Category / Sociology & Social Policy
Congratulations to Prof. Parker on his latest publication


Books are major tools of the trade in the social sciences, not just in the discipline of sociology. Book reviews give social scientists an insight in one particular book in the wide array of books published in one’s research domain. Book reviews are a bit of a rarity in online journals, but Sociological Research Online has been publishing book review since its inception 24 years ago.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH & Book Review Editor Sociological Research Online
Interdisciplinary and REF2021
Over the past decades interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary research has grown in popularity. REF2021 promises that all types of research shall be assessed on a fair and equal basis, including interdisciplinary and collaborative research. New to REF 2021 compared to REF2014 is the Interdisciplinary Research Advisory Panel (IDAP) which has been established to advise the REF team and panel chairs on interdisciplinary research. Furthermore, REF2021 will: (1) appoint at least two members to specifically oversee the assessment of interdisciplinary research in each UoA (Unit of Assessment) to ensure equitable assessment; (2) allow universities to flag-up outputs in the submission system with an ‘interdisciplinary identifier’; and (3) require an discrete section in the environment template on the submitting UoA’s structures to support interdisciplinary research.
Many academics from all disciplines can at some point benefit from working with other scholars from other disciplines. Interdisciplinary research can bring new insights and understanding across disciplinary boundaries. Novel interdisciplinary research can transcend disciplinary boundaries to address sophisticated and so-called wicked problems in society. We would argue that some disciplines are more open to interdisciplinary approaches, and we would argue that the discipline of Public Health as a multi-faceted discipline is probably the most interdisciplinary of all.

Having decades of research experience between us we also recognize that there can be difficulties arising from researchers trained in different individual disciplines trying to work together. We have highlighted some of these issues which interdisciplinary research in Public Health needs to consider and, where necessary, address before they become barriers in an article published this month in Health Prospect [1]. In this Open Access article we remind the reader that doing interdisciplinary research is not an easy option. Interdisciplinary research may involve a mixed-methods approach and could be underpinned by conflicting, and according to some incommensurable, research philosophies.
We argue, for example that in an interdisciplinary team topic specialists face potentially challenging demands on their range of skills and knowledge. For example, sociologists are required to have a broad knowledge at hand to represent the social science perspective in a study of a disease they know little about, designed by clinicians with a health services research outcome in mind. We also suggest that Public Health researchers have to be versed in both qualitative and quantitative methods. Working multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary means that they have to be able to understand the methods of the epidemiologists (e.g. ‘interrupted -time series’ or ‘nested-case control studies’) and those of health service researchers (e.g. ‘double-blind randomised controlled trials’) and have the whole range of qualitative methods at your command to improve the quality of the overall study.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, Dr. Pramod Regmi & Dr. Nirmal Aryal
(all based in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences)
Dr. Pratik Adhikary &Prof. Padam Simkhada
(both BU Visiting Faculty)
Reference:
- van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7.
Dr. Aryal funded to attend international workshop on migration & health
Congratulations to Dr. Nirmal Aryal in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has been selected to participate in an international workshop targeting early career researchers (ECRs) on ‘Engendering research and reframing policy debate on migration & health and intersectional rights’ to be held in Kathmandu (Nepal) from 25th to 28th April 2019.
This workshop is jointly organized by several universities in the UK, India as well as the International Organisation for Migration, as well as the Migration Health and Development Research Initiative(MHADRI). There will be 18 ECRs from South Asia and South East Asia and Nirmal is one for the six from the UK. The organizers will fund flight to and accommodation in Nepal.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
BU contributes to International Conference in India.
This past weekend saw BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada, who is a Professor of International Public Health in the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), delivering the keynote speech in an International Conference on Mixed-Methods Research (ICMMR 2019). His presentation at the conference, held at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala (India), was held on Saturday. The next day (Sunday 24th February) the two Bournemouth University academics Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and facilitated a session on academic publishing under the heading “Meet the editors” via Skype. Over 200 delegates from 10 countries, mainly from India and other South Asian countries participated in the conference.


