Category / Health, Wellbeing & Society

17 October 2016

The social sciences at BU

BU Challenges, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Student Engagement brichards

Earlier this year a Fusion-funded series of public events at BU was organised by Professors Ann Brooks (FHSS), Candida Yates (FMC) and Barry Richards (FMC). For these ‘Dialogues in the Social Sciences’, leading social scientists were invited to speak at BU, along with other figures from outside and inside academia, on topics of current concern. The aim was to offer to BU students and staff, and to members of the local public, opportunities to hear and take part in authoritative and informed discussion of social and political issues.

The first was entitled ‘Increasing inequality? Widening opportunity? Debating higher education reform’ Two leading educationists from the University of London Institute of Education discussed the Higher Education Green Paper. Professor Sir Peter Scott (former editor of THE, and former V-C of Kingston University) and Professor Ann Phoenix, eminent psychosocial researcher, outlined their analysis of the prospects for the sector. BU’s Dr. Mastoureh Fathi (FHSS) and Ellie Mayo-Ward (SUBU V-P) were respondents. Chaired by Professor Iain MacRury of FMC, this event explored some of the risks to the sector in the current proposals.

In the second event (‘Our scandalised society’), criminologist Professor Chris Greer (City University) and Lord Blair (Sir Ian Blair, former Commissioner of the Met) discussed key issues regarding how the British state is responding to scandal proliferation, the implications of scandal for crime control and institutional regulation in the digital age, and the risk of scapegoating as a substitute for understanding and solving, particularly in a 24/7 news environment. Professor Ann Brooks was in the chair for an intriguing examination of the roles of both media and police in this complex intersection of social changes.

Professor Matthew Feldman of Teesside University is an expert on the Far Right; he was joined for the third and final event by Emman el-Badawy of the University of Exeter and the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, and Dr Usama Hasan of the counter-radicalisation organisation the Quilliam Foundation, both experts on violent jihadism. Under the title of ‘Radicalisation: what is it and what threat does it pose?’, Professor Barry Richards chaired a wide-ranging discussion which both put the current threat of Islamist terror in broader historical contexts and looked closely at some of the debates around the Prevent counter-terrorism programme.

Each one of these events demonstrated that with excellent speakers and a thoughtful audience, a good discussion is guaranteed. All of them involved both students and members of the public, though the challenge of drawing in large numbers for early evening extra-curricular events was also in evidence. As well as their value to participants, these events flagged up internally and externally that BU has a growing base of social-scientific expertise, networked with internationally leading experts and pursuing a clear public engagement mission.

16 October 2016

Research examining the effect of complications and errors on surgeons

PG research, Public engagement Rachel Bowen

A survey has been launched to help understand the psychological impact on surgeons of errors or complications which arise as a result of surgical procedures.It is hoped that the research will examine the impact that both complications and errors have on a surgeon’s professional and personal life and generate a national picture of how surgeons react when things go wrong, and allow for the creation of intervention strategies that will mitigate the negative effects on surgeons and allow them to flourish within their work environment.The research is being conducted by a research team at Bournemouth University and The Royal Bournemouth Hospital. PhD student Catherine Johnson said, “This research aims to generate a detailed understanding of the impact there is on surgeons when complications and errors occur. Once we understand what is going on we will be better placed to create support for surgeons to not only ameliorate the negative impacts of adverse events, but to ensure that their practice is maintained to the highest possible standards.

“Once surgeons complete the survey, we will have a detailed idea of the ways in which they respond to complications and errors. We recognise that all surgeons are different and that we cannot put every individual who opts for a career as a surgeon into the same ‘box’. However, because we have the opportunity to reach tens of thousands of surgeons with our survey and we hope to gain a much more detailed an understanding we will have of the different ways in which surgeons may be affected by adverse surgical events. In this way we will gain valuable insights into how they might best be supported when such events inevitably occur.”

The research is being supported by The Royal College of Surgeons England and the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh.

Mr Kevin Turner, Consultant Urological Surgeon at Royal Bournemouth Hospital and a supervisor of the research project, said, “We all know that things can go wrong in surgery and dealing with the consequences of complications and errors is part and parcel of a surgeon’s life. Very little is known about the impact that adverse events have on surgeons both professionally and personally. Our survey will provide a detailed national picture of the challenges, responses, and resilience surgeons have when dealing with adverse events and will allow the development of better targeted support. I have been very pleased to work with Bournemouth University on this project. Ultimately, I believe our research will help surgeons and will benefit our patients.”

