Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
This week Research.com, a prominent academic platform, published its 2022 Edition of the Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the area of Social Sciences and Humanities. Professor Edwin van Teijlingen, in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), is listed as number 234 in United Kingdom ranking as well as number 1238 in the Social Sciences and Humanities world ranking.
Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen just completed their ERASMUS Plus exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Nepal. This was a very successful collaboration with colleagues in Nepal, despite the various turns of fate that were sent to challenge us. Indeed, the Profs toiled with the idea of giving this BU Research Blog the heading ‘The show must go on’ or ‘One man down….’ or even the far less punchy ‘The irony of doing a workshop by ZOOM in Nepal from a hotel 200 meters across the road’! In the end we decided that excellent collaboration requires resilience and a wee bit of ingenuity.
The trip to Nepal was marred by many little hiccups. It started at Heathrow where the airline insisted that they complete a now obsolete form about COVID-19 for the Government of Nepal, otherwise they would not let us on the flight. Arguing that Edwin had been to Nepal in April, and that no one then had asked for that particular piece of paper was fruitless. A quick online completion solved that first hurdle. The next hurdle was the flight leaving Heathrow over two hours late, which in turn meant missing the connection in Doha. Fortunately, the airline booked our academics on a replacement flight which left only hours after the original onwards flight had been scheduled to leave for Kathmandu. ingenuity. The trip to Nepal was marred by many little hiccups. It started at Heathrow where the airline insisted that they complete a now obsolete form about COVID-19 for the Government of Nepal, otherwise they would not let us on the flight. Arguing that Edwin had been to Nepal in April, and that no one then had asked for that particular piece of paper was fruitless. A quick online completion solved that first hurdle. The next hurdle was the flight leaving Heathrow over two hours late, which in turn meant missing the connection in Doha. Fortunately, the airline booked our academics on a replacement flight which left only hours after the original onwards flight had been scheduled to leave for Kathmandu.
The first five days in Kathmandu went well, apart from the to be expected tummy problems that go with monsoon in all low-income countries in South Asia. The teaching at MMIHS mainly focused on methodological issues. Our scheduled teaching sessions focused on the first-year MSc Nursing students (Vanora) and the first-year MSc Public Health students at MMIHS (Edwin).
A more informal one-hour tutorial session was organised for the second-year MSc Public Health students who had applied to come to the UK as part of ERASMUS Plus. This question-and-answer-type session was run by both Vanora and Edwin as well as BU PhD student Sulochana Dhakal-Rai. Overall, the teaching was all organised at very short notice, but BU’s professors are flexible and had a broad range of expertise to share.
In addition, with extra funding from GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund), Bournemouth University and MMIHS supported by the local charity Green Tara Nepal planned ran a one-day research workshop in Kathmandu. This GCRF- funded ‘Systematic Review on Dementia Research Workshop’ was very well attended. Although the workshop budgeted for 30 people the attendance register shows that nearly double (n=59) the number of people attended at least part of the workshop. However, running the workshop was not without is problems. Two-days before the workshop Prof. van Teijlingen first had a positive COVID-19 lateral flow test followed by a positive PCR test. This put the burden of running the show very much on Prof. Vanora Hundley with Edwin being called in through Zoom. This is where the potential ‘irony’ title comes in. The irony of doing a workshop by ZOOM in Nepal ….. not from halfway across the globe but from a local hotel 200 meters across the road from MMIHS! The hotel’s internet connection was not as good as most of us have grown used to in Dorset, which added to the difficulty of running the workshop smoothly.
Despite all these challenges, the result was a very successful workshop that will continue to build our collaboration with colleagues in MMIHS and more widely across Nepal.
Finally, to end the story of hiccups, MMIHS forgot to inform the hotel that Edwin would be staying four extra nights. On the day he was originally scheduled to leave Nepal he received a phone call from reception asking what time he was checking out. When he said he thought extra nights had been booked for him, there was no reply. A little later he was told he could get another night, but he would have to move to another floor, and it would be for one night only, since all 91 room of the hotel were booked for the weekend for a big Asian wedding party. Luckily MMIHS found him another hotel a bit more outside the city centre for the remaining three nights.
We are incredibly grateful for the support of colleagues and friends in Nepal and at home in the UK, which helped smooth out some of the more interesting challenges.
