BU Research Blog | Social work | Bournemouth University

Category / Social work

29 July 2017

New research ethics paper Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

international, Publishing, Research Ethics, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Next months sees the publication of our latest article on research ethics in developing countries [1]. Our paper argues that despite a significant increase in health research activity in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) in recent years, only limited work has been done to address ethical concerns. Most ethics committees in LMICs lack the authority and/or the capacity to monitor research in the field. This is important since not all research, particularly in LMICs region, complies with ethical principles, sometimes this is inadvertently or due to a lack of awareness of their importance in assuring proper research governance. With several examples from Nepal, this paper reflects on the steps required to obtain informed consents and highlights some of the major challenges and barriers to seeking informed consent from research participants. At the end of this paper, we also offer some recommendations around how can we can promote and implement optimal informed consent taking process.

The paper is co-written by six authors, and interestingly five are graduates of the University of Aberdeen. These Aberdeen University graduates are currently affiliated with five different universities. Four of who are based in the UK at: the University of Liverpool, the University of the West of England, the University of Oxford, and in Bournemouth University’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and one in the USA: Georgetown University. The sixth co-author, Nirmal Aryal, is currently a PhD student at the University of Otago in Dunedin (New Zealand). Whilst Liverpool-based researcher Dr. Pramod Regmi is heading back for Bournemouth University to become a lecturer in International Health in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences this autumn.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Regmi, P.R., Aryal, N., Kurmi, O., Pant, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, P.P. (2017) Informed consent in health research: challenges and barriers in low-and middle-income countries with specific reference to Nepal, Developing World Bioethics 17(2):84-89

21 July 2017

Good month for BU reproductive health publications

Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, Knowledge Transfer, PG research, Publishing, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

This month has been exceptionally good for BU publications in the field of midwifery and maternity care. Two PhD students has their articles published in international academic journals, one member of staff had a textbook chapter published, an interdisciplinary team has been accepted for publication in the British Journal of Midwifery, and a member of the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) co-authored this month’s editorial in the Journal of Asian Midwives as well as an epidemiology paper on the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) in Nepal.

The first of this success story was CMMP PhD student Preeti Mahato whose her latest paper ‘Factors related to choice of place of birth in a district in Nepal’ appeared in the Elsevier journal Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare [1]. The second PhD paper was also based on research in Nepal this time by Sheetal Sharma whose paper ‘Evaluation a Community Maternal Health Programme: Lessons Learnt’ appeared in Journal of Asian Midwives [2]. The textbook chapter was by Dr. Jenny Hall who contributed a chapter to the latest edition of Mayes Midwifery , which is the classic midwifery textbook and now in its 15th edition [3]. The interdisciplinary paper is by Angela Warren, service user and carer coordinator PIER partnership, Dr Mel Hughes, principal academic in social work, academic lead for PIER partnership, and Dr Jane Fry and Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler who are both senior lecturers in midwifery in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) [4]. The latest issue of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology carried a CMMPH co-authored paper on the HPV in young women in Nepal [5]. The final piece, an editorial, appeared yesterday in the latest issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives [6].

Congratulations to all authors!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Sheppard, Z., Silwal, R.C. (2017) Factors related to choice of place of birth in a district in Nepal, Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 13 : 91-96.
Sharma, S., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E., Stephens, J., Silwal, R.C., Angell, C. (2017) Evaluation a Community Maternal Health Programme: Lessons Learnt. Journal of Asian Midwives. 4 (1): 3–20.
Hall, J. (2017) ‘Fertility and it’s control’ In: Macdonald, S. & Johnson, G. Mayes’ Midwifery, 15th Edition, London: Elsevier.
Warren, A., Hughes, M., Fry, J., Cescutti-Butler, L. (2017) ‘Involvement in midwifery education: experiences from a university service user and carer partnership’ British Journal of Midwifery (forthcoming).
Sathian, B., Babu, MGR., van Teijlingen, E.R., Banerjee, I., Subramanya, H.S., Roy, B., Subramanya, H., Rajesh, E., Devkota, S. (2017) Ethnic variation in perception of Human Papillomavirus and its Vaccination among young women in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 7 (1): 647-658. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/17757
Jan, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Exciting Times in South-Asian Midwifery, Journal of Asian Midwives 4 (1):1

23 June 2017

Prof. Sara Ashencaen Crabtree – My Publishing experience…

Guidance, international, Publishing, writing sastringer

On Wednesday 28th June, the Writing Academy will be hosting a Lunchbyte session with Sara Ashencaen Crabtree. During the session Sara will talk about her personal publishing experience, her approaches to research and writing, her tips on developing a publication strategy, working with co-authors, reviewers and editors. She will talk about all types of publishing drawing on personal experience, focusing on international reach.

Aims:

Developing a Publication Strategy
Dealing with Co-Editors, Reviewers & Editors
International Reach

Click here to book on!

18 June 2017

New BU publication in Public Health

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week the Oxford Encyclopaedia published our contribution on religious organisations and health promotion [1]. The paper in question ‘Faith Communities and the Potential for Health Promotion’ is co-authored by scholars based in England, Scotland and Canada. This new publication is part of a growing number of publications at Bournemouth University on the contribution of faith communities to public health.