Catherine Johnson concluded, “The bottom line is that surgeons who are supported through adverse events will provide better patient care in the future. That is what we are aiming to achieve through this research and why it is so important.”

Surgeons across the UK are being encouraged to participate in the survey, which takes around 15 minutes to complete, and contribute to this important research, and can do so at www.surgeonwellbeing.co.uk.

14 October 2016

Czech midwifery lecturer on EU-funded visit to CMMPH

international Edwin van Teijlingen

Eva Hendrych Lorenzová, midwife and midwifery lecturer from the Czech Republic, visited the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) this passed week. Eva was awarded a travel grant as part of the EU-funded COST Action IS1405 Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM). Eva spoke to colleagues and students at Bournemouth University as well as midwifery colleagues in Weymouth, Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forrest Birth Centre.

Over the past five year, four different midwives from Continental Europe have been to Bournemouth University on an STSM exchange. Eva is the fourth one, and with Brexit most likely to be the last on this EU scheme! Each of these four midwives had a different aim for their STSM project. The first STSM midwifery visitor five years ago was Susanne Grylka-Baeschlin. She did a methodological piece of research which resulted in the translation of the Mother-Generated Index into German to be used in Switzerland and Germany. The STSM was part of her MSc project supervised by Prof. Mechthild Gross and supported by Dr. Kathrin Stoll, both based at the Hannover Medical School in Germany.

In 2013 Dr. Ans Luyben, a Dutch midwife working in Switzerland, came over to BU for ten days. She came to develop the survey content on organisational system design and culture as part of the international survey, taking place during the COST Action. The work focused on organisational system design and culture in regard to antenatal care, including prenatal screening.

Eva and Jillian 2016

The third STSM midwifery visitor in 2014 was Dr. Fátima León Larios from Spain. Her STSM was much more practical, Fátima was keen to find out more about how small midwifery-led maternity units were being run in England. BU’s Visiting Faculty and Poole Community Midwife Jillian Ireland took her to visit four different maternity units in the south of England. Jillian also organised Eva’s meeting with community midwives and midwives in various birthing centres in Dorset and the New Forrest in October 2016.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

13 October 2016

FHSS Dr. Vanessa Heaslip awarded Florence Nightingale Travel Scholarship

Awarded & submitted bids, international Edwin van Teijlingen

Dr. Vanessa Heaslip in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) has been awarded a Florence Nightingale Travel Scholarship. She will be using this prestigious award to travel to New Zealand and various locations in the United Kingdom. She is hoping to learn from New Zealand, which is decades ahead in tackling these issues, to establish, adapt and develop principles for implementation in the UK. Vanessa’s study funded by the Florence Nightingale Foudation is called: “Towards addressing health inequalities of marginalised communities; using Gypsy Roma Travellers (GRT) as the model.”

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

10 October 2016

Collaborative research at BU identifies current feeding practices of extremely preterm infants puts them at risk of deficiencies of key brain building nutrients

Fusion, Public engagement sdyall

Dr Simon Dyall’s Lipid Neurochemistry lab conducts research investigating the therapeutic neuroprotective potential of bioactive lipids. The latest study is a collaboration with Dr Laura de Rooy, Consultant Neonatologist at St George’s Hospital, London, the University of Roehampton and Bournemouth University, and has just been published in the journal, Clinical Nutrition.

Recent advances in neonatal care have led to improved survival rates for preterm infants, but this has led to greater challenges in providing these survivors with adequate nutrition. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are dietary fats essential for optimal brain growth and development. During the last trimester the placenta provides the foetus with high levels of DHA and ARA and extremely preterm infants, born at less than 28 weeks, are therefore at the greatest risk of deficiency as this supply has been cut short. In this new study the DHA and ARA intakes of extremely preterm infants was measured from all sources over the first six weeks of life and compared to European intake guidelines and levels provided in utero.

The study extends earlier observations with a more detailed analysis that current feeding practices for extremely preterm infants are likely to lead to severe deficits in DHA, but importantly the study measured ARA intake for the first time, where the results show that deficits of ARA are of a potentially much greater magnitude.