Lessons learnt:
· Be ready to change and adapt to the needs of the situation.
· Strong relationships will help you deal with the unexpected.
· Keep positive when things get tough.
In the words of Steve Maraboli “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”
Last Sunday (29th May) Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) run a hugely successful introduction to research workshop in Kathmandu. Their Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funded the Systematic Review on Dementia Research Workshop on Sunday, which was very well attended. They expected (and had budgeted for) 30 people to attend and in the end the audience was closer 50 people
.
The event was organised by our colleagues at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu and it was supported by the charity Green Tara Nepal. Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen are currently in Nepal as part of the BU-MMIHS ERASMUS+ exchange and added this one-day workshop to their schedule. The audience included Master students in Nursing and Public Health, MMIHS lecturers and post-doctoral researchers. This capacity-building workshop offered an introduction to all aspects of a systematic review, from formulating the systematic review research question at the start to the publication of a systematic review paper. The workshop also benefited from a short presentation by CMMPH PhD student Mrs. Sulochana Dhakal-Rai who also happened to be in Nepal as part of the BU-MMIHS student-exchange.
The planning nearly went wrong as two days before the workshop Prof. van Teijlingen tested positive for COVID-19 on a lateral flow test which was later confirmed by a PCR test. The fact that the event went ahead despite my quarantine in a nearby hotel room was only possible because of Prof. Vanora Hundley hard work on the day. Vanora led the workshop on the whole day whilst Edwin appeared in several sessions via ZOOM. Ironically, sitting only 200 meters away from the university venue in his hotel room. The connection was not always great, it broke up several times during the day, but it worked well enough. The MMIHS colleagues were very thoughtful when it came to the group photo at the end as they included the laptop with his ‘live’ presence on Zoom.
Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Arnold in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication today of her paper ‘Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service‘ [1]. This methodological paper is co-authored with Dr. Clare Gordon who holds a has joint clinical academic post at UCLan and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with a focus on developing clinically focused stroke research, education and improvement. 
Clare is also a former BU Ph.D. student. Further co-authors from CMMPH are Professors Sue Way and Edwin van Teijlingen. The final co-author, Dr. Preeti Mahato, finished her post in CMMPH two days ago to start her Lectureship in Global Health at Royal Holloway (part of the University of London).
The paper highlights that selecting the most appropriate research method is an important decision in any study. It affects the type of study questions that can be answered. In addition, the research method will have an impact on the participants – how much of their time it takes, whether the questions seem important to them and whether there is any benefit in taking part. This is especially important when conducting research with staff in health services. This article is a reflection on the process of using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in a study that explored staff well-being in a UK maternity unit. The authors discuss our experience of using AI,the strengths and limitations of this approach, and conclude with points to consider if you are thinking about using AI. Although a study team was actively involved in decisions, this paper is largely based on reflections by dr. Arnold, the researcher conducting the field work in the maternity services.
Reference:
How can we create evidence-based social media posts to better reach our audiences? What skills and tools do we need to tell informative stories?
Free Online Workshop
10th June 2022
10:30-12:30 BST
register: http://bit.ly/healthysocials
Creating social media posts that aim to build health or information literacy is challenging. It is one thing to get likes on a video of a cute dog dancing or beautiful hand-crafted artwork, it is another to develop reflective, empathetic understanding of complex phenomena in a bite-sized image or video.
To help guide you through the process, this workshop will introduce you to Professor Feigenbaum’s Pick N Mix strategy for social media storytelling. The Pick N Mix method is based on research findings from the UKRI/AHRC COVID-19 Rapid Response project that investigated the role of webcomics in public health messaging on social media during the first year of the pandemic. Our findings are further supported by contemporary research from the fields of media and communication studies, psychology and graphic medicine.
The strategies we introduce come from a variety of narrative communication techniques that have been shown to increase information retention, comprehension, relatability and empathy. Professor Feigenbaum has transformed these into easy-to-follow best practices that can be mixed with trending techniques and styles of social media storytelling to increase the reach and engagement of evidence-based content.