New epilepsy paper by BU academics
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Collard and Dr. Pramod Regmi whose paper ‘Qualitative insights into feelings, knowledge, and impact of SUDEP: A narrative synthesis’. The paper has been accepted by the scientific journal Epilepsy & Behavior (published by Elsevier). Epilepsy Action is a charity that improves the lives of everyone affected by epilepsy. Epilepsy Action gives advice, improves healthcare, funds research and campaigns for change.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Descent or dissent? Social work education in post-Brexit UK
Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker on the publication of his article ‘Descent or dissent? A future of social work education in the UK post-Brexit‘ in the European Journal of Social Work. In true European style the journal also gives the title in Italian: Discesa o dissenso? Il futuro dell’istruzione nel settore dei servizi sociali nel Regno Unito dopo la Brexit.
Expanding BU’s India links
Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (both in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences) have been invited to join the scientific committee of the International Conference on Mixed Methods Research [ICMMR-2019]. This year’s ICMMR conference will be held in the School of Behavioural Sciences at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam (India) on February 22-24, 2019. The two BU academics will run an online panel discussion session on academic publishing under the heading “Meet the editors.” The advantage of such online session is that BU academic don’t have to travel to India saving time and money as well as the environment. This has benefits for their own work-live balance as well as their carbon footprint.
BU focuses its global collaborations on three geographical areas, one of these is the Indian sub-continent. Connect India is BU’s strategic Hub of Practice for the Indian sub-continent, bringing together a community of researchers, educators, practitioners and students at Bournemouth University to collaborate with colleagues in India and Nepal.
New textbook for medical students
Experts from universities across the UK have contributed to a new edition of a best-selling textbook which is out this month. This is the fourth edition of Psychology and Sociology Applied to Medicine which is a jargon-free 179-page introduction to psychology and sociology for medical students (and other health care students). The book is published by one of the largest academic publishers in the world, Elsevier in its series of Illustrated Colour Texts.
Seventy-three academics contributed chapters to the book which was edited by psychologist Prof. Gerry Humphris (University of St. Andrews) and sociologist Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University). The contributors are discipline and topic experts and come mainly from the UK but some are from further afield such as Ireland and Australia. Compared to the third edition this latest edition has 45 new authors, who contribute the most up-to-date knowledge on classical psychological and sociological concepts and issues. All chapters have been updated and several have been renamed and revamped to reflect changes in society, and three new ones have been added. The editors are very grateful to Catherine Calderwood, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, for writing the Foreword.
Teaching behavioural and social sciences to students is of vital importance for good health care in the future. This textbook covers topics across the life cycle from birth to death. A range of concepts and issues such as health screening, personality & health, quality of life, self-care, and anxiety are explained in an easy to understand fashion. This makes the textbook excellent introductory text as well as an essential revision tool for students. This textbook for medical students is Bournemouth University’s latest contribution to medical training.
Reference:
van Teijlingen, E. & Humphris, G. (Eds.) (2019)Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine: An Illustrated Colour Text (4th Edn), Edinburgh: Elsevier The book is available as eBook [ISBN: 9780702062995] and as paperback [ISBN: 9780702062988].
Reflections on doing interdisciplinary research


However, doing multidisciplinary research is not without its problems (and barriers). In a paper accepted today we reflect on some of these issues [2]. The co-authors are Bournemouth University’s Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Nirmal Ayral and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada (Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University) and BU graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary (Green Tara Nepal). We all are Public Health researchers, with very different educational backgrounds and training, reflecting the diversity of and interdisciplinarity in the field. Several of us have a first degree in Education or Health Education, but one has a first degree in Sociology. Whilst four of the five authors have Master degree in Public Health and/or Health Promotion, two have a Master in Education. Most of us have a Ph.D. in Public Health, but again one of us has a Ph.D. in Sociology. Our paper ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward’ has been accepted by the journal Health Prospect [2]. The advantage of this journal, which is part of the NepJOL family is that it is Open Access and hence freely available for anybody working in Public Health across the globe.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Reference:
- REF 2021 (2018) Consultation on the draft panel criteria and working methods https://www.ref.ac.uk/media/1013/consultation-on-the-draft-panel-criteria-and-working-methods-ref-2018_02.pdf
- van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P.R., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019) Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward, Health Prospect (forthcoming)
Migrant workers & mental health in Nepal