“These observations are really important as we need to ensure that these infants receive the best nutrition to decrease morbidity and improve long-term outcomes. These low levels of intake occurred in spite of the infants receiving breast-milk and the results highlight the need to provide extremely premature infants with additional sources of DHA and ARA.” says Dr Dyall.

Follow-up work is currently underway investigating how intakes of DHA and ARA can be increased to compensate for these early deficits. If you would further information on this research or any of the work undertaken by the Lipid Neurochemistry lab please contact Dr Simon Dyall, sdyall@bournemouth.ac.uk

Reference:

De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H. Dyall, S.C. (2016): Extremely preterm infants receiving standard care receive very low levels of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids. Clinical Nutrition

The paper can be found at: http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0261561416312778

8 October 2016

CMMPH disability & childbirth research

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Last month’s press release for the latest study in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) was picked up by the Journal of Family Health. The study ‘Human rights and dignities: Experience of disabled women during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting’ appeared under the heading ‘Maternity care failing disabled women, charity warns’ in the Journal of Family Health. The charity in question is Birthrights which funded the survey of women with physical or sensory impairment or long-term health conditions and their maternity care experiences. The research was conducted by midwifery researchers Jenny Hall, Jillian Ireland and Vanora Hundley at Bournemouth University and occupational therapist Bethan Collins, at the University of Liverpool.

Last month this important study had already been reported by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) on their webpages (click here to read more). On the RCM website Louise Silverton Director for Midwifery at the RCM said: “It is deeply disappointing to hear that women with disabilities are not getting the maternity care they need and deserve. Although this is only a small survey, it does provide a very valuable insight into the realties of the care these women have received while pregnant. The RCM believes that maternity services should treat disabled women like every other woman, while ensuring that the care provided does not ignore or overreact to their specific wishes and aspirations.”

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

6 October 2016

ORI presentation at RCN Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing International Conference and Exhibition

conferences jbranney

RCN Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing International Conference and Exhibition, 8-9th September 2016, Cardiff

Nice poster, but can’t say the same thing for the poster board…

The theme for this conference was ‘Valuing the past, embracing the future‘ and it was great to be able to represent BU’s Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI) whose work is firmly on the ’embracing the future’ side of the theme. I was there to deliver a poster presentation entitled:

‘A review of the literature related to the role of nutritional supplementation for an enhanced recovery pathway for hip and knee replacement’

This was produced through work with Associate Professor Tom Wainwright (Deputy Head) and Professor Rob Middleton (Head) of ORI, and Dr Simon Dyall of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. There was good interest in the poster from orthopaedic nurses and fellow academics, and I had a great chat about nutrition with the one medical doctor in attendance – the first time I’ve heard of an orthogeriatrician!

Headline? At present, the evidence base does not support the use of nutritional supplementation in enhanced recovery after surgery pathways for hip/knee replacement. However, that’s not to say that nutrition does not play a role. More high quality research is required particularly to explore the role of zinc, vitamin D and omega fatty acids, and possibly other nutrients that have been overlooked too. If you’d like to find out more you can get a full size version of the poster here. Any comments on this most welcome.

For those interested in orthopaedics in general, the opening presentation included learning about Norman, aged 90, who can apparently lay claim to having had the longest lasting hip replacement. He had his first replacement in 1948 and it only needed revising this year! (if I remember correctly)! Far, far longer than most hip replacements last.

Norman, 90 years young, had first hip replacement in 1948!

Other presentations included work on fracture prevention (increasingly important for our aging and increasingly frail population), developing post-graduate education in orthopaedic nursing, recognition of delirium, and the latest on the timely identification of compartment syndrome (a life-threatening complication).

Having a couple of hours to spare before returning to Bournemouth I took a look at some of the beautiful architecture in Cardiff. It had the feeling of a city that values its past:

The clock tower of Cardiff Castle

but is also embracing the future…

Wales Millenium Centre

Many thanks to the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences for supporting my attendance.

5 October 2016

ESRC event Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults from Financial Scamming

Info Days swincewicz

Date: Wednesday 9th November 2016 10 – 3pm
Location: EB306, Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, Holdenhurst Road

The National Centre for Post-qualifying Social Work is pleased announce that it will be hosting a FREE event on safeguarding vulnerable adults from financial scamming as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science.