While there are hundreds of blogs and tutorial videos online that offer up advice on improving social media storytelling, reaching new audiences and increasing engagement with followers, many of these are focused on how to gain viewers on your instagram story. But if your goal is to build health and information literacy on social media, you need to go beyond traditional social media sales models to explore the unique needs of evidence-based communication. The tailored advice offered in this workshop is crucial when your aim is to increase health and information literacy or promote evidence-based behavioural change.
This month CMMPH has two new research papers focusing on COVID-19. The first one published in World Medical & Health Policy reports on a quantitative study of the availability of hand-washing facilities in households across Nepal [1]. This study used secondary data from Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 to assess the association between households’ wealth status to handwashing stations. The findings reported a statistically significant association between age of the household head, residence place, ecological zone, province, wealth status, having of mosquito net, having a radio, and TV at respondents’ household to fixed hand-washing stations at their households.
The second paper published three days ago in Vaccines is a qualitative study of of interviews with Nepali immigrants living in the UK and their attitudes towards COVD-19 vaccination [2]. Vaccination saves lives and can be an effective strategy for preventing the spread of the COVID-19, but negative attitudes towards vaccines lead to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Nepali community in the UK. This study found that attitudes towards COVID-19 are generally positive. Nine overlapping themes around barriers to COVID-19 vaccination were identified: (a) rumours and mis/disinformation; (b) prefer home remedies and yoga; (c) religion restriction; (d) concern towards vaccine eligibility; (e) difficulty with online vaccine booking system; (f) doubts of vaccine effectiveness after changing the second dose timeline; (g) lack of confidence in the vaccine; (h) past bad experience with the influenza vaccine; and (i) worried about side-effects. Understanding barriers to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine can help in the design of better targeted interventions. Public health messages including favourable policy should be tailored to address those barriers and make this vaccination programme more viable and acceptable to the ethnic minority communities in the UK. This Vaccine paper includes two FHSS Visiting Faculty as co-authors: Prof. Padam Simkhada and Dr. Bibha Simkhada.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
References:
Welcome to The Friday Prof-ile – a chance to get to know some of our recently appointed Professors and Associate Professors a little better. Every Friday, we’ll be asking a different person the same set of questions to get an insight into their life, work and what makes them tick.
John McAlaney
This week, we’re chatting with Professor in Psychology, John McAlaney…
What are your research interests? What made you want to study these areas?
My research looks at how and why people choose to engage in risky behaviours, with a focus on how this is influenced by social processes. As part of this I do work on a range of topics including hacking, digital addiction, fake news and online gambling.
More broadly I am interested in how to challenge misperceptions that people have about those around them.
Often as humans we assume that our peers behave and think is much more negative way than is actually the case. By documenting these misperceptions and presenting them back to a target population you empower people to make informed decisions, which is known as the social norms approach.
I am drawn to this approach because, unlike some other behaviour change approaches, it does not dictate to people how they should behave.
What has been your career highlight to date?
Being invited to 10 Downing Street in 2012 to talk about how we can use technology to implement the social norms approach and to counter harmful stereotypes about young people.
What are you working on at the moment?
The biggest project I am involved in at the moment is a GambleAware funded project on behaviour change and transparency in online gambling. As part of this work I have recently been the academic lead on BU’s successful application to be included on the Gambling Commission’s Research, Education and Treatment (RET) list. We are the first university in the UK to be included on this list, and only the second in the world. Our inclusion on this list opens up many opportunities for us to continue research into ways to address the harms caused by problematic gambling.
I am also working on several projects relating to cybersecurity. This work is the basis of my ongoing participant as an academic expert in the UN Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes.
If you weren’t an academic, what would you be doing?
I’ve always been interested in architecture, although I have terrible design skills. If that didn’t work out for me then I’d probably become a dog walker.
What do you do to unwind?
Reading is something I find very relaxing – I would like to claim that I only reads the classics, but usually the more stressful a day I have the trashier my choice of book.
What’s the best thing about Bournemouth?
I’m lucky to live within walking distance of the beach, which is great. I think I would struggle to live anywhere other than the coast now. Being from Scotland I still find the weather of the south coast to be a nice change.
If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?
As someone who loves going to new places but dislikes the act of travel I would definitely choose teleportation.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what one luxury item would you take with you?
