BU Research Blog

Category / PG research

This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors

12 September 2016

FHSS PhD student Jib Acharya presented at University of Chester

international, PG research, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Mr. Jib Acharya presented at The Nutrition Society Student Conference in Chester last week. He presented from his PhD work Healthy eating among mothers in Nepal: A qualitative exploration, which is supervised by Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. His thesis found that mothers in Nepal misunderstand the role of healthy eating to combat nutritional problems in their children. Often their beliefs and attitudes can result in the improper feeding of young children which can lead to several complications, particularly in pre-school-aged children. There is a growing quantitative research on nutrition in Nepal but very little qualitative research. Therefore, as part of his mixed-methods study Jib explored food knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, and behaviour of mothers related to feeding preschool aged children and their perceptions of key barriers to healthier eating.

Using seven focus groups with four pharmacists, seven policy-makers, eleven health workers, five spiritual healers, seven Auxiliary Nurse midwives, seven mothers participating in a mothers’ group, and nine social workers. A thematic approach was performed for data analysis. Relevant quotes are presented. His qualitative thematic analysis revealed the following themes: poverty, education level, strong cultural beliefs, family size, household income, time and a growing preference for fast food. This particular presentation at the University of Chester highlighted the themes related to culture and societal behaviour.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

2 September 2016

CQR Kicks Off “In Conversation” Seminars this Wed 7 Sept

Knowledge Exchange, PG research Kip Jones

The Centre for Qualitative Research is kicking off its new seminar series on Wednesday 7 September at 1 pm in Royal London House RLH 201 Masterclass Suite.

New to BU and FHSS, Prof. Sam Porter (Head of Social Work & Social Sciences Dept. at FHSS) will join CQR’s Kip Jones and Caroline Ellis-Hill “in conversation” about “The Relationship between the Arts and Healthcare”.

Because CQR is keen to make information available to students and staff about qualitative METHODS, the seminars will be arranged somewhat differently than the typical lunchtime seminar.

We are asking TWO (or more) presenters to agree to present each research method as a CONVERSATION…first, between each other, and then with the audience. We are also asking that no PowerPoint be used in order that it is truly a conversation and NOT a lecture. The conversations will be about a particular research method and its pros and cons, NOT research projects or outcomes.

The “In Conversation with …” Seminar Series will be held on the FIRST WED of each month for nine months beginning in September. They will run from 1 pm until 1:50.

We are then hoping that many will join us for a CQR ‘KoffeeKlatch’ following at Naked Cafe next to RLH after the seminar.

We anticipate that by making the CQR Seminar Series really unique and exciting that they will inspire students and academics alike to investigate the wide range of qualitative methods and expertise available at CQR, and enrich their research projects by doing so.

See the list of all nine CQR Seminars over the Academic Year.

30 August 2016

2 Nuffield students gaining hands-on research experience at BU

PG research, Public engagement, Student Engagement, student research, Training inessel

Group pic Nuffield During the last 4 weeks, Sophie and Rose (left and middle in the picture), two AS level students, have spent their summer holidays gaining hands-on laboratory research experience at BU during their Nuffield Research Placement. Together with Dr Simon Dyall and PGR Isabell Nessel (right in the picture), they have worked on a research project which is investigating ways to increase the intake of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in preterm infants. Rose and Sophie have been helping to develop and validate a method to measure the fatty acid content of preterm formula milks by using gas chromatography (see picture).

“As for the internship, I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice getting out of the classroom and working on something that had the potential to help people. I learnt a lot of new skills that’ll help me when I’m writing my application for university as it will show that I already have experience in a laboratory as well as give me a head start to any laboratory work I do in my degree. It’s shown that things often don’t go as smoothly as planned and you have to do a lot of problem solving and repeating along the way, but it’s also made clear to me that I do want to head in the direction of research in the future.” – Sophie

“This is the first year BU has offered Nuffield Research Placements and Sophie and Rose have been excellent students. The Placements give students the opportunity to get hands-on experience of working in a research environment, meet new people and learn new skills, and importantly help them decide if a degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subject is right for them. It has been a pleasure to host Sophie and Rose this year, and they have been of great help to our work.” – Simon GC Nuffield

“For me it was an excellent opportunity to develop my mentoring skills, get the chance to inspire younger students for a career in research, and getting some extra helping hands for my project. The girls were eager to learn and motivated for the lab work and I wish them all the best for their studies. Overall, it was a nice experience which I would recommend to other PGRs and their supervisors.” – Isabell

Many thanks to Sophie and Rose for their help and to the Nuffield Foundation for the organisation of the placements!