Financial scamming and mass marketing fraud (MMF) are growing aspects of financial crime, and those working to protect vulnerable adults needs to develop increased awareness and understanding of the challenges it poses. The Office of Fair Trading estimates that UK consumers lose about £3.5 billion to scams each year. These threats take on many forms, including doorstep scams, phone scams, postal scams and increasingly scams via the internet.
This ESRC Festival of Social Science event will showcase recent research and best practice responses dealing with the threat posed by financial scams. This event will bring together staff from key agencies and the public to explore research and best practice to tackle this issue.

Speakers

Dr Lee-Ann Fenge – Deputy Director and Dr Sally Lee – National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice: Protecting yourself from Financial Scams

BU Cyber Security Unit – Ransomware: a presentation from the Cyber Security Unit

Trading Standards fighting back against scams

Jackie White – Social Worker Dorset County Council: A social worker’s perspective

Dr Sally Lee – The new landscape of safeguarding adults and financial scamming

After lunch there will be an opportunity to work with others to explore new ways of working together to tackle financial scams and to explore and the ways in which agencies can develop strategies to support vulnerable adults who are at risk or are victims of financial scams.

Staff from the National Centre for Post-qualifying Social Work will also showcase the recently updated National Safeguarding Framework for Adults

Places are limited and can be booked by CLICKING HERE

CLICK HERE to see the flyer, feel free to print it out and share with your colleagues.

For further information on the event please contact

Dr Lee-Ann Fenge – Deputy Director NCPQSW

lfenge@bournemouth.ac.uk

Reference

Office of Fair Trading (2009) The psychology of Scams, Office of Fair Trading: London

29 September 2016

New inter-interdisciplinary media & health paper

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The week saw the publication of multi-disciplinary paper ‘Media, Health & Health Promotion in Nepal’, co-written by Faculty of Media & Communication academic Dr. Ann Luce, Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen and Bournemouth University (BU) Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (who is based at Liverpool John Moores University) [1]. The paper appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, an Open Access journal which is part of the Journals Online Project.

The paper paper ‘Media, Health & Health Promotion in Nepal’ offers insight into the media and health promotion in Nepal as well as advice to health promoters, health policy-makers and practitioners about collaborating with the media to get health messsage out to people across the country. The paper is freely available online, which was an important feature in our decision to publish in the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences as this reduced the cost barrier for underpaid health workers and underfunded project to accessing information. We have also written a short piece about the topic (and the paper) on the site: Media & Midwifery

BU has a long history of conducting health research in Nepal [see for example 2-9] and it has a growing number of publications in the inter-disciplianry field where health and media overlap [10-18].

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Luce, A., Hundley, V. (2016) Media, Health and Health Promotion in Nepal, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 70-75. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15799/12744
Milne, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Ireland, J. (2015) Staff perspectives of barriers to women accessing birthing services in Nepal: A qualitative study BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 15:142 biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/15/142
Acharya, J., van Teijlingen E., Murphy, J., Hind, M. (2015) Study of nutritional problems in preschool aged children in Kaski District in Nepal, Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Healthcare 1(2): 97-118. http://dspace.chitkara.edu.in/jspui/bitstream/1/560/1/12007_JMRH_Acharya.pdf
Subedi, Y.P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Where is Nepal in the Demographic Transition within the wider context of the Nutrition Transition? Open Journal of Social Sciences 4: 155-166. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2016052310320947.pdf
Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C. (2016) Birthing centres in Nepal: Recent developments, obstacles and opportunities, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1): 18-30. http://ecommons.aku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=jam
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Angell, C., Simkhada, P. (2016) Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 147 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0938-4
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144
Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen E., Simkhada, P., Porter, AM, Wasti, S.P. (2014) Why do costs act as a barrier in maternity care for some, but not all women? A qualitative study in rural Nepal, International Journal of Social Economics 41(8): 705-713.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, RS, Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/11375
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2012) Media use for Health Promotion: Communicating Childhood Immunisation Messages to Parents. Journal of Health Promotion 4(1): 1-9.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2013) Childhood Immunisation in Nepal: Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour & implications for Health Policy. Health Science Journal 7(4):370-383
Devkota, S., Maharjan, H.M., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Media and Health. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 169-184.
Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2012) Media use for Health Promotion: Communicating Childhood Immunisation Messages to Parents. Journal of Health Promotion 4(1): 1-9.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2013) Childhood Immunisation in Nepal: Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour & implications for Health Policy. Health Science Journal 7(4):370-383
Devkota, S., Maharjan, H.M., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Media and Health. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 169-184.
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 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A. and van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.