Faith communities often have multiple resources, existing networks and an infrastructure that can be applied to health promotion programmes for their own membership or as an outreach to the wider community. Health programmes in a faith community in high-income countries may include targeted initiatives, ranging from walking groups or weight checks, health events, or health assessments, to diabetes self-management. These activities can be organised by charities and NHS organisation and held at local churches, synagogues or mosques which is referred to as faith-placed health promotion. If the health promotion is part of the ministry of the religious organisation it is referred to as faith-based health promotion.

On top of this encyclopaedia entry, the Open Access journal African Health Sciences [Impact Factor 0.66] accepted our paper in the same field a few weeks ago. This paper ‘Influence of faith-based organisations on HIV prevention strategies in Africa: a systematic review’ formed part of the first author’s M.Sc. in Public Health [2]. Our previous papers reported on a study of faith-based and faith-placed health promotion in and around Dundee [3-4].

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Prenatal Health

References

Kiger, A., Fagan, D., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Faith Communities and the Potential for Health Promotion. In: Encyclopedia of Health and Risk Message Design & Processing, Parrott, R. (ed.) New York, Oxford University Press. (http://communication.oxfordre.com/).
Ochillo, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hind, M. (2017) Influence of faith-based organisations on HIV prevention strategies in Africa: a systematic review. African Health Sciences (accepted June).
Fagan, D., Kiger, A., van Teijlingen E. (2010) A survey of faith leaders concerning health promotion and the level of healthy living activities occurring in faith communities in Scotland. Global Health Promotion 17(4): 15-23.
Fagan, D., Kiger, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2012) Faith communities and their assets for health promotion: The views from health professionals and faith leaders in Dundee, Scotland, Global Health Promotion 19(2): 27-36.

7 June 2017

We’re off to Glastonbury!!

Public engagement elanng

We are very excited about taking our financial scams research to the Glastonbury Festival, 2017. This offers an amazing opportunity to engage with a very different, and potentially huge, audience.

But this offers a challenge – we are well practiced in presenting our research at conferences, public engagement events and more formally at policy forums – but how to do it in a tent, in a field, with a moving audience, at probably the best-known music festival in the country???

The first response I get from people when I tell them about taking our scamming research to Glastonbury is: ‘are you going to scam people?’, and the answer is of course, yes (though we promise to return their personal information). Using an exercise that demonstrates how humans tend to want to please and are generally reciprocal by nature, we will demonstrate the characteristics scammers use to their advantage (Langenderfer, and Shimp, 2001).

To make our research attractive, and draw in an audience, we have turned to games which offer information in bite size chunks and reward players who use their scam ‘antennae’.

With such a diverse audience as Glastonbury we have a range of activities to appeal to children (and the sleep deprived) and older participants. So, we have designed a colourful ‘scams and ladders’ game where getting caught by scamming snakes means sliding down the board, while beating the scammers is rewarded by racing up the ladders.

Others may try a card sorting game where different scams are depicted with colourful illustrations. Players must sort into scam type and the correct sequence of events. For the detectives, we have hidden clues to be found within letters and emails (including clues only revealed with the use of a UV torch).

These will be fun activities, but our attendance at Glastonbury is also a serious research endeavour. Not only will we be collecting data about the general public’s awareness of scams, it is an opportunity for us to trial alternative ways of presenting research which break through the barriers between ‘research’ and ‘real life’. We will be evaluating our project and building on our findings to develop improved resources.

Scamming is an extremely serious issue affecting more that 3.25 million annually in the UK (Age UK, 2015), and can result in significant harm to victims’ health and well-being. This means finding diverse ways of communicating knowledge which empowers people and increases prevention through raising awareness is essential – including games.

Listen to Dr Sally Lee’s email to Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo being read on the BBC’s flagship film programme CLICK HERE. 1:55:20

References:

Age UK (2015) Only the Tip of the Iceberg: Fraud Against Older People, Age UK, London

Langenderfer, J. and Shimp, T. (2001) Consumer vulnerability to scams, swindles and fraud: A new theory of visceral influences on persuasion, Journal of Psychology and Marketing, 18:7, 763-783

22 May 2017

HE policy update w/e 19th May 2017

innovation, international, Student Engagement jforster

This week we have a focus on the manifestos but some other interesting things first:

Data protection within data analytics – The Information Commissioner has opened a formal investigation to assess the potential risk to data protection when using data analytics for political purposes. It will consider the practices deployed during the UK’s EU Referendum campaign and potentially also in other campaigns. As the data is transnational the investigation will explore how companies operating internationally deploy such practices with impact or handling of data in the UK. The priority is to uphold the rights of individuals and ensure that political campaigners and companies providing services to political parties operate within UK law. The timing of the investigation alongside the election campaigning is coincidental.