The Nuffield Foundation offers Nuffield research placement for motivated students during the summer holidays to discover what a career in STEM might look like. If you would wish to find more about the program or think of offering a placement yourself next year please click here.

If you would like to learn more about our research, please feel free to contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

Isabell

29 August 2016

RCUK Policy Internships Scheme

Funding opportunities, PG research hjones

PhD students! An exciting internship opportunity has come up. RCUK Policy are looking for PhD students, funded by the UK Research Councils, to work for three months in one of a selected group of highly influential organisations relevant to UK policy. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work on one or more policy topics of interest. This will give you the chance to participate in a policy inquiry, organise a policy event and produce at least one briefing paper.

The internship is open to all Research Council-funded students. All applicants must be funded until 31 December 2017, to be eligible for the scheme.

Interested? All applications must be submitted by 4pm on Tuesday 1 September 2016. You’ll be notified by the end of September 2016 on the success of your application. If you’re successful, then you’ll be interviewed sometime in October or November.

Click here to find out more information and submit your application.

22 August 2016

Public Engagement in the sunshine!

PG research, Public engagement Naomi Kay

We recently headed down to a very sunny Boscombe for a day spent talking about science as part of their bustling Saturday market. Pitching up in between two amazingly fragrant food stands we spent the day talking to the community about two research projects with the potential to change lives as part of a British Science Association and Royal Society of Chemistry series of events known as Science in the City.

The idea of Science in the City has been to take science into highly deprived communities and talk to people about research who wouldn’t usually engage with us through events such as Festival of Learning. Working with University of Southampton (UoS) we submitted the bid in December 2015 and were successful in being picked to host an activity as part of the 2016 round of funding and approached Boscombe Market for a venue to let us talk to the community.

Keen to take the opportunity to share some of our high profile research we were especially pleased to be joined by Oleg Fryazinov and Mark Moseley who have been highly involved with the award winning SHIVA project which enables disabled children to design and 3D print objects using a simple interactive system that can be controlled using either touch or eye tracking software. This project has recently received funding through HEIF5+1+1 to expand the project further and work with new schools. Currently they are working closely with the Victoria School in Poole and may of the objects seen in the image below where designed by their students (unfortunately not the dinosaur as the software isn’t quite up to this yet!).

As well as BU’s research we also took an activity from UoS’s public engagement Roadshow. David and Alex, two PHD researchers from the university joined us for the day to talk to people about the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells and how they have the power to revolutionise our lives and minimise the amount of unclean energy needed to run our cars, buses and lorries. As well as a demonstration of the fuel cell in action they also were helping the public understand how catalysts could be used to reduce the amount of energy you need to put into a reaction and how coating a cheap substance (in our case copper pennies) with a catalytic material (a brass coating made by coating the penny in zinc and heating to produce an alloy) can reduce the costs involved with using them.

18 August 2016

Making the most of the Library during the summer

PG research jhewins

Whether you want to catch up on some reading without being disturbed or find somewhere to work collaboratively with research colleagues or your Faculty’s library team, the Library has lots to offer at this quiet time of the year. See our news item on the Staff Intranet for details about library services and facilities available to staff and researchers throughout the summer vacation.

12 August 2016

100+ Nepal health publications

BRIAN, international, PG research, Publishing, Research assessment, Research Ethics, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

At a television interview this morning in Kathmandu I was asked how many papers I had published on health and health-related issues in Nepal. I told the interviewer from BTV Business that it was around 90 to a hundred. Coming back to Green Tara Nepal office I decide to update the list of papers on Nepal to make sure I had not lied too much on TV.

Adding up the papers, editorials and, to a lesser extent, book chapters I was pleasantly surprised that there were 25 on maternity care & midwifery, 18 on sexual & reproductive health, nine on infectious diseases, five on non-communicable diseases, six on nutrition & child health, three on mental health, two on migration and a further mixture of 38 on topics such as health systems, research methods, or health & education capacity building. If I have not double counted any of the papers that a grand total of 106. Most are co-authored with BU Visiting Faculty Prof.Padam Simkhada (from Liverpool John Moores University), many with PhD students conducting projects in Nepal and, more recently with BU post-doctoral fellow Dr. Pramod Regmi.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference (by topic)