The paper argues that there exists an increased risk of mental health problems in Nepali adolescents, especially those left-behind by migrant workers. There is a paucity of research on mental health intervention among adolescents in low and middle income countries (LMICs) such as Nepal. The paper calls for more and better community-based mental health intervention in Nepali adolescents including the special group of left-behind adolescents. Doing this work in Nepal, a country with a very high proportion of its population working abroad will have a broader implication for a other low-and middle-income countries. This article is a welcome addition to BU’s growing publications on migrant workers and health in Nepal [2-11].

References:
- Aryal, N., Regmi, P. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P & Mahat, P. (2019) Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: Call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal, WHO South East Asia J Public Health (forthcoming).
- Adhikary P, Sheppard Z., Keen S. van Teijlingen E (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, Int J Migration, Health Social Care 14(1): 96-105
- Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A study of Health Problems of Nepalese Female Migrants Workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(1):4.
- Adhikary, P., Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: Accidents among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10
- Simkhada, P, Regmi, P., van Teijlingen E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of literature J Travel Med 24(4): 1-9
- Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury & Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
- Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
- Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Sci J 8(1):57-74.
- Adhikary P, Keen S, van Teijlingen E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Sci J 5: 169-75.
- van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P, Adhikary P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in UK. BMJ Rapid Response www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
- Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Raja, A. (2008). Health and Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK; BMC International Health & Human Rights, 8(6).
Beautiful Work Challenge: Podcast on Birth


The online interviews with a journalist and podcast producer in the USA was based on our publications around the topic, such as our highly cited BMC Pregnancy& Childbirth paper ‘“Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media ‘ [1] and our 2017 book Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media published by Palgrave Macmillan [2], as well as papers in UK midwifery journals [3-4].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References
- Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C. (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40
- Luce, A., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) (2017) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan [ISBN: 978-3-319-63512-5].
- Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.
- Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10
Migration research dissemination in Kathmandu
Last week we presented key findings from our various research projects on health and migration in Nepal. The research meeting was held in a hotel in central Kathmandu. More than seventy people turned up, in fact more people than had registered so the kitchen had to add to the lunch buffet at short notice. The chief guest was the Deputy Speaker of the Nepal’s Federal Parliament, Shivamaya Tumbahangphe. Dr. Tumbahangphe was the first female MP in Nepal with a PhD (in Political Sciences). She is speaking on the photo right, standing next to BU’s Dr. Bibha Simkhada.
The event was organised jointly with Liverpool John Moores University, Green Tara Nepal, and POURAKHI Nepal. the latter is an organisation of women migrant workers established in 2003. It aims to ensure the rights of women migrant workers and their families in the entire process of migration. The organisation focuses its work on women migrant worker’s concerns regarding issues that arise at the different stages of migration, namely pre-employment, pre-departure, employment and post-arrival periods through support programmes.
Nearly one-seventh of the world’s population is now living in a location different from the one in which they were born. Some 3.5 million Nepali are working as migrant workers in the Gulf countries, Malaysia, and India, contributing nearly one-third of the Nepal’s gross domestic product. Despite Nepal’s long history of work-related migration, the national dialogue has only recently become more prominent. Migration has become a political as well as a social issues, for example, we see migration mentioned in the national media on a daily basis. Our meeting was reported on TV and in an English-language newspaper The Himalayan Times on January 6th (to read article click here!).