Have you submitted evidence to a select committee? – Parliament is currently reaching out to researchers who have submitted evidence to any select committee in the past. They aim to understand more about researchers needs to redesign the parliamentary website making it easier to use. They are investigating:

Individual’s interest in UK Parliament select committees
Individual’s experience of submitting evidence to UK Parliament select committees
What’s difficult or confusing in relation to UK Parliament select committees

If you have submitted select committee evidence and wish to provide feedback you can schedule a discussion regarding your experience by emailing outreach@parliament.uk or calling 020 7219 1650.

General Election 2017 – You can read our summary of each manifesto’s commitments to HE, Apprenticeships/Technical Education, Schools Policy, Industrial Strategy and Migration here.

On migration in particular, Politics Home reports on the Frontbench rebellion – every senior minister in Theresa May’s Cabinet is said to be opposed to her aim of reducing net migration. George Osborne calls the policy “economically illiterate”. Also covered by The Telegraph.

On the conservative manifesto and HE, HEPI have a blog by Nick Hillman “Forward, together or more of the same”, with a link to this Education Policy Institute paper by Professor Alison Wolf (2016) “Remaking Tertiary Education”.

Labour:

Will reintroduce maintenance grants for university students.
Will abolish university tuition fees.
Health training:
- Will re-introduce bursaries and funding for health-related degrees.
- Will continue to support all training routes for social workers, including initial social work training provided within or accredited by a higher education institution.
- Will invest in the training, education and development of doctors, throughout their careers.
Will seek to remain part of Horizon 2020
Will immediately guarantee existing rights for all EU nationals living in Britain and secure reciprocal rights for UK citizens living in EU countrie Guaranteeing the rights of EU staff working in health and care services gets a specific mention.
Will end freedom of movement when the UK leaves the European Union
Will introduce a new migration system based on economic needs, balancing controls and existing entitlements. This may include employer sponsorship, work permits, visa regulations or a tailored mix. International students will not be included in immigration statistics.
Will create an innovation nation – ODEC target of 3% of GDP spent on research and development by 2030. Also a separate commitment to grow business by “commuting extra research investment”
Will identify strategic industries and establish councils to oversee the security and growth of each sector
Will appoint a Digital Ambassador to work with industry to encourage investment in technology firms, and provide support for start-ups to scale up
Will improve diversity in the film industry
Will introduce a £1 billion Cultural Capital Fund to upgrade existing cultural and creative infrastructure to be ready for the digital age.
Commits to supporting tourism and will reinstate the cross-Whitehall ministerial group on tourism.
Ban unpaid internships.

Conservative:

The manifesto tackles the ‘five giant challenges’ which are:

a strong economy (the industrial strategy working for everyone),
Brexit,
social mobility/enduring inequality of opportunity,
an ageing society, and
fast changing technology.

Universities to sponsor local schools and open opportunities to local people – it will be a condition for universities hoping to charge maximum tuition fees to become involved in academy sponsorship or the founding of free schools
Launch a major review of funding across the whole of tertiary education (college, university and vocational courses)
Encourage clusters of public services, private businesses and, where appropriate, universities supported by moving civil/public servants (including the senior posts) out of the south-east to other UK cities.
University investment funds – universities will lead the expansion of Research & Development capacity. The Conservatives plan to help universities make a success of their discoveries through larger, aggregated investment funds – replicating the success of similar university funds in the US. “We want universities to enjoy the commercial fruits of their research, through funds that are large enough to list, thereby giving British investors a chance to share in their success.”
Encourage the world to visit, study and do business in the UK through the GREAT Britain campaign and Visit Britain.
Deliver autumn statement promises for investment in research and development, and further growth to meet the current OECD average for investment in R&D (2.4% of GDP) within ten years, with a longer-term goal of 3%.
Increase the number of scientists working in the UK and enable leading scientists from around the world to work here.
Bursaries for prospective teachers to attract top graduates into teaching
For new teachers ‘offer forgiveness’ on student loan repayments while actively teaching
Toughen the visa requirements for students – and include overseas students in the immigration statistics
Take recommendation from Migration Advisory Committee on aligning the visa system with the industrial strategy. Potentially reserving significant numbers of visas for significant sectors, e.g. digital technology, without increasing net migration overall
Immediately redress economic skills shortage needs, ensuring the immigration system works for these sections, positioned within a longer term skills development policy for the future
Double the Immigration Skills Charge levied on companies employing migrant workers to £2,000 a year by end of next parliament – reinvesting the revenue generated for higher level skills training for UK workers
Reduce annual net migration to the tens of thousands
Introduce the right to lifelong learning in digital skills (akin to the literacy & numeracy programme).
Make further use of the creative industries tax credits scheme, in order to promote and grow the online media industry

Plus many things already proposed by the last government in various recent green/white papers and consultations on education and schools, technical education and the industrial strategy– e.g. T-levels, institutes of technology, apprenticeships, grammar schools, maths schools, R&D focus through industrial strategy funding,.

Liberal Democrats:

The Lib Dems have already confirmed they will not form part of a coalition if June’s election results in a hung parliament.