Maternal & Neonatal Health & Midwifery

Simkhada, B, van Teijlingen E, Porter, M, Simkhada, P. (2006) Major problems and key issues in Maternal Health in Nepal (Review article), Kathmandu University Medical Journal, 4(2): 261-266. kumj.com.np/ftp/issue/14/Major-problems-and-key-issues-in-maternal-health-in-Nepal.pdf
Dhakal, S., Chapman, G., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Stephens J., Raja, A.E. (2007) Utilisation of postnatal care among rural women in Nepal, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 7(19). Web: biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2393-7-19.pdf
Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen E., Porter, M., Simkhada, P. (2008) Factors affecting the utilisation of antenatal care in developing countries: a systematic review of the literature, Journal of Advanced Nursing 61(3): 244-260.
Teijlingen van, E., Simkhada, P., Ireland, J. (2010) Lessons learnt from undertaking maternity-care research in developing countries. Evidence-based Midwifery 8(1): 12-6.
Simkhada, B., Porter, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) The role of mothers-in-law in antenatal care decision-making in Nepal: A qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 10(34) biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2393-10-34.pdf
Baral, Y.R, Lyons, K., Skinner, J, van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Determinants of skilled birth attendants for delivery in Nepal Kathmandu University Medical Journal 8(3): 325-332. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/31/325-332.pdf
.Acharya, D.R., Bell, J., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Regmi, P.R. (2010) Women’s autonomy in decision-making for health care: A demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health 9(15) reproductive-health-journal.com/content/pdf/1742-4755-7-15.pdf
Dhakal, S., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Dhakal, K.B., Stephens J., Chapman, G., Raja, A.E. (2011) Antenatal care among women in rural Nepal: A community-based study. Online Journal of Rural Nursing & Health Care 11 (2): 76-87. http://rnojournal.binghamton.edu/index.php/RNO/article/view/20/17
Dhakal, S., van Teijlingen, E., Raja, A.E., Dhakal, K.B. (2011) Skilled care at birth among rural women in Nepal: practice & challenges Journal of Health, Population & Nutrition 29 (4): 371-378.
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E, Sharma, G., Simkhada, B., Townend, J. (2012) User costs and informal payments for care in the largest maternity hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Health Science Journal 6(2): 317-334. hsj.gr/volume6/issue2/6212.pdf
Baral, Y.R, Lyons, K., Skinner, J, van Teijlingen, E.R. (2012) Maternal health services utilisation in Nepal: Progress in the new millennium? Health Science Journal 6(4): 618-633. hsj.gr/volume6/issue4/644.pdf
Joshi, R., Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2013) Improving neonatal health in Nepal: Major challenges to achieving Millennium Development Goal 4, Health Science Journal 7(3): 247-257. http://www.hsj.gr/index.files/Page1421.htm
Bogren, M., van Teijlingen, E., Berg. M. (2013) Where midwives are not yet recognised: A feasibility study of professional midwives in Nepal, Midwifery 29(10): 1103-1109.
Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Porter, A.M., 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.
Bogren, M.U., Bajracharya, K., Berg, M., Erlandsson, K., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2013) Nepal needs midwifery, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (JMMIHS) 1(2): 41-44. nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/9907/8082
Simkhada, B., Sharma, A., van Teijlingen, E., Silwal, R.C., Simkhada, P. (2015) Exploring Maternal Mortality Reduction. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 95-121.
Simkhada, B., Porter, M., Teijlingen van E. (2011) My mother-in-law tells me what to do, Midwives (official magazine of the Royal College of Midwives) issue 4: 34-36.
Teijlingen van, E., Simkhada, B., Simkhada, P. (2013) Midwifery and maternity care in Nepal: the vital link, The Practising Midwife 16 (10): 24-27.
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
Sathian, B De A, Simkhada P, Malla K, Ghosh A, Basnet S, Roy B (2015) Time Trend of Pneumonia in under Five Children of Nepal. American Journal of Public Health Research 3 (4A), 27-30
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
Mahato, P.K., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sathian, B. (2015) Birthing centre infrastructure in Nepal post 2015 earthquake. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(4): 518-519. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14260/11579
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
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sharma, S., Mahato, P. (2016) Sustainable Development Goals: relevance to maternal & child health in Nepal. Health Prospect 15(1):9-10. www.healthprospect.org/archives/15/1/3.pdf