The BU team comprises: Dr Pramod Regmi (FHSS Lecturer in International Health), Dr. Nirmal Aryal (Post-doctoral Research Fellow), Dr. Bibha Simkhada (FHSS Lecturer in Nursing), and in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Dr. Catherine Angell and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. The team is complemented by Liverpool John Moores University’s Prof. Padam Simkhada (who is also Visiting Professor at BU), Dr. Pratik Adhikary (BU graduate based at Green Tara Nepal) and colleagues at Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, India.
Developing our partnership in Nepal
Last year BU signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal. This week Dr. Bibha Simkhada, Lecturer in Nursing, Dr. Shanti Shanker, Lecturer (Academic) in Psychology, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) delivered one-day workshop on qualitative and mixed-methods research approaches. The workshop was very well attended by MSc students, not just from MMIHS, but also those from several other colleges and universities.
MMIHS is part of BU’s latest bids for ERASMUS Higher Education Student & Staff Mobility between Programme and Partner Countries (Key Action 107) – International Credit Mobility. Bournemouth University’s strategic plan known as BU2015 has as one of its pillars our desire to “enrich society by having a significant impact on challenges world-wide“. Through Fusion BU aims to (a) have a positive impact world-wide on the challenges facing society; (b) ensure staff, students and graduates enrich society as active citizens in their communities; and (c) strengthen our shared impact through worldwide partnerships. Expanding and developing the existing BU-MMIHS partnership is a excellent stepping stone for the ERASMUS application.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Final publication of 2018
Congratulations to Orlanda Harvey on the publication of her paper ‘Shades of Grey’: The Ethics of Social Work Practice in Relation to Un-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Use. Orlanda Harvey is a PhD student in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences with a research interest in image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. Her paper will be published in Practice: Social Work in Action.
This paper highlights ethical dilemmas that social workers face when assessing risk in relation to those using substances. It explores how legislation and societal factors can impact not just on people’s choices and decisions but also on their ‘vulnerability’ and access to services. Vulnerability, a contested term, is linked, in this paper, to assessment of risk. There are ethical issues that arise when assessing risk with people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) from both service user and professional perspectives. These ethical issues concern a person’s right to choose whilst making potentially harmful decisions. The paper argues that using substances such as AAS in and of itself does not suffice to make a person vulnerable but this does not mean that people using AAS are not in need of support. It suggests that there may be some groups of people who are more at risk to starting AAS use and that social workers should be aware of these. It also recommends the need for further qualitative research to understand the reasons for starting use and support to help people stop using AAS.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Congratulations to FHSS student Raksha Thapa
On the last working day of 2018 at Bournemouth University we congratulate FHSS student Raksha Thapa on the publication of her first PhD paper in her first PhD year. The paper Uptake of Health Services by People from the Dalit Community was published today in the Journal of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences [1]. Raksha is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Vanessa Heaslip and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

The paper discusses a variety of studies and reports on the uptake of health services in Nepal and other low-income countries by socio-economic cultural status in South Asia. These reports often focus on limitations due to physical factors, such as travel distance to health facility, or lack of medical facilities or electricity at the health care centre or focus on resources, such as lack of service providers, or lack of appropriately trained staff. Therefore, this article highlights the importance of discrimination as a reason for people not seeking available health care. Discrimination is particularly a barrier to service usage among the most deprived people in society, such as the Dalit community in Nepal and South Asia more generally. The authors discuss the caste-based discrimination in Nepal and its effects on health outcomes of those groups who experience such discrimination.
Reference:
- Thapa, R., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P. , Heaslip, V. (2018) Uptake of Health Services by People from the Dalit Community, Journal of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences 1(2): 1-6.
MIDIRS reproduced Afghanistan paper


Reference:
- Arnold, R., van Teijlingen, E., Ryan, K., Holloway, I. (2018) Parallel worlds: an ethnography of care in an Afghan maternity hospital, Social Science & Medicine 126:33-40.
National media coverage in Nepal


In FHSS we have been working on health and migration issues in Nepal and the health and well-being of Nepali migrant workers abroad for over ten years, resulting in numerous publications [1-9].
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
- Adhikary P, Sheppard, Z., Keen S., van Teijlingen E. (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care 14(1): 96-105, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2015-0052
- Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A study of Health Problems of Nepalese Female Migrants Workers in the Middle-East and Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12914-018-0145-7.
- van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in the UK BMJ Rapid Response: www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
- Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-175. www.hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
- Adhikary, P., Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: Accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10.
- Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., 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.
- Simkhada, PP., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of the literature, Journal of Travel Medicine 24 (4): 1-9.
- Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
- Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal 8(1):57-74.