It would have to be my Kindle. I could happily pass the years by sitting, reading under a palm tree.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Very few things in life actually matter that much. That probably sounds quite nihilistic, but it an idea I increasingly embrace as I get older. Most of the dramas we have in our lives are things we won’t even remember in 10 years. Sometimes you are ahead, sometimes you are behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Also, wear sunscreen.
On 27 April staff and students from across BU came together in the new Bournemouth Gateway Building to share research and ideas on the topic of sexual violence. The event was organised by Jane Healy, a criminologist in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work in FHSS, in collaboration with Jamie Fletcher from Law, FMC, and Kari Davies from Psychology, FST. The combination of social sciences, social work, psychology and law created a dynamic and exciting environment as students from all four disciplines were exposed to intriguing and engaging presentations on this broad topic.
From Law, second year student Teodora Nizirova, alongside lecturers Jamie Fletcher and Karolina Szopa, presented a fascinating paper on the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which at present distinguishes rape (as penile penetration) from sexual assault (which includes penetration from other sources). They proposed a gender-neutral definition of rape as an alternative to the current non-penile sexual assault charge, as a method of recognising the extent of the harm caused to those individuals who identify as non-binary or who are not in heteronormative relationships. Their presentation sparked a flourish of comments and debate from students and staff in attendance, and more about their proposal can be read here
Jamie followed up by leading a discussion on R v Lawrence [2020] EWCA Crim 971, a recent case in the Court of Appeal, which held that lying about having a vasectomy did not negate consent in sexual intercourse, something which again produced much thought and debate from those in attendance.
Not to be outdone by the stimulating presentations from our Law Department, Psychology colleagues were quick to showcase the breadth of research they are currently undertaking on sexual violence. This included papers from Rachel Skinner, Psychology lecturer, on the relationships between rape myths and sexism/misogyny and an appeal from Rachel for those interested in this topic to collaborate with her on future work. Two online papers swiftly followed: Ioana Crivatu, postdoctoral research assistant, presented on her qualitative study on group participation in sexual offences, and Ellie Reid, research assistant, shared findings on consistency and coincidence factors in sexual offences cases. Kari Davies, lecturer in Psychology, concluded Psychology’s input by providing a whistle-stop tour of the variety of different work she and her colleagues are collaborating on, including BU’s contribution to “Project Bluestone” (which is a large project exploring rape and serious sexual offence investigations alongside colleagues from other institutions across the UK – more info here) as well as collaborative work on crime and policing in Switzerland with Maggie Hardiman.
Arguably saving the best for last (in my opinion), the Social Sciences and Social Work team finished off the afternoon with two and a bit papers from HSS. BA Sociology student Sam Cheshire provided a confident and theoretically informed paper on his final year dissertation study, which involved interviewing survivors of domestic abuse and social services professionals. He emphasised the interlocations of power, violence and agency in his interpretation of the data, positioned within Foucauldian and neoliberalist concepts and structures. Orlanda Harvey, Lecturer in Social Work, then presented on her own project working with women survivors of domestic violence and highlighted the continuing taboo of disclosing sexual violence within relationships, providing strategies that she and Louise Oliver are using to engage with participants in a safe and supportive environment.
Finally, with only minutes remaining, Jane Healy concluded the afternoon with a very brief overview of her research into disabled women’s experiences of sexual violence, and shamelessly plugged her contribution to a book on “Misogyny as Hate Crime” which is available here (and will soon be available in the library collection).
The afternoon drew to a close with a rallying cry for more cross-faculty events for students and greater collaboration for staff on this topic. The combination of distinct yet intersecting disciplinary work created an eclectic and refreshing mix of papers that provided much food for thought for staff and students alike. Students Teodora and Sam are to be particularly applauded for presenting for the first time to an audience of peers and academic staff.
Kari is keen to expand on collaborative expertise across BU in the fields of criminal justice, policing and sexual violence and is putting together a Sexual Violence working group. Please get in touch with her if you’d like to join.
Many thanks also to Kari for funding the tea and biscuits that kept us going through the afternoon! We are already looking forward to the next event.
Coming Friday the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has the pleasure of hosting the official launch of a new Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice written by BU’s Dr. Ursula Rolfe and Mr. David Partlow, Somerset County Council Adult Social Care Strategic Manager. The launch will take place in the Bournemouth Gateway Building at noon on May 6th in room BGB 302.
Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice is the first guide written specifically to support paramedics in understanding a range of different mental health conditions in their practice. This new book provides essential information on recognising and managing a range of conditions. It offers case studies written by paramedics with first-hand experience of managing mental health issues, and includes a section on legal changes and policy descriptions as well as on the importance of interprofessional working. One of the online reviewers declared that this is an important read for Emergency Medical Service staff.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Reference:
Rolfe, U., Partlow, D. (eds.) (2022) Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice, Class Publishing [ISBN: 9781859599242]
Last week Dr. Shanti Shanker, senior lecturer in Psychology, published ‘Selecting an Appropriate Journal and Submitting Your Paper’. [1] Finding the most appropriate journal for your academic paper is a skill. There are many scientific journals, with new ones appearing every year in just about every academic discipline. Prospective authors must ensure they pick an appropriate one. In selecting a journal, academics may want to consider their target audience, the standing of the journal within their discipline, the journal’s readership, and its reach and impact factor. Scholars may also want to consider whether there are constraints such as a high rejection rate of submitted manuscripts, the maximum prescribed number of words and/or tables, and whether or not there are submission or publication fees to be paid. But most important of all, the chosen journal needs to be appropriate for the paper in question. 
Congratulations!
Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH.
Reference:
Welcome to The Friday Prof-ile – a chance to get to know some of our recently appointed Professors and Associate Professors a little better. Every Friday, we’ll be asking a different person the same set of questions to get an insight into their life, work and what makes them tick.
John Oliver
This week, we’re chatting with Professor in Media Management, John Oliver…
What are your research interests? What made you want to study these areas?
My current research has examined the hidden effects of crisis events on organisational innovation and performance. It’s been very successful in terms of businesses engaging with the findings and it has influenced the UK Government’s new Innovation Strategy (2021).
Why this topic? Well, my research has taken a highly original and perhaps unusual approach to the topic. Doing something new is what keeps me motivated!
What has been your career highlight to date?
Developing my current research idea on the hidden effects of a crisis on firm innovation and performance been a struggle because its based on a truly original approach. That has meant a lot of critical feedback and even derision from many circles. So, to have the research inform the UK Government’s new Innovation Strategy has been pleasing to say the least.
What are you working on at the moment?
A lot! But, an ESRC grant and publications on business innovation in a post-pandemic environment.
If you weren’t an academic, what would you be doing?
Management Consultant
What do you do to unwind?
Surfing, skateboarding, yoga and the gym
What’s the best thing about Bournemouth?
The beach
If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?
Time travel – how cool would that be?!
If you were stranded on a desert island, what one luxury item would you take with you?
A surfboard
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Never, ever give in.
This past three weeks Bournemouth University (BU) has strengthened our existing collaboration with MMIHS (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Science) in Kathmandu. Until 2023 we have a staff and student Erasmus+ student exchange with MMIHS. Currently one FHSS PhD student is in Nepal at MMIHS as part of this Erasmus+ exchange. Two weeks Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health, was here for the GCRF-funded health and migration workshop which was organised in Kathmandu jointly with MMIHS. See the BU Research Blog of 15th April for more details (click here!). 
Yesterday Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen met colleagues from the UK and Nepal at MMIHS to analyse some of the data from the Nepal Federal Health System Project. This three-year major collaborative project examines the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015. This is a joint project led by the University of Sheffield with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, and two institutions in Nepal: MMIHS and PHASE Nepal. This interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1]. 
At BU we are looking forward to welcoming MSc students and academic staff from MMIHS to BU as part of this exchange. We hope to generate interest among Nepalese postgraduate student to apply for a PhD place at BU.
Last, but not least, last week Prof. Vanora Hundley and I launched the book Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences in Kathmandu. This textbook has three chapter authors who are currently (or were recently) affiliated with MMIHS: Prof. Sujan Marahatta, Dr. Pratik Adhikary and Dr. Yubaraj Baral.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Reference:
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P.P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. (Eds.) (2022) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books. [ISBN: 9789937117609]
Welcome to The Friday Prof-ile – a chance to get to know some of our recently appointed Professors and Associate Professors a little better. Every Friday, we’ll be asking a different person the same set of questions to get an insight into their life, work and what makes them tick.
Roman Gerodimos
This week, we’re chatting with Professor in Global Current Affairs, Roman Gerodimos…
What are your research interests? What made you want to study these areas?