Sexual & Reproductive Health

Simkhada, P., Bhatta, P., van Teijlingen E. (2006) Importance of piloting a questionnaire on sexual health research (Letter), Wilderness & Environmental Medical Journal, 17(4): 295-296. wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-document&issn=1080-6032&volume=017&issue=04&page=0295#Ref
Simkhada, P., Bhatta, P., van Teijlingen E., Regmi, P. (2010) Sexual health knowledge, sexual relationships and condom use among male trekking guides in Nepal. Culture, Health & Sexuality 12(1): 45-58.
Acharya, D.R., van Teijlingen E.R., Simkhada P. (2009) Opportunities & challenges in school-based sex & sexual health education in Nepal. Kathmandu University Medical Journal 7(4): 445-453 Web: http://kumj.com.np/ftp/issue/28/445-453.pdf
Regmi P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E. (2010) “Boys Remain Prestigious, Girls Become Prostitutes”: Socio-Cultural Context of Relationships & Sex among Young People in Nepal, Global Journal of Health Science 2(1): 60-72. http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/viewFile/3951/4542
Simkhada, B., Porter, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) The role of mothers-in-law in antenatal care decision-making in Nepal: A qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 10(34) biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2393-10-34.pdf
Baral, Y.R, Lyons, K., Skinner, J, van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Determinants of skilled birth attendants for delivery in Nepal Kathmandu University Medical Journal 8(3): 325-332. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/31/325-332.pdf
Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E. (2010) Dating and Sex among Emerging Adults in Nepal. Journal of Adolescence Research 26 (6): 675-700.
Ghimire, L., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Barriers to utilisation of sexual health services by female sex workers in Nepal, Global Journal of Health Science 1(1): 12-22 web address: http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/viewFile/93/1062
Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen (2008) Sexual and reproductive health status among young people in Nepal: opportunities & barriers for sexual health education & service utilisation, Kathmandu University Medical Journal 6(2): 248-256. http://kumj.com.np/ftp/issue/22/248-256.pdf
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, P., Acharya, D. (2010) Barriers to sexual health services for young people in Nepal. Journal of Health Population & Nutrition 28: 619-627.
Acharya, D.R., Bhattarai, R, Poobalan, A, van Teijlingen E.R., Chapman, G. (2010) Factors associated with teenage pregnancy in South Asia: a systematic review. Health Sciences Journal 4 (1): 3-14. web address: hsj.gr/volume4/issue1/402.pdf
Ghimire, L., Smith, W.C.S., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) Utilisation of sexual health services by female sex workers in Nepal, BMC Health Services Research 11: 79 biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6963-11-79.pdf
Ghimire, L., Smith, W.C.S., van Teijlingen, E., Dahal, R., Luitel, N.P. (2011) Reasons for non- use of condoms and self-efficacy among female sex workers: A qualitative study in Nepal, BMC Women’s Health 11: 42 biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6874-11-42.pdf
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Acharya, D.R., Schildbach, E., Silwa, P.R., Shrestha, J., Pandey, P.L. (2012) Sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in rural Nepal: Knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Nepal Population Journal 17(16): 3-10.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Bhatta, P., Ingham, R., Stone, N. (2015) Sexual health knowledge and risky sexual behaviour of Nepalese trekking guides. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 35-42
Acharya, D.R., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P. van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Modernisation and Changes in Attitudes towards Sex and Relationships in Young People. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 63-94.
Simkhada, P.P., Sharma, A., van Teijlingen, E.R., Beanland, R,L. (2016) Factors influencing sexual behaviour between tourists and tourism employees: A systematic review. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 6(1): 530-538. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14735/11952
Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Importance of Health and Social Care Research into Gender and Sexual Minority Populations in Nepal. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(8): 806-808. http://aph.sagepub.com/content/27/8/806.full

Infectious diseases

Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Antiretroviral treatment programmes in Nepal: Problems and barriers. Kathmandu University Medical Journal 7(3): 306-314 web address: http://kumj.com.np/ftp/issue/27/306-314.pdf
Wasti, S.P., Randal, J., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) In what way do Nepalese cultural factors affect adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal? Health Science Journal 5(1): 37-47.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen E., Simkhada, P., Randall, J., Baxter, S., Kirkpatrick, P., Vijay Singh Gc. (2012) Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Asian developing countries: a systematic review, Tropical Medicine & International Health 17(1): 71-81. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02888.x/pdf
Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P., Randall, J., van Teijlingen, E., Freeman, J. (2012) Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal: a mixed-methods study. PLoS ONE 7(5): e35547. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035547. plosone.org/article/fetchArticle;jsessionid=9F031521BFD51A9FA385083CE75F8072?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0035547
Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2012) Ethical and Practical Challenges in Conducting Fieldwork on a Sensitive Topic (HIV) in Nepal, In: Loubere, N., Morgan, R., Kruckenberg, L., De Beukelaer, C. & Hernandez Montes De Oca, P. (eds.) RiDNET Practical Fieldwork Notes, Leeds: Researchers in Development Network (RiDNet), University of Leeds,Vol.1: 9.
Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P., Randall, J., van Teijlingen, E., Freeman, J. (2012) Barriers to & facilitators of antiretroviral therapy adherence in Nepal: a qualitative study. Journal of Health, Population & Nutrition 30(4): 410-419. jhpn.net/index.php/jhpn/article/view/1492/893
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.
Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) (2015) Socio-Cultural Aspects of HIV/AIDS. In: The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 47-62.
Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P, Randall, J., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Issues & Challenges of HIV/AIDS Prevention & Treatment Programme in Nepal, Global Journal of Health Science 1(2): 62-72. http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/viewFile/2460/3474