29 September 2016

BU academic presents at international lipid conference in South Africa

Fusion, Public engagement sdyall

Dr Simon Dyall has just returned from the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) 12^th congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 5 to 9^th 2016.

“I wish to express my gratitude to the Department of Human Sciences and Public Health for their support towards my attendance at the congress, and also to the Biochemical Society”.

I presented some of our work on essential fatty acid intake in extremely preterm infants and the interaction between omega-3 fatty acids and endocannabinoid signalling in neural stem cells. The work was extremely well received and I am in the process of following up some exciting new potential collaborations.

The ISSFAL congress is held every two years and is the preeminent scientific conference on fatty acids and lipids. It brings together a wide range of researchers, clinicians, nutritionists and representatives from industry. Of course a major part of conference attendance is the potential to network, and I was able to recruit a few of the speakers to present some lectures on our new MSc in Nutrition and Behaviour.

A major highlight for me was seeing Prof Michael Crawford from Imperial College London, receive the Alexander Leaf Award. Prof Crawford has been a true pioneer in the field of brain chemistry and human nutrition, and hearing him talk about his work is always a pleasure.

We are all now looking forward to the next ISSFAL congress in Las Vegas in 2018, where we are aiming for our PhD students to present their work!

If you are interested in finding out more about this research I will be talking about some of the work on nutrition for preterm infants at the Wellbeing Seminar on October 19th in R208 between 1.00 and 2.00 pm.

Or I can be contacted on sdyall@bournemouth.ac.uk

Oral presentation:

Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Extremely preterm infants receiving standard neonatal intensive care receive very low levels of AA and DHA

Poster presentations:

Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Blood AA and DHA levels correlate with markers of inflammation in extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Variability of breast milk AA and DHA content from mothers of extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Relationships between dietary intake and blood levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., Mandhair, H., Fincham, R., Kerr, D., Roche, M. and Molina-Holgado, F.: Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids increase levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachadonoylglycerol in neural stem cells

28 September 2016

13th Asian Confederation of Physical Therapists – Kuala Lumpur

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund cclark

Physical activity is one of the five priority interventions for the prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). NCDs include; cardio vascular diseases (strokes, dementia, heart disease), diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and some Cancers. NCDs account for almost two thirds of deaths globally and are major contributors to ill-health in the elderly. Physiotherapists are well placed to enable and empower people to initiate and sustain adequate levels of physical activity as they are aware of the challenges and opportunities throughout the life span. As an invited speaker this is one of the key messages that will be conveyed at the 13^th Asian Confederation of Physical Therapists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7^th-8^th October.

I will also have an opportunity to attend an academic conference at INTI International University aimed at strengthening ties between INTI and BU. Professor Narasimman Swaminathan (Deputy Dean – faculty of Health) and I will collaborate in a joint session for physiotherapy students to inspire their interest in public health initiatives. Professor Narasimman Swaminathan is a visiting professor in the FHSS at BU and is leading research initiatives at INTI which link closely to those in the Department of Human Sciences and Public Health at BU.

Fusion funding and HSS faculty conference funding has contributed to making this trip possible.

26 September 2016

New THET project paper published

international, open access, Publishing, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Today saw the latest publication on our BU-led THET in Nepal. The paper ‘Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey’ was published the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences [1]. This paper reports on a quantitative survey with nearly all Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi District in the southern part of Nepal. The findings illustrate the lack of training on mental health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth in this group of health workers. Thus the paper’s conclusions stress the need for dedicated training in this field.

This is the third publication linked to our mental health and maternity care project. In Nepal mental health is generally a difficult to topic to discuss. THET, a London-based organisation, funded Bournemouth University, and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and Tribhuvan University in Nepal to train maternity workers on issues around mental health. This latest paper and the previous two papers are all Open Access publications. The previous two papers raised the issue of women and suicide [2] and outlined the THET project in detail [3].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

Simkhada, B., Sharma, G., Pradhan, S., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. & the THET team. (2016) Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 20-26. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15793/12738
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Winter, R.C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., Marahatta S.B. (2015) Why are so many Nepali women killing themselves? A review of key issues Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 43-49. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/12001
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B., Fanning, P., Ireland, J., Simkhada, B., Sherchan, L., Silwal, R.C., Pradhan, S., Maharjan, S.K., Maharjan, R.K. (2015) Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(3): 499-501. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/13607/11007