I’m interested in the relationship between the individual citizen and the world at large: the things that motivate us to engage with others, with politics, with global affairs, and the things that stop us from doing so: fear, disappointment, cynicism, apathy. I’ve been an avid consumer of politics and world news since I can remember myself and for a long time just assumed that everyone else would be, too. We know, of course, that that’s not true. Ironically though it is now perhaps more important than ever that people engage with politics and global issues; that we assume our share of responsibility for the future of the planet, and that we put themselves forward to lead.
Identifying those factors that can motivate us to engage – whether that is through psychology or a better understanding of history or communication and media or art or even user-oriented design – is key to finding and implementing solutions.
What has been your career highlight to date?
I have several highlights, but if forced to choose I would pick two. One would be producing Deterrence – a feature-length documentary on European security and the past, present and future of NATO that we co-created with staff and students at BU. I’m very proud of our work. It was a very intense but unique experience, we got to cover a major NATO summit from the front row (quite literally), and I loved every minute of the creative and filmmaking process.
My other top highlight would be organising Human Library workshops at the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change – an annual summer school that BU co-founded back in 2007, which brings together students, faculty and leaders from all over the world. Creating a space with the simplest ingredients in which a hundred people, over the course of an evening, have some of the most meaningful, personal discussions of their lives is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m just about to complete an edited volume on the relationship between shame and violence (Interdisciplinary Applications of Shame/Violence Theory: Breaking the Cycle, Palgrave Macmillan), which brings together brilliant contributors from different countries and disciplines so as to find innovative ways of breaking that cycle.
I’m also working on my next film project called A Probable Outcome – a meditation on fate, love, otherness and persistence – and on the associated research project on ‘Black women, dwarfs and other misfits of the Old West’ that is informing the script.
If you weren’t an academic, what would you be doing?
For some reason most of my friends are architects – I seem to be collecting them – so maybe life is trying to tell me something!
However, if I weren’t an academic, I would probably be working as a full-time professional scriptwriter or filmmaker or composer for the screen. I love great writing, films and music, so it would be something creative.
I have to say, though, one of the privileges of working at the Faculty of Media & Communication is being able to develop my creative skills and my media and storytelling practice while being an academic. Not many universities give academics that kind of space and freedom, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve stuck around for 20 years.
What do you do to unwind?
To misquote Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, ‘what is “unwind”‘? I’m joking, of course. I do unwind – I read a lot, I walk, and I love travelling and photography.
What’s the best thing about Bournemouth?
I think it is the university, actually. During the last couple of decades, I have seen how BU – through our diverse student population, our iconic new buildings across both campuses, and crucially our engagement with local businesses, charities and communities – has helped the town modernise and grow.
I think BU can play a leading role in providing space, convening capacity and creative input to nourish Bournemouth’s cultural life – working with artists to put together or support festivals and events, such as the Arts by the Sea festival.
BU is at the heart of a conurbation of three towns – Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch – with hundreds of thousands of residents, including children, students, and professionals. There is definitely the market and the demand for more culture and BU can help provide that.
If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?
My recent research has shown me the literally ubiquitous role of shame in driving negative emotions, such as anger, and violent aggression, including against the self. I’d like my superpower to be the ability to heal people: to make them aware of their own trauma and insecurity, and how that is driving their negative feelings about others and themselves, and how they can gain self-esteem and a sense of responsibility about others and about the world.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what one luxury item would you take with you?
A typewriter. I love writing – no, let me rephrase: I couldn’t live without writing, it’s like therapy for me. The added bonus of a typewriter is that I wouldn’t have any distractions, so I could finally write a proper monograph.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I don’t have major regrets – I’ve always followed my heart and my gut instinct, so I wouldn’t change anything, at least career-wise. But I think we can always, always be better listeners, so I would advise me to be a better listener of the things not said – the omissions, the pauses – and a better observer of the things not seen. These can be as revealing as the things that are said and seen.
Our very own Professor Edwin van Teijlingen is featured in this quarter’s Network, the British Sociological Association’s magazine. Asked to reflect on twenty years service as the book review editor of the esteemed journal Sociological Research Online, Professor van Teijlingen takes us on a journey through his novitiate to being the longest serving book editor at the journal and from receiving to writing and publishing advice for budding scholars asked to write a book review. Congratulations, Edwin on a momentous achievement!