Non-Communicable Diseases

Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, A.E. (2008) Health and Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health and Human Rights 8(6). Web address: biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6.
Gyawali, B., Keeling, J., van Teijlingen, E., Dhakal. L., Aro, A.R. (2015) Cervical Cancer Screening: Ethical Consideration, Medicolegal & Bioethics 5: 1-6
Gyawali, B., Neupane, D., Sharma, R., Mishra, S.R., van Teijlingen, E., Kallestrup, P. (2015) Prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Nepal: Systematic review & meta-analysis from 2000 to 2014 Global Health Action 8: 29088 globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/29088/pdf_189
Sathian, B. , De, A. ,van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. , Banerjee, I. , Roy, B. , Supram, H. , Devkota, S. , E, R. (2015). Time Trend of the Suicide Incidence in India: a Statistical Modelling. American Journal of Public Health Research, 3(5A), 80-87. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajphr/3/5A/17/index.html
Regmi, P.R., Kurmi, O., Aryal, N., Pant, P.P., Banstola, A., Alloh, F., van Teijlingen, E., (2016) Diabetes prevention and management in South Asia: A call for action. International Journal of Food, Nutrition & Public Health (IJFNPH) 8(2): 107-116. http://www.wasd.org.uk/download/diabetes-prevention-and-management-in-south-asia-a-call-for-action/

Nutrition & Child Development

Singh, S., Rajendra Kumar, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E. (2007) Health status & health needs of the orphan children in Kathmandu, Nepal, Journal of Nepal Health Research Council 5(2): 39-48.
Singh, S., van Teijlingen E.R., Simkhada, P. (2007) Health status and health needs of the orphan children in Kathmandu, Nepal: The findings of a pilot study, Stupa: Journal of Health Sciences 3 (1&2): 44-54.
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.hsj.gr/volume7/issue4/743.pdf
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
Simkhada, P., Sathian, B., Adhikari, S., van Teijlingen, E., Roy, B. (2015) Is early diagnose for Vitamin A deficiency better than the current supplementation programme of Nepal? Journal of Biomedical Sciences 2(4):28-30. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JBS/index

Mental Health

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 4(1): 43-49.
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E., Marahatta, S.B. (2015) Mental health services in Nepal: Is it too late? Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 1-2.
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

Migration / Occupational Health

Adhikary, P., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in the Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-175. hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to the United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal 8(1): 57-74.

Other (including: health systems, research methods, capacity building)

