Category / Research themes

New paper by BU’s Lecturer in International Health

international, open access, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Pramod Regmi on the publication of his latest article ‘Local elections and community health care in Nepal’.[1]  Pramod is our newly appointed Lecturer in International Health, who started this post exactly a month ago.  The editorial, co-authored with BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (based at Liverpool John Moores University), Nirmal Aryal (based at the University of Otago, New Zealand) and CMMPH’s Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, highlights the important link between local democracy and health in Nepal.

The paper argues that elected local governments are critical for public accountability on the operationalization of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) at local level.  Furthermore, having elected leaders in communities after such a long gap will certainly give Nepalese people rights and hopefully improve provision and access to health care services they are entitled to. Thus the role of civil society, community-based non-governmental organisation, development partners and the mass-media is critical in both advocacy for, and the effective monitoring and implementation of, local activities.

The paper appeared today in Health Prospect an Open Access journal published in English in Nepal as part of the Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) service .

 

Reference

  1. Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Aryal, N. (2017) Local elections and community health care in Nepal, Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health, 16(2):1-2.

ESRC: Miracles in the mundane: hitchhiking and micro-adventures

As as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2017, organised by Bournemouth University, I ran an event about hitchhiking and micro-adventures. You may wonder, when did the practice of hitchhiking need to be thought through social science. By inviting six speakers (hitchhikers and social scientists) to Bournemouth University, we spent 3 hours thinking with and through hitchhiking and micro adventures to explore the modern experiences of passengering, ethical encounters, trust, the cost of speed and acceleration, driverless cars, social entrepreneurship, self-sufficiency, automobility and infrastructure. Other Topics Included –

  • Hitchhiking and the nature of being a passenger (agency, performances and resistance to standardized categories);
  • Contrasted affects, bodies and emotions of being on the road;
  • Role of media and social media in accessibility, inclusion, and diversity of micro adventures;
  • Systems, technologies and practices linked to friction/ frictionless travel;
  • The move back towards so-called ‘active’ and human powered mobility cultures that gives value to turbulence, friction, risk and the social exchange they engender;
  • The future of hitchhiking.
  • The role of gender, race, class, age and sexuality and other social and intersectional relationships of domination at play;
  • Understanding and potentially overcoming physical, mental, emotional barriers to microadventures;
  • Hitchhiking as Sustainable, Subversive Mobilities, Slow Mobilities;

Poster for the Event

The speakers
– Antonin Borgnon, an hitchhiker and photographer spoke about his project “Art of Hitchhiking.”
– Anick-Marie Bouchard is a travel blogger specialized in Hitchhiking, Female Solo Travel, and spoke about putting adventure back into ones life, even without having to travel far.
– Patrick Laviolette, PhD spoke about the recurrent material and bodily techniques employed in hitching a lift. He’s presentation also touched on certain cross-cultural points of comparison between the decline of hitching in the West versus its persistence in Eastern Europe.
– Max Neumegen spoke about his life of travel, and what travel and adventure means to him.
– Ali Hussain spoke about his experiences as a non-white hitchhiker and solo male across different regions, Ali spoke about his  relationship with money in a money-centric culture and hitchhiking as a values-oriented practice rather than as a means to an end.
– Dego from Glasgow, who has been hitchhiking for 30 years, spoke about hitchhiking as central to his lifestyle and work.

Ali Hussain presenting.

 
Some signs from the event” Miracles in the Mundane: hitchhiking and micro-adventures” held last  Saturday,

This event was FREE to attend, and was superbly supported by Natt & Devon at the University. The event was attended by approx. 20 people and was shown LIVE on twitter and Facebook. The experience of been part of the ESRC festival of Social Science was a very positive one.  It has provided a public engagement opportunity, helped me engage with new research partners, and provided more inside into an under researched phenomenon. It has also led to discussions about organizing an event with similar topic areas in 2018.

 

Organizer Michael O’Regan, Faculty of Management

 

For further information please contact FestivalofSocialScience@bournemouth.ac.uk or please visit the event website at nomadx.org

The slow process from public health research to law

international, Publishing, writing

We know that public health works and thinks long-term. We’ll typically see the population benefits of reducing health risks such as tobacco use, obesity and high alcohol intake in ten or twenty years’ time.  But we often forget that preceding public health research into the determinants of ill health and the possible public health solutions is also slow working.  Evidence-based public health solutions can be unpopular with voters, politicians or commercial companies (or all).  Hence these take time to get accepted by the various stakeholders and make their way into policies.