23 September 2016

Congratulations to BU Visiting Faculty Dr. Sam Rowlands

Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Dr. Sam Rowlands, FHSS Visiting Faculty, has just published an interesting article on ‘On being an expert witness in sexual and reproductive health’. The paper will appear in the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care [1]. In this article Sam highlights that expert witnesses need to be able to apply appropriate legal tests to the evidence, to deal with the range of expert opinion on a matter, and explain clearly what constitutes an appropriate standard of care for a clinician in their discipline and specialty. They must be aware of pitfalls such as being sued for substandard work and being reported to their professional regulator for straying outside their area of expertise. Expert witnesses must be truly independent and ideally their reports should be the same whoever they receive their instructions from.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Rowlands, S. ‘On being an expert witness in sexual and reproductive health’. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care doi:10.1136/jfprhc-2015-101385 (forthcoming/online first)

23 September 2016

Fusion CCCP award into autism comes to a close

Festival of Learning, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Public engagement, Student Engagement, student research ngregory

Polly, Sarah, Jastine and Irma at the end of project dinner

A year ago, Dr Helen Bolderston and I began our Fusion CCCP award, examining visual and social processes in autism and borderline personality disorder. We quickly appointed two part-time RAs who were current MSc students on the Developmental and Clinical Neuropsychology programme. Due to their excellent skill sets, obtained during the undergraduate degrees at BU and whilst working as voluntary and summer RAs, Sarah Wellaway and Jastine Antolin were the obvious candidates. We were assisted by Level 5 Psychology undergraduates Pollyanna Sapsford, together with Irma Konovalova who joined us in the summer.

The first part of this project required us to write scripts for and film 32 short movies. More than twenty BU students were our actors and we had a couple of fun evenings in a dark and wet November filming these scenes in Poole House and the old Retreat (amidst the noise of angle grinders whirring as work on the new Fusion Building was underway!) It turned out that Polly was a superb Director, so I happily let her take charge of the filming, and what a great job she made of it!

Given autism was the topic of Sarah’s MSc dissertation, she took the lead in organising the administrative side of the project which involved recruiting volunteers with autism from the local area. We made some fantastic connections with local organisations including Dorset Adult Asperger’s Support Group, Autism Wessex and the Cambian Wing College, with Sarah playing a huge role in making that happen. Together with our connections with the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge and with Research Autism, we managed to recruit thirty participants with the condition (many of whom also took part in Sarah’s MSc experiment) and we are happy to report that almost all of them said they would love to come back and take part in future studies.

Polly and Irma’s final year dissertations are closely related to the Fusion project and will build on the insights they gained whilst working on this research over the last year.

Sarah, Jastine and I in a very hot and humid Barcelona!

The BPS Cognitive Section Conference: presenting our co-created and co-produced work

The autism branch of the study is almost complete and we hope to have the BPD side of the project wrapped up early in 2017. We presented our preliminary findings at the Festival of Learning this year and at the British Psychological Society Cognitive Section Annual Conference in Barcelona earlier this month. The Fusion award allowed not only me as presenter to attend the conference, but also Sarah and Jastine. It was a great way to end their time on the project as their contracts came to an end.

If anyone is in doubt about the benefits of involving students in their research, and in applying for Fusion funding, I can do no better than to let the students speak for themselves:

“My personal experience of being an RA for this project was invaluable. I have learnt a wealth of information and had first-hand experience in the organisation of a research project from beginning to end. The skills that I have acquired and developed during this time have been innumerable and I have also been given the opportunity to pass such skills to research apprentices. As part of this project I was also lucky enough to be able to attend the annual Cognitive Psychology Conference in Barcelona, which was not only an amazing experience but I also gained excellent tips from many professionals on delivering presentations as well as furthering my knowledge within fields that I had yet to learn about. And did I mention it was in BARCELONA!!” Sarah Wellaway

“It has been a huge privilege to be an RA and be part of a very motivated multidisciplinary team. This experience has expanded my knowledge and has provided me various research skills. It has also provided me opportunity to attend and take part in disseminating our research findings in a BPS conference abroad as well as exchanging ideas with academics who were experts in other psychological sub-fields. Overall, this experience has enabled me to attain personal and professional development, as it has increased my self-confidence and have provided me a set of abilities that will make me more employable in the future”. Jastine Antolin.