Simkhada, P, Shyangdan, D, van Teijlingen E, Kadel, S, Stephen, J., Gurung, T. (2013) Women’s Knowledge & Attitude towards Disability in Rural Nepal. Disability & Rehabilitation 35(7): 606-613. http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09638288.2012.702847
van Teijlingen, E.R., Simkhada, B, Ireland J, Simkhada P, Bruce J. (2012) Evidence-based health care in Nepal: The importance of systematic reviews, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 1(4): 114-118.
Kirkpatrick, P., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Lost in Translation: Reflecting on a Model to Reduce Translation and Interpretation Bias, The Open Nursing Journal, 3(8): 25-32 web address: bentham.org/open/tonursj/openaccess2.htm
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Stephen, J., Simkhada, B., Woodes Rogers, S., Sharma, S. (2012) Making the best use of all resources: developing a health promotion intervention in rural Nepal. Health Renaissance 10(3): 229-235. healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/7141_24852_1_PB.pdf
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Pokharel, T., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S. (2013) Research Methods Coverage in Medical & Health Science Curricula in Nepal, Nepal Journal Epidemiology 3(3): 253-258. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/9185
van Teijlingen E.R., Simkhada, P.P. (2012) Ethical approval in developing countries is not optional, Journal of Medical Ethics 38: 428-430.
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E. (2012) “Why did they join?” Exploring the motivation of rebel health workers in Nepal Journal of Conflictology 3(1): 18-29. http://journals.uoc.edu/index.php/journal-of-conflictology/article/viewFile/vol3iss1-joc/vol3iss1-joc
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S., 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
van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, P., Wasti, P.P. (2015) Nepal is Changing: Modernisation and Diversity in Healthcare. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 1-15.
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Exploring Rebel Health Services during the Maoist People’s War. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 122-130.
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.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P. (2015) Final thoughts. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 222-228.
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen E. (2007) Basic health as peace dividend in post-conflict Nepal, Journal of HEPASS, 3(1): 21-23.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Higher education in Nepal: Several challenges ahead. Diaspora, 3 (1): 44-47.
Simkhada, P., Baral, Y.R., van Teijlingen E. (2010) Health & Medical Research: A Bibliometric Review, Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 22(4): 492-500 web address http://aph.sagepub.com/content/22/4/492.full.pdf+html
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen E. (2010) Demystifying the Maoist Barefoot Doctors of Nepal, Medicine, Conflict & Survival 26(2): 108-123.
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Understanding effects of armed conflict on health outcomes: the case of Nepal. Conflict & Health 4 (20) http://www.conflictandhealth.com/content/4/1/20
van Teijlingen E., Simkhada, B., Porter, M., Simkhada, P., Pitchforth, E., Bhatta, P. (2011) Qualitative research methods and its place in health research in Nepal, Kathmandu University Medical Journal 9(4): 301-305.
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Stephen, J. (2013) Doing focus groups in the health field: Some lessons from Nepal, Health Prospect 12(1): 15-17. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/8722/7111
Neupane, D., van Teijlingen, E., Khanal, V., Mishra, S.R., Kallestrup, P. (2013) Involving Nepali academics in health research Health Prospect 12 (2): 21-23. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/9868/8056
van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2014) Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic authors, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(1): 344-347.
Devkota, B., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Politicians in Apron: Case study of Rebel Health Services in Nepal, Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 21(4): 377-384.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Kadel, S., Stephens, J., Sharma, S., Sharma, M. (2009) Reliability of National Data Sets: Evidence from a Detailed Small Area Study in Rural Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Asian Journal of Epidemiology 2(2): 44-48.
Bhatta, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Maybin, S. (2009) A questionnaire study of VSO volunteers: Health risk & problems encountered. Journal of Travel Medicine 16(5): 332-337.
P., Teijlingen van, E. (2012) Role of Individual Academics & International Universities in Health Research in Nepal (Guest Editorial), Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2(2): 179-181. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/6572/5364
van Teijlingen, E., Benoit, C., Bourgeault, I., DeVries, R., Sandall, J., Wrede, S. (2015) Learning from health care in other countries: the prospect of comparative research, Health Prospect 14(1): 8-12. nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/13036/10525
Ireland, J., van Teijlingen, E., Kemp, J. (2015) Twinning in Nepal: the Royal College of Midwives UK and the Midwifery Society of Nepal working in partnership, Journal of Asian Midwives 2 (1): 26-33. http://ecommons.aku.edu/jam/vol2/iss1/5/
Sharma, S., Joshi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A new version of English? Asian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences 4(2): 188-193. ajssh.leena-luna.co.jp/AJSSHPDFs/Vol.4%282%29/AJSSH2015%284.2-21%29.pdf
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P., Sathian, B. (2014) Mixed-methods approaches in health research in Nepal (editorial) Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(5): 415-416.
Sharma, A, Tuladhar, G., Dhungel, A., Padmadharini, van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2015) Health Promotion: A review of policies and practices in Nepal, Public Health Perpective 5(2): http://phpnepal.org/index.php?listId=941#.VO4Qvn9tXkd
Simkhada, P., Lee, A., van Teijlingen, E., Karki, P., Neupane, C.H. (2015) Need and importance of health protection training in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology (editorial) 5(1): 441-43. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/12373/10032
Pant, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2015) Importance of public health in low- and middle- income countries. In: Vaidya, K., ed. (2015) Public Health for the Curious: Why Study Public Health? Canberra: The Curious Academic Publishing. ISBN 9781925128581
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Pant, P.R., Sathian, B., Tuladhar, G. (2015) Public Health, Prevention & Health Promotion in Post-Earthquake Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(2): 462-464. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/12826
Simkhada, P., Regmi, P.R., Pant, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B. (2015) Stipulating citizens’ fundamental right to healthcare: Inference from the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nepal 2015. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(4); 516-517. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14257/11576
Regmi, P.R., Aryal, N., Pant, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. (2015) Priority public health interventions and research agendas in post-earthquake Nepal. South East Asia Journal of Public Health 5(2): 7-12. http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/SEAJPH/article/view/28307/18835
Sahay, G., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2016) Rebel Health Services in South Asia: Comparing Maoist-led Conflicts in India & Nepal, Sociological Bulletin 65(1):19-39.
Regmi, P.R., Aryal, N., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Childbirth in the exam centres in Nepal: An overlooked Public Health issue!, Health Prospect 15(1): 20-21. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/14745/11954
van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B., & Simkhada, P. (2016). Zika & Nepal: a far greater risk for its population than to individuals. Medical Science 4(2): 312-313. http://www.pubmedhouse.com/journals/ms/articles/1064/PMHID1064.pdf