Commitment to a second Europe referendum, with an option to stay in the EU.
Reinstate university maintenance grants for the poorest students, including student nurse bursaries
Establish a review of higher education finance in the next parliament, with an eye to reform based on consideration of access, participation and quality impact evidence.
No more retrospective raising of repayment rates, or selling-off of student loans to private companies.
Ensure that all universities work to widen participation across the sector, prioritising work with students in schools and colleges. Requirement for transparency of admissions selection criteria.
Establish a system for credit transfer and recognition of prior learning and qualifications
Reinstate quality assurance for universities applying for degree awarding powers. (p31)
Create individual learning accounts for funding mature adult and part-time learning and training (likely to be primarily within FE sector).
Fast-track exceptional graduates into children’s social work and mental health social work
Press for the UK to unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU nationals in the UK. Simplify registration process for EU nationals to obtain permanent residence and UK citizenship. Obtain the same rights for UK citizens living in European Union countries
A manifesto commitment to retain access to Horizon 2020 and Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions fund. Guarantee to underwrite funding for EU-funded projects (e.g. Horizon 2020) where income is cancelled through Brexit. Campaign against reduction in investment in UK universities and for their right to apply for EU funds on equal terms (Brexit).
Protect the science budget, including the recent £2bn increase, by raising it at least in line with inflation. Double innovation and research spending across the economy in the long term.
Scrap the planned expansion of grammar schools, opposing any new selective schools and passing democratic control and funding for admissions and new schools back to local authorities.
Establish a new online Family University (collaboration with BBC and Open University).
Devolve power to ensure local autonomy “with real financial muscle” to tackle the regional divide, including devolving decision-making for the key economic development levers of transport, housing and skills.
Develop a new retail and business strategy and national skills strategy for key sectors
Create more ‘catapult’ innovation and technology centres..

4 March 2017

New book review published by Dr. Pramod Regmi on research ethics

international, Publishing, Research Ethics, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week saw the publication of the latest issue of the internet-based journal Sociological Research Online. In this issue Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen published a book review of Balanced Ethics Review: A Guide for Institutional Review Board Members written by the American academic Simon Whitney. [1] In doing so they continue the tradition of FHSS scholars contributing to the research ethics debate. For example, Regmi and colleagues recently had a paper accepted on their insights into research in low-income countries in the journal Developing World Bioethics.[2] Whilst a 2012 FHSS-led paper stressed that researchers conducting research in low-income countries need to apply for research ethics approval to the relevant local authority, if national legislation requires one to do so.[3]

Looking better a little further back, Professor Emerita Immy Holloway wrote about the researcher who may have (potentially) conflicting roles namely those of researcher and health care professional.[4] Whilst a combination of midwifery researchers in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) highlighted the problems faced by practitioners doing research in their field of practice with perhaps the risk of blurring professional and research ethics, as balancing competing ethical concerns between protecting research participants and over-managing the ethical process can be problematic.[5-6] The latter issue of management and regulation of research ethics has recognised as getting more and more cumbersome and bureaucratic.[7-8]

Two further publications by Prof. Ashencaen Crabtree have added to the pool of FHSS publication on research ethics.[9-10] The first one, a book, addressed the problematic issue of gate-keepers in research together with the ethics of critical observation of abuse (potential or actual), as well as the ethics of advocating on behalf of research participants.[9] The second paper covered issues around working with research participants who are regarded as ‘vulnerable’ in a study into the context of care and patient/service user experiences.[10]

Whilst Prof. Parker has highlighted the benefits and dangers of using email and the Internet for social and health research.[11] An even newer research approach is the use of discussion boards as sources of data, which brings its own ethical dilemmas.[12]

In 2010-11 Prof. Parker and colleagues explored in two separate papers the contested meanings and difficulties associated with informed consent, highlighting challenges raised by an almost unquestioned acceptance of biomedical research ethics in social research and questioning whether potential ‘harm’ is different in this context.[13-14]

Prof. Hundley and colleagues discussed the ethical challenges involved in conducting a cluster randomised controlled trial, where getting informed consent can be complication.[15] Whilst it is worth reminding researchers that in issues of informed consent during pregnancy and childbirth one has to consider the potential for harm to two participants.[16]