From my perspective as PI and an early career researcher, the last year has been incredible. We built a fantastic multidisciplinary team of academics, clinicians and students; we engaged external stakeholders like our participants with autism and the local support groups; we inspired a bunch of students by giving them invaluable experiences and skills for their future careers and on top of all that, conducted some cutting edge research in collaboration with one of the leading autism research centres in the world. It was hard work, but there is no doubt: it was certainly worth it!

Nicola Gregory, Lecturer in Psychology

20 September 2016

BU PGR Research into the effects of diet and exercise on mobility and brain function – Call for participants.

PG research, student research pfairbairn

bike-picture We are often reminded that we should be paying attention to what we eat and making sure we exercise regularly. These recommendations are based on years of research into how diet and exercise can impact our health and well-being throughout the lifespan. However, it’s rare that these two crucial elements are studied together.

Can combining different lifestyle interventions produce an even more profound effect than each individually?
Are people able to adapt to two changes in lifestyle?
Is one element of lifestyle modification better than the other?

We have designed a study that will hopefully give an insight into these questions by looking at the effects of a dietary supplement and exercise classes on a spinning bike in adults aged 60+. The supplement contains fish oil (1000 mg DHA, 160 mg EPA), 20 µg B12, 1 mg folic acid, 124 mg phosphatidylserine, 240 mg gingko biloba standardized leaf extract and 20 mg vitamin E.

We are seeking to recruit healthy adults aged 60+ to take part in the study. Volunteers will be split into four groups.

Supplement and exercise classes
Placebo and exercise classes
Supplement
Placebo

We will ask volunteers to take part in tests related to walking ability and brain function and a blood sample will also be required. These will be done at the beginning of the study and after 24 weeks.

All testing and the exercise classes will take part at SportBU at Bournemouth University Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB.

Inclusion criteria: Aged 60+ and able to walk 50 metres without a walking aid
Exclusion criteria: Vestibular impairments (balance disorder), diagnosed neurological disorder e.g. dementia or depression, previously received lower limb surgery, diagnosis or receiving treatment for pernicious anaemia, allergy to seafood, regular consumption of multivitamin/fish oil supplements in the last six months, have been advised not to take part in exercise by a doctor

Due to a number of advances in medicine and healthcare, life expectancy has steadily increased in the UK meaning we have an ever expanding population of people aged 60+. For this population it’s not just about living longer, it’s about living better for longer. This can mean being able to take part in leisure activities like sports, gardening or visiting friends right down to more vital activities like being able to climb stairs or rise from a chair. Mobility and brain function play a pivotal role in the quality of life of the older generation, yet it’s common to see declines in both of these areas as we get older.

I stumbled upon a website called Shoppok while browsing for a Honda 70 bike, and it offered a variety of listings. It’s always fascinating to discover new platforms where people can buy and sell items, including vehicles like motorcycles.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in taking part of would like more information about the study or our research please contact

Paul Fairbairn

PhD Student Bournemouth University

07871 319620

pfairbairn@bournemouth.ac.uk

20 September 2016

‘Tagging your identity’

Public engagement mobrien

Last week Ben Hicks and Shanti Shanker from BUDI and the Psychology Department hosted a series of Graffiti workshops for people with dementia and their care partners. The workshops were led by an experienced Graffiti Artist from Graff Inc. who worked with the participants to develop an individual ‘tag’ and piece of street art that represented their sense of identity.

The label of ‘dementia’ has the power to evoke fear and stigma and this can detrimentally impact on the identity of people living with the condition and those supporting them. The Graffiti workshops provided an empowering opportunity for people to express and reclaim a sense of ‘self’ as well as challenge negative preconceptions of Graffiti, such as who uses it and for what purpose. It shows that people with dementia still have a sense of identity that they can still identify with. The workshops were enjoyed by all those who attended.

The final pieces of street art that were created will be displayed at the Subway between ASDA and the Handelsbanken Building, below A35 (or St Paul’s Road), Bournemouth from 5th October. Please go and check them out!