I was, therefore, glad to see that Scotland won the Supreme Court case today in favour of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. As we know from the media, the court case took five years.  Before that the preparation and drafting of the legislation took years, and some of the original research took place long before that.  Together with colleagues at the Health Economic Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen, the University of York and Health Education Board for Scotland, we conducted a literature review on Effective & Cost-Effective Measures to Reduce Alcohol Misuse in Scotland as early as 2001 [1].  Some of the initial research was so long ago it was conducted for the Scottish Executive, before it was even renamed the Scottish Government.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

Research started years ago! Ludbrook et al.(2002) Effective & Cost-Effective Measures to Reduce Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: Lit Review, HERU, Univ. of Aberdeen. [ISBN: 0755932803] http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/1124/0052548.pdf

The Research Photography Competition returns for 2018 and is now open for entries

Christopher Dwen, Forensic Research Assistant, Faculty of Science & TechnologyWe are delighted to announce that the Research Photography Competition has returned for its fourth year and is now open for entries!

The last few years have seen our staff and students submitting a wide range of images summing up their research (last year’s entries can be seen here).  Our winners from last year included the compound eye of a bluebottle fly, an older man dressed as Santa Claus, and several hands repairing a broken plate with the word ‘Trust’ marked across it.

Photography is a great way to capture and share a different side of your research with other staff, students and members of the public.  Nearly 100 images have been entered over the last few years, and we’re looking forward to seeing what this year’s competition brings.

Want to take part?

Whether you’re in the early stages of your research or it has come to the end, we are inviting all academics and student researchers from across the university to showcase your research through an image relating to this year’s competition theme ‘People‘.  This could include:

  • An image relating to people in your team,
  • People who might be impacted by or benefit from your research,
  • People you’ve met in the course of your research,
  • Or even from your own point of view.

Whatever your idea is, we want you to get involved and get creative!

Taking part in the competition is a great way to showcase and raise awareness of your research, as well as growing your academic profile both in and outside the university.  You will also be in with a chance of winning some Amazon vouchers!

How do I enter?

Step 1: Take your photo.

It’s easy! Grab a camera and take a picture connecting with the theme ‘People‘. Interpret it in any way you see fit to capture any area of your research. 

Each image will need to be 300pi (pixels per inch) with physical dimensions equivalent to an A3 size piece of paper (297 x 420 mm or 11.7 x 16.5 in).  Images smaller than this tend not to have a high print quality.

Step 2: Submit the photo!

You may enter only one photo per person. Once you have the perfect image, all you have to do is submit it by emailing the Research account (research@bournemouth.ac.uk) before the deadline, along with a 100 – 200 word description of your research behind the image.

Submission details

The submission deadline is 12 Januray 2018 at 5pm. Late entries will not be accepted. 

Staff, students and the general public will then be able to vote for their favourite image.

The competition winners will be presented with a prize by Professor John Fletcher in the Atrium Art Gallery, in March 2018. All photographs will be presented in the Atrium Art Gallery for two weeks in March so you’ll get a chance to see all the entries.

Please read through the Terms & Conditions before entering.

Chantel Cox, PhD Student, Faculty of Health and Social SciencesNeed inspiration?

Take a look at our Photo of the Week, where you can read about the research behind the images from previous entries. 

Should you have any queries about the competition then please contact Sacha Gardener, Student Engagement & Communications Coordinator, in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office.

Upcoming conference: Rethinking the Business to Business (B2B) label

Business Engagement, conferences, Research themes

B2B marketing is an important sector in social sciences and relevant to many academics and practitioners. The B2B label has become out-dated; lacks focus, clarity and accuracy as a descriptive classification; and fails to inspire interest and enthusiasm. This event calls on marketers to rethink the B2B label by engaging relevant stakeholders: researchers, practitioners and educators, in an in-depth conversation on what B2B means today.

4th B2B colloquium – welcome talk by Dr Kaouther Kooli

Led by Dr Kaouther Kooli academics from the Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management (BU) and Professor Merlin Stone from St Mary’s University are co-organising a conference aimed at rethinking the Business to Business label. This event calls on marketers to rethink the B2B label by engaging relevant stakeholders: researchers, practitioners and educators, in an in-depth conversation on what B2B means today.