10 August 2016

EU AniM Workshop – Still time to register.

PG research zleonard

Professor Jian Jun Zhang, Dr Jian Chang and Hui Liang are pleased to announce the EU AniM Workshop.

Please click here to register.

The “AniM” www.euanim.org is an EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship funded project, which aims to improve the status quo by developing the “next generation computer animation techniques” and to answer challenges in handling computer animation data in an intelligent way to facilitate creativity and to encourage interaction among users through knowledge transfer and development.

The workshop is an intensive research meeting, aiming to provide new insights, approaches and methods of the next generation computer animation techniques and the intelligent animation data management to facilitate the growth of the computer animation industry.

Over 70 researchers based at UK universities and industry companies, will be invited for this workshop , which will be structured around the themes of “Enhanced Computer Animation technology” and “Intelligent Data Management for Computer Animation”.

You are invited to join us at the Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, on 2^nd September 2016. Registration will be open from 09.45 and the workshop will commence at 10.30.

Professor Jian Jun Zhang of the NCCA, Bournemouth University will chair the event, which will include an introduction to the research within the project EU AniM and a panel discussion. Professor Nigel W John from the University of Chester, is confirmed to deliver a keynote on “Real Time Computer Graphics for Surgery Simulation”. A buffet lunch and refreshments will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you in September, in the meantime if you have any questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.

6 August 2016

Multidisciplinary research: where Fusion meets REF

Fusion, PG research, student research Zulfiqar Khan

“We have developed multidisciplinary research within the Department of Design & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Technology at BU in collaboration with major international, national and regional industrial and HEI partners”, Associate Professor Zulfiqar Khan said. He added, “multidisciplinary research within NanoCorr, Energy & Modelling (NCEM) theme is a direct response to industrial needs in terms of enhancing design for durability & reliability, meeting the demands for generating energy from renewable sources and enhancing students learning experience through research informed education. New knowledge, created during this process, is shared with stakeholders and academic communities through relevant platforms.

Multidisciplinary research within NCEM is led by Zulfiqar and includes the development of nano coatings (nano composites and graphene; materials science and engineering) to increase service life of machines and equipment deployed in harsh operational and environmental conditions (design & engineering), understanding corrosion (materials science and mechanical engineering) issues to prevent structural failures within machines, automotive, locomotives, large structures & marine applications (preventative and predictive condition monitoring; MEMS, NEMS, Micro LPRs) and developing cutting edge solar thermal techniques to generate mechanical and heat energies from renewable sources (mechanical engineering; heat transfer and nano additives).

The objectives of this research are to develop state of the art novel and innovative energy efficient design for durability and reliability solutions applied in wide ranging industrial applications, bring about socio-economic benefits including impacts on cultural life via public engagement. This research is fully and match funded through a current portfolio of one postdoctoral research assistant and four PhD students by major industrial and HEI partners plus three PhD projects were completed early this year.

Majority of you would have had a chance to read through the Stern’s review of REF which was released in late July, “steps taken to promote interdisciplinary and other joint working internally and externally and to support engagement and impact, beyond that which is just the aggregate of individual units of assessment (para.88)”. “The proposal to allow the (tick-box) identification interdisciplinary outputs, as well as document the role of ‘interdisciplinary champions’ (para. 100)”

Zulfiqar said, “our vision of developing and engaging in multidisciplinary research which is industrially relevant, academically robust and has significant socio-economic value will play an important role in the REF 2021 and beyond and we are better positioned to lead in this area”. He has previously led the University Sustainable Design Research Centre between 2007-2015 and the centre received its REF14 Panel Feedback as, “Sustainable Design Research Group had the highest proportion of outputs judged to be internationally excellent”.