Earlier this week Bournemouth University (BU) ran the ‘Migration and Health Research Capacity Building Workshop for Early Career Researchers’ in Kathmandu. The organisation of this two-day event was jointly with the University of Huddersfield, Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu and the charity Green Tara Nepal. The event was part of the BU-led Health Research Network for Migrant Workers in Asia whose formation was supported two years ago by GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund). The workshop plan was designed by BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal. Our recently started FHSS PhD student Yagya Adhikari and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen also contributed to the workshop in Kathmandu. Yagya spoke about his PhD which focuses on ‘Parental migration and its impact on the health and well-being of left-behind adolescents in Nepal’.
Further contributions to the workshop were from former BU PhD student Dr. Pratik Adhikary (now working for PHASE Nepal) and two of our academic colleagues from the University of Huddersfield: Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti and Prof. Padam Simkhada. Prof. Simkhada is also Visiting Professor in FHSS.
Two days ago Bournemouth University (BU) Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen together with University of Huddersfield academics Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti and Prof. Padam Simkhada launched their edited collection Academic Writing and Publishing in Health and Social Sciences. This textbook is a guide for people attempting any kind of writing on social science or health science. Whether an MSc student, a PhD student, a health professional, a researcher, an academic or an editor, the book is packed with practical tips, expert advice, and examples to develop skills and build confidence. Each chapter addresses a different aspect of the art and science of writing and publishing. Written in a most accessible style, the book will be a particularly handy tool for budding academics who want to see their work in print.
The volume has been put together by editors with a long and wide-ranging experience as journal editors, peer reviewers, book authors and authors of papers published in scientific journals across the globe. 
They have brought together authors from Europe, Nepal, the Middle East, and the USA to share their skills, wisdom, and experience in the production of this very useful and usable book. The collaborators are all listed in the box on the side, but we would like to highlight those authors with a BU link. The authors include former BU PhD students Dr. Jib Acharya and Dr. Pratik Adhikary. We have contributions from both the current and a former BU librarian, Emma Crowley and Janet Ashwell respectively. There are contributions from several BU Visiting Faculty: Prof. Padam Simkhada & Dr. Bibha Simkhada (both University of Huddersfield), Dr. Emma Pitchforth (University of Exeter), Dr. Brijesh Sathian (based in Qatar), and Jillian Ireland (Professional Midwifery Advocate at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust). Several BU staff contributed to various chapters: Prof. Ann Luce, Dr. Shanti Shanker, Dr. Preeti Mahato, Dr. Nirmal Aryal, Dr. Pramod Regmi, and last but not least, current BU PhD student Sulochana Rai Dhakal.
The launch in Kathmandu was hosted by Martin Chautari and supported by Green Tara Nepal (GTN). Over one hundred people attended this book launch. Part of the deal with Social Science Baha and the publisher Himal Books is that the book price will be kept low to keep it affordable for students and poorly paid lecturers in Nepal .
This year’s BNAC (Britain-Nepal Academic Council) Study Days are hosted by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oxford. 
The Study Days are held today (14th April) and yesterday. BNAC promotes academic and scholarly links between Britain and Nepal through, among other things, collaborative research, exchange programmes, and the organisation of annual lectures, and seminars on areas of mutual interest to both British and Nepali academics and researchers.
Three presentations at this two-day event are co-produced by BU colleagues.
Today say the start of the Eight National Summit of Health & Population Scientists in Nepal. Bournemouth University is involved in two presentation. The first will be one by University of Huddersfield PhD student Tamang Pasang, and her supervisors Prof. Padam Simkhada (FHSS Visiting Faculty), Dr. Bibha Simkhada (former BU Lecturer in Nursing and current FHSS Visiting Faculty) and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Pasang will be talking about her thesis fieldwork: ‘Impact of Federalisation in Maintaining Quality of Maternal and Neonatal Care in Nepalese Health System’.
The second presentation will focus of the Nepal Federal Health System Project, our major collaborative project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015. This is a joint project led by the University of Sheffield with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, and two institutions in Nepal: Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal. This interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref.
MR/T023554/1].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternity & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
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