References

Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) ‘Balanced Ethics Review: A Guide for Institutional Review Board Members’ by Whitney, Simon N., Springer, (2015) ISBN: 9783319207056 (pb) (book review), Sociological Research Online 22(1) http://www.socresonline.org.uk/22/1/reviews/3.html
Regmi, PR., Aryal, N., Kurmi, O., Pant, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, P.P. (forthcoming Informed consent in health research: challenges and barriers in low-and middle-income countries with specific reference to Nepal, Developing World Bioethics.
van Teijlingen E.R., Simkhada, P.P. (2012) Ethical approval in developing countries is not optional, Journal of Medical Ethics 38:428-430.
Holloway, I., Wheeler, S. (1995) Ethical Issues in Qualitative Nursing Research, Nursing Ethics 2: 223-232. http://nej.sagepub.com/content/2/3/223.full.pdf+html
Ryan, K., Brown, B., Wilkins, C., Taylor, A., Arnold, R., Angell, C., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) Which hat am I wearing today? Practicing midwives doing research, Evidence-Based Midwifery 9(1): 4-8.
van Teijlingen, E.R., Cheyne, H.L. (2004) Ethics in midwifery research, RCM Midwives Journal 7 (5): 208-10.
van Teijlingen, E. (2006) Reply to Robert Dingwall’s Plenary ‘Confronting the Anti-Democrats: The unethical Nature of Ethical Regulation in Social Science, MSo (Medical Sociology online) 1: 59-60 www.medicalsociologyonline.org/archives/issue1/pdf/reply_rob.pdf
van Teijlingen, E., Douglas, F., Torrance, N. (2008) Clinical governance and research ethics as barriers to UK low-risk population-based health research? BMC Public Health 8(396) www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-8-396.pdf
Ashencaen Crabtree, S. (2012) Rainforest Asylum: The enduring legacy of colonial psychiatric care in Malaysia, London: Whiting & Birch.
Ashencaen Crabtree, S. (2013) Research ethics approval processes and the moral enterprise of ethnography. Ethics & Social Welfare. Advance Access: DOI:10.1080/17496535.2012.703683
Bond, C.S, Ahmed, O.H., Hind, M., Thomas, B., Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2013) The Conceptual and Practical Ethical Dilemmas of Using Health Discussion Board Posts as Research Data, Journal of Medical Internet Research 15(6):e112) Web address: http://www.jmir.org/2013/6/e112/
Parker, J. (2008) Email, ethics and data collection in social work research: some reflections from a research project, Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate & Practice, 4(1): 75-83.
Hundley, V., Cheyne, H.C., Bland, J.M., Styles, M., Barnett, C.A. (2010) So you want to conduct a cluster randomised controlled trial? Lessons from a national cluster trial of early labour, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 16: 632-638
Helmreich, R.J., Hundley, V., Norman, A., Ighedosa, J., Chow, E. (2007) Research in pregnant women: the challenges of informed consent, Nursing for Women’s Health 11(6): 576-585.
Parker, J., Penhale, B., Stanley, D., (2010). Problem or safeguard? Research ethics review in social care research and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Social Care & Neurodisability, 1(2): 22-32.
Parker, J., Penhale, B., Stanley, D. (2011) Research ethics review: social care and social science research and the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Ethics & Social Welfare, 5(4): 380-400.

2 March 2017

Professor Jo Adams Keynote PPI Seminar

PG research, Public engagement jgavin

Making research meaningful and accessible to patients: Why patient and public involvement is crucial to designing effective health research studies

Date Monday 6th March 2017

Time 3:00 – 4:30 pm

Location EB708, Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, Lansdowne Campus, Bournemouth University

As part of the Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in Research seminar series

Biography

Dr Jo Adams is a Professor of Musculoskeletal Health within the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Jo is an occupational therapist by background. She has led both national and international applied translational research programmes related to developing effective self- management approaches for individuals with musculoskeletal diseases. Her research is widely published and she leads collaborative partnerships to improve the translation of research into NHS clinical practice. She is also an experienced educator having taught health care professionals at pre and post registration level for over 20 years

Profile

Book your place now: https://patientandpublicinvolvement.eventbrite.co.uk

Refreshments are available and there will be plenty of time for discussion at the seminar end. Any questions please contact:

Dr James Gavin

Email jgavin@bournemouth.ac.uk

Phone +44 (0)1202566303

12 January 2017

Wanted! External Bid Writers

Funding opportunities, Grants Academy, international, Knowledge Exchange, REF Subjects, Training Emily Cieciura

As part of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework, Bournemouth University is expanding its pool of external bid writing expertise, through a tendering process.

If you have worked with a good bid writer or, as an external subscriber to this blog, you have written successful research funding applications, please contactus in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office

We are particularly interested in those who can provide short courses, one-to-one support, bid writing retreats, application review or a range of these and related activities.

Examples of key funders include:

British Academy
European Commission funds including Horizon 2020
Innovate UK
Leverhulme Trust
National Institutes of Health and other US Federal funders
Research Councils
Royal Society
Wellcome Trust
etc.

We look forward to hearing from you.

30 December 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Collard on new publication

international, open access, Publishing, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today saw the publication of a new methods paper by Dr. Sarah Collard, post-doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the academic journal Health Prospect. This new paper addressed some of the key methodological issues associated with Internet-based Focus Groups (FGs) or the so-called Online Focus Group Discussions [1]. Traditional face-to-face FG discussions are a popular qualitative research method used a wide-range of areas, such as political sciences, marketing, health service research and sociology to name but a few disciplines. More recently, internet-based FGs have grown in popularity due to the growth of: (a) the internet, both in terms of technical capacity and number of users; and (b) the improved quality of communication software (e.g. Skype). This paper highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of conducting FGs online. Building on our experience of conducting traditional and internet-based FGs.

Dr. Sarah Collard is affiliated with BU’s Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR). Health Prospect is an Open Access journal therefore this article is freely available to any reader across the globe.

Reference:

Collard, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Online focus group: New approaches to an ‘old’ research method, Health Prospect 15(3):4-7.