20 September 2016

New paper Dr. Catherine Angell on CPD in Nepal

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Fusion, international, Knowledge Transfer, open access, Publishing, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Angell (FHSS) who just had her paper ‘Continual Professional Development (CPD): an opportunity to improve the Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal’ accepted in Health Prospect. The paper is co-authored with BU Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada both based at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Dr. Rose Khatri and Dr. Sean Mackay (also at LJMU), Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery and Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), and our colleagues in Dr. Sujan Marahatta and Associate Professor Chandra Kala Sharma. Ms. Chandra Kala Sharma is also the president of the Nepal Nursing Association (left in photo). Health Prospect is an Open Access journal, hence freely available to anybody in Nepal (and elsewhere in the world).

This paper is first of several based on a study aiming to improve CPD in Nepal and it is partly funded by LJMU and partly funded by BU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL). The CEL-funded part of the project centres on focus group research with representatives of the Ministry of Health & Population, the Ministry of Education, the Nepal Nursing Association and the Nursing Council, and Higher Education providers of Nurse Education (both form Government-run universities and private colleges). The focus group schedule will include starter questions to initiate discussions around the kind of CPD nurses in Nepal need, its format, preferred models, the required quality and quantity, and ways of checking up (quality control). In addition we will be asking a subgroup of nurses registered in Nepal about midwifery skills as midwifery is not recognised as a separate profession from nursing in Nepal. Hence there will be three focus groups specifically about midwifery CPD: one at MIDSON (the Midwifery Organisation of Nepal), one with nurses providing maternity care in private hospitals and one with nurses doing this in government hospitals.

The research is a natural FUSION project in the field of nursing & midwifery as it links Research in the field of Education to help improve Practice in Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

(CPD): an opportunity to improve the Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal, Health Prospect (Accepted)

19 September 2016

New paper on Nepalese migrant workers

international pregmi

Approximately 3.5 million young Nepalese are working abroad. Unskilled construction jobs including labourer, scaffolder, plumber and carpenter are the most common jobs. Every year there are more than 1000 deaths and many hundreds cases of injuries among Nepalese workers in these countries excluding India. For example, the Foreign Employment Promotion Board of Nepal recently reported that 1002 Nepalese migrant workers died in the 6 GCC countries and Malaysia in the last Nepalese calendar year, of which 357 (36%) were documented as cardiac related. However, in a quarter of deaths, the cause was unknown. Postmortem examination of migrant workers in many destination countries is not carried out and official records of the destination countries tend to record these deaths as being ‘from natural causes’. Information on underlying causes, such as heat stress on construction sites, is often not available.

The paper [1] which was recently published in SAGE’s Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health Journal, is jointly contributed by researchers based in New Zealand, Nepal, and FHSS’s Professor Edwin van Teijlingen and Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Dr Pramod Regmi, Dr Pratik Adhikary (BU’s ex PhD student) and FHSS’s visiting Professor Padam Simkhada. The authors argue that despite the contribution made by migrant workers to the economic prosperity of the host countries, they often face many major difficulties accessing effective health care and are perceived as a burden on the local health care system. Therefore, greater efforts are needed to protect the health and well-being of migrant workers from Nepal and other South-Asian nations.

BU staffs and students can freely access this paper by visiting this link.

Aryal, N., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, Y. and Mann, S., 2016. Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health. DOI: 10.1177/1010539516668628

Congratulations to the all authors for bringing up this important public health issue.

Pramod Regmi

BU Research Blog

Category / Health, Wellbeing & Society

Research examining the effect of complications and errors on surgeons

Czech midwifery lecturer on EU-funded visit to CMMPH

Collaborative research at BU identifies current feeding practices of extremely preterm infants puts them at risk of deficiencies of key brain building nutrients

CMMPH disability & childbirth research

ORI presentation at RCN Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing International Conference and Exhibition

RCN Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing International Conference and Exhibition, 8-9th September 2016, Cardiff

BU academic presents at international lipid conference in South Africa

13th Asian Confederation of Physical Therapists – Kuala Lumpur

Fusion CCCP award into autism comes to a close

BU PGR Research into the effects of diet and exercise on mobility and brain function – Call for participants.

Paul Fairbairn

‘Tagging your identity’

New paper Dr. Catherine Angell on CPD in Nepal

New paper on Nepalese migrant workers

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RCN Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing International Conference and Exhibition, 8-9th September 2016, Cardiff

Date: Wednesday 9th November 2016 10 – 3pm Location: EB306, Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, Holdenhurst Road

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Paul Fairbairn

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Date: Wednesday 9th November 2016 10 – 3pm
Location: EB306, Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, Holdenhurst Road