4th B2B colloquium – parallel session

The conference is taking place on 18thDecember 2017 at St Mary’s University Twickenham. The half day event will engage the B2B community (researchers, practitioners and educators) in an in-depth conversation on B2B marketing with the aim to define what B2B is and exchange new ideas about how to advance academic and practitioner thinking in this area.

Guest speakers include Professor Merlin Stone, Professor Len Tiu Wright (University of Huddersfield) and a senior B2B practitioner.

Round tables will be facilitated by Dr Kaouther Kooli, Dr Julie Robson and Dr Elvira Bolat, all of Bournemouth University and specialists in B2B marketing. A detailed programme can be downloaded in here.

Attendance is free. We are welcoming all academics, PhD candidates, UG and PG students as well as practitioners.

If you wish to attend, please confirm your attendance via email at merlin.stone@stmarys.ac.uk

Location: St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London. For instructions about getting to St Mary’s, see https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/contact/directions.aspx.

In that past three years, the B2B SIG (Academy of Marketing) has published two special issues in Journal of Customer Behaviour and Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, featuring academic and practitioners’ research. At the moment Dr Kaouther Kooli is preparing new special issue for the Journal of Business to Business Marketing. If you wish to benefit from such amazing publishing and networking opportunities, do become a member of the SIG by emailing at kkooli@bournemouth.ac.uk or ebolat@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Professor Julie Turner-Cobb wins the British Psychological Society Book Award!

The textbook winner for the British Psychological Society Book Award 2017 is Child Health Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Perspective by Professor Julie Turner-Cobb. It is the first textbook to focus specifically on child health psychology, taking an interdisciplinary and life-course perspective and drawing on theories and models within.

The Society’s Book Award recognises excellent published work in psychology. Professor Julie Turner-Cobb said she was absolutely delighted to win the award and thrilled that her book has received great recognition and positive reception as a result. She was first nominated for the award by one of her PhD students based at the University of Bath: “They are a big supporter of the book and were inspired to do their PhD as a result of an issue raised in the chapter that addresses the experience of being a young carer. It was a nice surprise and a huge compliment to be nominated.”

Child Health Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Perspective is primarily targeted at postgraduate students on MSc Health Psychology programmes but is also relevant to students taking final year undergraduate units in health psychology and related areas. Beyond this, the textbook is also relevant across a number of health disciplines outside of psychology where a biopsychosocial perspective on child health is being considered.

“There was no textbook devoted to health psychology as applied to children. I wanted to bring it together to highlight it and provide a child health focus for health psychology as a discipline.”

The first part of the book covers topics related to events and circumstances that can influence a child’s health during childhood and adolescence including the prenatal environment; whilst the second part examines how children cope when they are ill, how they deal with pain, the experience of parental ill health and bereavement.

“It takes a strong biological stance in many respects, but also gives attention to psychosocial issues in relation to context and individual differences,” Professor Turner-Cobb said, “There is also a chapter in the first part of the book that examines methodological and ethical issues in child health psychology, that includes assessment using endocrine and immune biomarkers of stress but also discusses the utility of using a range of different paradigms and settings.”

Professor Turner-Cobb was inspired to write Child Health Psychology as she wanted to draw attention to the scope of work on psychological factors associated with child health. “There are a number of excellent textbooks on health psychology that have aspects covering child health and there are many textbooks devoted to developmental psychology, but there was no textbook devoted to health psychology as applied to children. I wanted to bring it together to highlight it and provide a child health focus for health psychology as a discipline.”

For more information about the book, please email Professor Julie Turner-Cobb (jturnercobb@bournemouth.ac.uk).

 

BU welcomes the ERASMUS+ Research Team

On the 25th-27th October 2017, Dr Ben Hicks (Psychology and ADRC) and Professor Wen Tang (Department of Creative Technology) welcomed the ERASMUS+ project team to Bournemouth University. The team consisted of practitioners based at Alzheimer’s Valencia, Alzheimer’s Greece, Alzheimer’s Slovenia, Alzheimer’s Romania and IBV. Since October 2016, thanks to funding from the European Commission, the team has been developing an e-training platform to promote the use of Serious Games with people with dementia. This meeting-the third since the project began- enabled the research team to present the work they had been undertaking within their associated countries and discuss the next stages of the project. This included:

  • Selecting and evaluating a range of Serious Games with people with dementia and their care partners;
  • Creating guidance information on using the Serious Games; and
  • Developing training materials for health practitioners wishing to use the e-training platform

The e-training platform is beginning to take shape, although the training materials are not yet publically available. If you would like to access the web platform it can be found at: http://adgaming.ibv.org/

Although the meetings were long (and the discussions incredibly fruitful), the research team still had time to visit BU facilities and live the student experience for a day. This included having lunch within the Fusion Building canteen, undertaking Virtual Reality Navigational testing within the Psychology labs and buying two-for-one pints in Dylans at the end of the day!