26 December 2016

Call for Papers for 2017 Nepal Study Days at Bournemouth University

conferences, international, PG research Edwin van Teijlingen

Call for Papers for the 15^th Nepal Study Days

12-13 April 2017 hosted by Bournemouth University, UK

The Britain Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) invites scholars and practitioners from all disciplines to participate in the 15^th BNAC Nepal Study Days. All presentations should focus on Nepal, its diaspora and/or the Nepali cultural world. We invite presentations that share research findings, preferably of work that has reached an advanced stage or has been completed. The 2017 event will be held in Bournemouth House at Bournemouth University. Details of previous study days can be accessed online here! We also invite proposals for research posters.

If you are interested in participating, please send a 300-word abstract of your proposed presentation to bnacstudyday@gmail.com by 28^th February 2017. The Study Days organizing committee will review the proposals received on time and make a selection. Selected abstracts will be circulated to registered participants in advance and posted to the BNAC website.

Members of BNAC may attend the Nepal Study Days for free, though we will ask for a contribution towards the costs of the lunches. For non-members there will be a registration fee of £25, which will include lunch on both days.

We would like to encourage prospective participants to apply for or renew their membership for 2017 in time to be eligible for free registration. To download membership application form and for other details about BNAC membership, please visit www.bnac.ac.uk/membership/.

We hope to be in a position to offer small bursaries towards the travel costs of students from outside Bournemouth whose abstracts are accepted.

Deadline to submit abstracts: 28^th February 2016.

Deadline to register for those who are not presenting a paper but who wish to attend: 4^th April 2017.

For more information and registration, please contact the Nepal Study Days organizing team (Pramo Regmi, Jib Acharya, Preeti Mahato and Edwin van Teijlingen) at bnacstudyday@gmail.com.

The application form can be found here!

We suggest you book your accommodation in Bournemouth well in advance. To download the list of hotels close to the programme venue, click here.

For details about new membership application (and to download forms) or renewal, click here

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Dr. Pramod Regmi

Mr. Jib Acharya

Mrs. Preeti Mahato

23 December 2016

Worldwide media coverage BU co-authored paper

international, PG research, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Many prestigious newspapers across the globe re-published a very interesting Associate Press article called ‘At soaring rate, Nepalis seeking jobs abroad come home dead’ on the plight of Nepali migrant workers in countries such as Malaysia, Korea, India and the Middle East. This article cited our co-author Nirmal Aryal who is a Nepali researcher based in New Zealand. This newspaper piece also quoted our recent paper ‘Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action’, which was published earlier this year in the Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health [1]. This scientific journal has an Impact Factor of 1.72

We have received email message and tweets from colleagues and friends who spotted this article in newspapers in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand (NZ), Taiwan, Nepal, India and many more countries as well as on several news websites. The article was sighted in North American papers such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Billings Gazette, Dothan Eagle, The Daily Times, The Roanoke Times, Union Times, The Daily Courier, The Journal Times, Medicine Hat News. and many more. Whilst in Britain the article can be found on the webpages of the Mail Online. In the Philippines the piece is on Inquirer.net

Elsewhere we were alerted to The Hindustan Times in India, which is incidently one of the few papers that changed the original title of the Associated Press piece to ‘Mysterious deaths: Nepalis working abroad come back home in caskets’. Furthermore, as our colleague Nirmal Aryal is based in NZ it is not surprising that several newspaper there reported on the issue: The New Zealand Herald, The Dominion Post (NZ), and as expected several English-language daily newspaper in Nepal picked up the story, including The Himalayan Times, and The Kathmandu Post.

It’s a pity that the original Associated Press article only refers to the BU collaborators as ‘colleagues in the United Kingdom’. We have a long-standing interest in the health and well-being of Nepali migrant workers in various host countries. Dr. Pramod Regmi is post-doctoral research fellow in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS). He is part of the BU India-HUB, which involves the study of Nepali migrant workers in India. Prof. Padam Simkhada from Liverpool John Moores University is also BU Visiting Faculty in FHSS. Dr. Pratik Adhikary is a recent BU PhD graduate who has published several articles on Nepalis migrant workers [2-3]. Finally, our work on Nepali migrants has also been submitted as a contribution to the BU’s Global Festival of Learning.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen & Dr. Pramod Regmi

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

References:

Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, Y.K.D., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1010539516668628
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health & Human Rights 8(6). Web address: biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6.
Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen, E (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-175. hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf

13 December 2016

New publication CMMPH student Donna Wixted

Festival of Learning, PG research, Public engagement, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to CMMPH’s Donna Wixted, Joint BU-Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, doctoral student who just had a paper published in MIDIRS.[1] The paper is titled ‘Drinking in pregnancy: poor guidelines or lack of evidence?’ The paper reports a very lively debate at the 2016 BU Festival of Learning which was a debate around the motion: “Advising pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy is symptom of the Nanny State and another step towards the medicalisation of childbirth”. The debate was chaired by CMMPH’s Prof. Vanora Hundley.

