Prof Ann Brooks: abrooks@bournemouth.ac.uk

Mental health & maternity care in Nepal: THET-funded training

international, open access

group work NawalparasiIMG_6649

A few days I posted a short report of our first session as part of the THET-funded project ‘Mental Health Training for Community-based Maternity Providers in Nepal’, see this previous post here.  Yesterday we completed the final third day training of the first session of this BU-led project.  Over three days we had 70 ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives) in attendance, which we think is (nearly) all such staff based in all birthing centres in the district (=province).  The three days were the same, i.e. each session was repeated twice so each day one third of the ANMs could attend, and two-third could be at work in the birthing centre ensuring women could deliver safely.

logo THETAs part of this project we send UK volunteers (health and/or education) experts to Nepal to offer high quality training in areas where it is most needed.  Further detail on this BU-led THET project can be found in our scientific paper Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal  published in the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology available through Open Access.  Mental illness is still very much a taboo topic in Nepal as it has often a serious stigma attached to it.  Moreover, the relatively short training of ANMs is often fairly basic and the national curriculum does not cover mental health issues in any detail.  This joint project between Bournemouth University, Liverpool John Mooores University, Tribhuvan University and the local charity Green Tata Nepal addresses issues about mental health in general and in pregnant women and new mothers in particular.  Tribhuvan University is the oldest university in Nepal and one of the ten largest universities in the world (based on student numbers).  The project is multi-disciplinary involving midwives, (mental health) nurses, and doctors as well as global health researchers, educationalists and sociologists.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

BU helps secure Wellcome Trust Seed Award

REF Subjects, Research themes

The heart of an insect.

The heart of an insect.

A £100,000 Wellcome Trust Seed Award has been granted to fund a project using fruit flies (Drosophila) to examine an important yet poorly understood aspect of human heart physiology.

The heart senses and adapts to its own highly dynamic mechanical environment. This environment changes beat-by-beat, as well as over longer timescales, due to altered physiology or as a consequence of disease. Failure to detect and adjust cardiac performance accordingly is associated with arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The mechanism for this adaptation is not known.

The goal is to study the cellular and molecular basis of this mechanism using the Drosophila heart as a simple model. Preliminary data obtained for an Honours project suggests that stretch-activated mechanosensitive ion channels are key components.

Research supported by Paul Hartley’s lab here at Bournemouth University and led by Dr Barry Denholm (University of Edinburgh) will investigate the hypothesis that these channels provide a direct link to convert physical force (stretch of the cardiac tissue) into biochemical signal (ion flux), which in turn regulates heart physiology and function (contractility).

New Public Health paper on Christmas Eve

Publishing, writing

Douglas 2015 Men healthOur latest paper and the last one for 2015, published the day before Christmas.  The paper ‘Implementing Health Policy: Lessons from the Scottish Well Men’s Policy Initiative’ appeared in AIMS Public Health [1].  The paper draws on evaluation research led by Dr. Flora Douglas (University of Aberdeen).  This was a set of evaluations of the Well Men’s Health projects which were part of an initiative running in many health regions (or health boards as they are called in Scotland).

 

The focus of this particular paper centres around the fact that little is known about how health professionals translate government health policy into action [2]. Our paper examines that process using the  Scottish Well Men’s Services policy initiative as a ‘real world’ case study [1]. These Well Men’s Services were launched by the Scottish Government to address men’s health inequalities. Our analysis aimed to develop a deeper understanding of policy implementation as it naturally occurred.  We used an analytical framework that was developed to reflect the ‘rational planning’ principles health professionals are commonly encouraged to use for implementation purposes.

Our analysis revealed four key themes: (1) ambiguity regarding the policy problem and means of intervention; (2) behavioral framing of the policy problem and intervention; (3) uncertainty about the policy evidence base and outcomes, and; (4) a focus on intervention as outcome. This study found that mechanistic planning heuristics (as a means of supporting implementation) fails to grapple with the indeterminate nature of population health problems. A new approach to planning and implementing public health interventions is required that recognises the complex and political nature of health problems; the inevitability of imperfect and contested evidence regarding intervention, and, future associated uncertainties.

 

The paper is published in an Open Access journal, so it is easily and freely available to public health professionals, policy-makers and health workers across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen 

CMMPH

 

Reference:

  1. Douglas, F., van Teijlingen, E., Smith, W.C.S., Moffat, M. (2015) Implementing Health Policy: Lessons from the Scottish Well Men’s Policy Initiative, AIMS Public Health 2 (4): 887-905. http://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/publichealth.2015.4.887/fulltext.html
  2. Killoran, A., Kelly, M. (2004) Towards an evidence-based approach to tackling health inequalities: The English experience. Health Education Journal;63: 7-14.