The next project meeting will take place in Bucharest, Romania, in February 2018, where plans to disseminate and evaluate the training delivered to health practitioners will be discussed.

Welcoming the research team

The meetings begin

Experiencing student life at Dylans

Tags:

Natalia Adamczewska joins the HEIF-6 Virtual Learning Environment project

Awarded & submitted bids, HEIF

Recently, I was fortune enough to become the Research Assistant on the HEIF-6 project run by Dr Ben Hicks. This is a one year project that aims to develop and evaluate a free Virtual Learning Environment tool that will support practitioners and care home staff wishing to use commercial gaming technology (iPads, Nintendo Wii) with people with dementia and their care partners. We have a number of experts involved in the research, such as Dr Samuel Nyman from Psychology Department and ADRC, Professor Wen Tang from Department of Creative Technology, Dr Sarah Thomas who is Deputy Director BUCRU and Dr Clare Cutler who is Research Skills and Development Officer. We also collaborate with Alive! who are a charity dedicated to improving the lives of older people and people with dementia through delivering innovative activities (e.g. the use of technology) and training dementia care practitioners. They work with 350 Care Homes and Day Centers across the South West of England and we are lucky to have Malcolm Burgin onboard who as the Regional Manager of Alive!.

 

Being part of such a research team, and having the chance to contribute to the HEIF-6 project is a great privilege and will certainly be beneficial as I begin my journey as an early career researcher.

If you would like further information on the project, please feel free to email Ben on bhicks@Bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Spheroid of Performance, Algorithm and Speculative Nature in Spatial Texture

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Title: Spheroid of Performance, Algorithm and Speculative Nature in Spatial Texture

Speaker: Dr Erik Nyström

Composer and Performer

Leverhulme Research Fellow at The University of Birmingham

 

Date: Wednesday 15th November 2017

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Room: Lawrence LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract

 

This session uses the author’s live computer music work Spheroid as point of departure for discussing an approach to electronic music practice based on real-time composition/performance of spatial texture interior, also branching out into related topics of synthesis, spatiality and ontology of sound.

Presenting research undertaken as part of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at University of Birmingham, the lecture engages in both practical and conceptual reflection on how an ostensibly acousmatic sonic terrain responds to the composition of potential rather than fixed morphology, describing a step towards a practice which attempts at achieving the richness and complexity of studio-composed multichannel music in a format that is entirely real-time and not reliant on absolute structure. This reflects a central aesthetic and conceptual emphasis on music as a process of becoming, where notions of composer, performer, material, structure, are all considered part of a synthesis which has no independent elements. The ‘spheroid’, described both as an irregularly revolving algorithm for textural growth, embedding and responding to performance, and as the physical and virtual sphere of interaction between human, nature and technology, also invites some interdisciplinary modes of thinking concerning the ‘human’ in the music of our age.

 

Biography

 

Erik Nyström is a composer and performer whose output includes live computer music, electroacoustic works, and sound installations. He is currently a Leverhulme Research Fellow at Birmingham Electro-Acoustic Sound Theatre, University of Birmingham, UK, developing new aesthetic and technological approaches for spatial texture synthesis in composition and performance. His studies include a PhD in electroacoustic composition with Denis Smalley at City University, London, and computer music at CCMIX, Paris. He performs frequently worldwide and his music has been released by empreintes DIGITALes.

 

We hope to see you there.

REMINDER – Cross-Research Council Mental Health Network Plus call Meeting

Funding opportunities, Guidance

Just a quick reminders…

We will be holding a networking event for BU academics who are interested in the Cross-Research Council Mental Health Network Plus call on 1st November 09:30-11:30 in PG140. It will be a chance to get like-minded people in one space to identify possible collaborations and differences.

No preparation is necessary for the meeting; however we would ask you to read the call guidance see here.

Refreshment will be provided, if you would like attend please contact Alexandra Pekalski or Lisa Gale Andrews.