The Festival of Learning event grew out of Donna’s PhD research. Donna’s PhD is jointly supervised by Dr. Greta Westwood of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust & the University of Southampton and FHSS academics Dr. Liz Norton and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

Reference:

Wixted, D., Hundley, V., Norton, L., van Teijlingen, E., Westwood, G. (2016) Drinking in pregnancy: poor guidelines or lack of evidence? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 26(4): 462-65.

7 December 2016

History and Biography in the Sociology of Welfare: The importance of student fieldwork

Fusion, student research Jonathan Parker

Sociology, as an emerging discipline, developed within the crucible of historical studies of changing lives, transforming events and a search for alternative ways to understand history. We see this in the works of such illustrious progenitors of sociology as Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim and Weber but it has itself been marginalised, even hidden, as social, political and historical events have unfurled and a turn to biography has displaced the historical. Furthermore, historical sociology has taken something of a battering since John H Goldthorpe decried its relevance towards the end of the last century. However, it is perhaps this railing against the historical which has lent itself to a resurgence through such key figures as Barrington Moore, Charles Tilly, Theda Skocpol and Shmuel Eisenstadt amongst others. But what of its place within contemporary undergraduate sociological education?

In an attempt to introduce today’s BU undergraduates to the important interdisciplinary fusion of the social, the biographical and the historical we have developed an innovative exploration of the histories of social welfare that students take in their second year of full time study. This involves the broad study of social and political welfare initiatives through to the Poor Law, its reform and the implementation of the Welfare State, retrenchment and contemporary attacks on welfare and those who claim benefits. So what? You may say. This is similar to most programmes of study charting welfare policy. However, two specific aspects mark out this module. The first is the assessment, reported elsewhere, which requires groups to explore the experiences of characters in specific historical periods through the construction of a narrative. This allows students to enter into the social and political worlds of individuals in need of social welfare and support.

The second innovative aspect relates to the continuing strands running through our explorations – we take Richard Lachmann’s approach to historical sociology to understand how the present, and future, is contingent on the past. Throughout the course, we examine seemingly inconsequential events leading to change, and why ‘transformative’ events, such as the introduction of the British Welfare State in 1948, occur when they do. Moreover, we embed this learning in a hands-on fieldtrip to the historic market town of Sherborne. Though a visit to the historic St Johns’ (two of them) almshouses, the architecturally stunning abbey, students are exposed to the religious beginnings of charity and alms, the turn to the Parish and the body politic in dispensing poor relief and an appreciation of the overt discrimination between deserving and undeserving. Indeed, they experience that the ‘poor are always with us’ and also they are stratified in society by those with power. As one student stated:

The trip … showed us how throughout history policies have changed, yet some have remained the same as 600 years ago. It made us appreciate and value history more. We learned how the welfare state changed with time to adjust to the environment and the social conditions (war, economic state, health condition of people etc).

The students undertaking this trip have experienced the importance of an historical sociological approach to social welfare policy and application marrying this with the contemporary focus on biography and merging analytic thought, and an appreciation of the affective. This was particularly evident in discussion of the contemporary foodbank provision which religious and lay people undertake to offset some of the hardships experienced by those requiring benefits today:

I also found it interesting how the food bank is run. I think it is so lovely that the people of Sherborne deliver the food bags to the people who cannot come to collect them. I have never heard of anywhere else that does this before and think it shows just how close a community can be and that we should all work together to help each other.

This takes historical sociology into a contemporary arena in which the biographical is included, and offers the students a chance to bring in the personal and to reflect on experiences whilst acknowledging the historical and the structural:

I was really surprised to find out that there are people still living in the alms houses today! I was not expecting that. I found it really interesting how there are still so many similarities to how it was ran when it began to how it is ran now. Before the trip my understanding was that to live in the alms houses wouldn’t have been a nice experience but from the trip I was able to understand that it was actually built with the intention to help people and that is exactly what it did and still does today. I made connections with the histories of social policy and welfare when I understood that the people who came to live in the alms houses were the ‘deserving poor’.

Jonathan Parker (Department of Social Sciences and Social Work), Nezhat Habib and Bonnie Brown (students on BA Sociology and Social Policy programme)

Sherborne Abbey

9 November 2016

Islam and Social Work: Culturally sensitive practice in a diverse world

Fusion, Women's Academic Network Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

The complexities of multiculturalism as a social ontology and as a political discourse have taken a rapid and alarming turn to the right in a political moment of increasing social turbulence on issues that revolve around national identity, ethnicity and religion. It is therefore timely, if regrettably so, that the second edition of Islam and Social Work makes its debut this month.

The first volume went to press in 2008, in my first year at BU, and my co-authors and I were overwhelmed when the book was showered with positive reviews. Regarded as not only the best, but the sole European text on this conspicuously important topic, it was also viewed as having no counterpart in the Global North (where the subject of social work and minority ethnic groups has been a dominant theme in the social work literature for decades). Since then it has been regularly cited and I been privileged to have anonymously reviewed dozens of papers on Islamic interpretations of social work practice. I have learned that Western social work is no longer the epicentre of practice – there are other worlds out there. I feel that this earlier book was, if nothing else, pivotal to opening the door much wider to be able to hear from our Muslim social work colleagues around the world, whose practice can challenge the restrictive, bureaucratised and therefore often inhuman professional processes in the UK

Strangely, however, over the years, despite the world having changed so very much since in terms of the shifting geo-political axes of power, the rise and fall of despotic regimes, the call for accountability of Western leaders implicated in invasion of Gulf nations, the Arab Spring, global terrorism, Al-Qaeda and later the monstrous birth of imploding Daesh – no one has produced a text to supersede the old first edition. And so, reader, we, Fatima Husain, Basia Spalek and I decided to produce the 2^ndedition, which has been fully revised and updated, rewritten virtually from scratch, and I believe we have produced a book that is specific in detail, expansive in scope and completely international in outlook.

We hope that this will be a text that is the first port of call for all social work students across the globe who are interested in learning more about competent and sensitive practice with Muslim service user and client groups across the lifespan, as well as discovering the many beauties and wise profundities that are embedded, but often overlooked, in the youngest of the Abrahamic religions, Islam.

Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Professor of Social & Cultural Diversity

27 October 2016

InsideBU – Out Now

Student Engagement, student research Sally Gates

The latest issue of InsideBU, the magazine for BU staff and students, is out now.

This issue brings the concept of Fusion to life through a range of features and articles including:

Celebrating undergraduate research through hosting the prestigious British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) next year
National research into the scale and impact of financial scamming in the UK, headed by BU’s National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice
The research stories behind the Fusion mural on Talbot Campus.

Hard copies are available across both campuses and you can also read it online – simply click the arrows on the bottom right of the screen to expand it to a full page size.

If you use a screen-reader, Word and PDF versions are also available. The current issue – and all back issues – can also now be found on the Staff Intranet, under ‘Find’ on the bottom right of the homepage.

Please email insidebu@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like hard copies sent directly to you.

We appreciate all feedback and suggestions for future issues. If you have a story for the next issue of InsideBU, email insidebu@bournemouth.ac.uk.

14 September 2016

FHSS seminar Prof McKie

Publishing, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Prof. Linda McKie who is professor of Sociology at Durham University gave an excellent paper today in FHSS on Revitalising Spatial and Temporal Frameworks in the Analysis of Unpaid Care and Paid Work. Her paper highlighted that published data have documented the persistence of the gender pay gap for all women with evidence of a deepening gap following maternity leave. These data generated numerous analyses on segregation and discrimination in education and working life and the many ways in which unpaid care for children, family members and elders remains a dominant factor in everyday gendered inequalities. Often little comment was made on women’s crucial role in reproducing generations many of whom will fund future pensions and services through their taxation. These intergenerational reciprocities are generally ignored in favour of the immediate time considerations for employers, workers and families with the need to generate profit, or income and resources for household or business survival.

In her seminar Prof. McKie revisited the analytical frameworks of ‘caringscapes’ and ‘carescapes’. In earlier work, it was asserted that both offer analytical potential to enhance analyses of the temporal and spatial dynamics of caring and working over the lifecourse in different places. Caring, critical to human flourishing and evident in many aspects of women’s lives, is captured in ‘caringscapes’. The framework of ‘carescapes’ explores the relationship between policies and services as determined by employers, the state and capital. Both frameworks are informed by feminist theorising and spatial and temporal perspectives on identifying and analysing how women perceive, engage with, and reflect on, the demands and pleasures of combining informal caring and paid work.

Yesterday Prof. McKie led a well-attended workshop for FHSS staff on preparing for the REF. She offered insight into various REF processes as well advise on strategic planning and the importance of networking. Prof. McKie has been a sub-panel member of the Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF) Sub-panel 23: Sociology for the period 2010-2014.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

9 September 2016

Public Health England Physical Activity Tool

Lisa Andrews

Public Health England has launched a Physical Activity Tool which brings together data at the local level for the whole of England on physical activity, including walking and cycling, as well as data on related risk factors and conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The tool also presents trend data and enables easy comparison of local authority data, allowing users to compare regional neighbours and local authorities with similar characteristics. The tool aims to help promote physical activity, develop understanding, and support benchmarking, commissioning and service improvement.

The data is grouped into three domains:

Key indicators – a summary overview of physical activity including a number of key outcomes from the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF).
Related conditions – such as cancers, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and depression. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of these.
Supporting information – population demographics, life expectancy and deprivation.

In addition PHE has also published a data spreadsheet: Physical activity levels among adults in England 2015, available on the PHE Obesity website. It presents physical activity measures (inactive, low activity, some activity and active) and key demographics from the Active People Survey at national, regional, upper and lower tier local authority and County Sports Partnership level.

Category / Social work

We are very excited about taking our financial scams research to the Glastonbury Festival, 2017. This offers an amazing opportunity to engage with a very different, and potentially huge, audience.

Making research meaningful and accessible to patients: Why patient and public involvement is crucial to designing effective health research studies

Other services

Don’t miss a post!

Recent posts

Search by Category

Search by popular post topics