Fusion of research, education and professional practice is a key to lead to multidisciplinary research. BU Fusion of research, education and professional practice is at the heart of BU 2018 strategy. Zulfiqar said, “we have been and are currently delivering research informed education through the delivery of several UG/PG taught courses. This is a major contributor in enhancing students’ learning experience and enabling them to be more employable both in the country and globally.

He previously led the final year Design Engineering, Advanced Technology & Innovation 40 credit unit. Students participated in research activities which led them to publish journal and international conference papers including an invited Springer book chapter.

He developed a 20 credit Thermo fluids & Heat Transfer unit, taught in the second year of BEng/MEng course. Education in this unit is research informed and the unit is supported by laboratory experimentations. This provides an opportunity for the students to bridge the gap between theory and practice. He has also developed two new units Fluids and Thermodynamics L5/Year 2 MEng (Hons) Mech Engg and Thermofluids and Energy Conversion L6/Year 4 MEng (Hons) Mech Engg for recent IMechE accreditation. Education in these units will be supported by state of the art experimental techniques with in kind support from industrial partner and informed by current research in renewable energy technology within NCEM.

Zulfiqar is also leading first year Design Methods & Projects a 40 credit unit in the Design Engineering course. This unit has several projects that allow students to solve real world industrial problems and engage in research within corrosion, contact mechanics and materials science through a live project with The Tank Museum Bovington.

Both Fusion and multidisciplinary research are benefiting students in terms of their learning experience, solving immediate and challenging industrial problems, improving standard of life and bringing economic impacts including impacts on cultural life.

Some latest research activities are documented in recent publications, for further information you may contact Zulfiqar Khan.

5 August 2016

Health Promotion intervention planning in rural Nepal

international, PG research, student research, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Today and yesterday Green Tara Nepal (GTN) staff spent discussing and planning their health promotion intervention in the district of Dhading. The sessions included feedback by the GTN on progress to-date as well as a discussion of their perceptions of the various relevant health needs in the community. BU has been working with GTN for over seven years. [1] Yesterday BU professor Edwin van Teijlingen gave an interactive workshop on communication skills. This morning BU’s Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) outlined key health promotion concepts and theories to the fieldworkers.

This particular post-disaster health promotion project grew out of years of research-based interventions run by GTN and the needs seen in areas affected by last years’ serious earthquakes in Nepal. The project has received support from various funding agencies, including Green Tara Trust, a London-based Buddhist charity. The training is being held in Dhadingbesi, about four hours drive away from the capital Kathmandu. The various photos with this blog show the results of a social mapping exercise. These included some beautifully hand-drawn maps of the individual wards in the area, indicating where the health post is situated, but more importantly the house of currently pregnant women.

Several GTN project have been, or ar currently, evaluated by FHSS Ph.D. students. The GTN project in Pharping has been evaluated by Sheetal Sharma, who has published several papers from this research.[2-4] The GTN project in Nawalparasi is currently being studied by Preeti Mahato, who has also already published from her thesis research despite being less than halfway through. [5] Prof. Padam Simkhada is external supervisor for both these BU Ph.D students.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P, Stephen J, Simkhada B, Woodes Rogers S, Sharma S. (2012) Making the best use of all resources: developing a health promotion intervention in rural Nepal. Health Renaissance 10(3): 229-235. healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/7141_24852_1_PB.pdf
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
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sharma, S., Mahato, P. (2016) Sustainable Development Goals: relevance to maternal & child health in Nepal. Health Prospect 15(1):9-10. healthprospect.org/archives/15/1/3.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
Mahato, P.K., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sathian, B. (2015) Birthing centre infrastructure in Nepal post 2015 earthquake. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(4): 518-519. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14260/11579

2 August 2016

An update on Academy of Marketing funded research

PG research sashraf

The findings from current research conducted by Dr Julie Robson and Samreen Ashraf from the Faculty of Management were presented at the Academy of Marketing conference, Northumbria University recently.

The research, funded by the Academy of Marketing, uses concepts from behavioural economics to help understand how people perceive their pension and how they are likely to use their pension money in retirement. The study focuses on people originally from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc.) but who are now living and working in the UK. A key question therefore is the role that culture has on the perception and use of pensions.

Given the pension reforms last year this research is timely as UK pension-holders aged 55 and over now have the freedom to use their pensions as they wish. Not surprisingly there has been much media speculation on how this money will be used – will it be blown on luxury goods (e.g. an expensive holiday or sports car?), used to pay off existing debt, given to children to help them get onto the property ladder or invested for later life?

As many retirees are known to have insufficient money for their retirement this research will be of interest to policymakers as many first generation South Asians living in the UK are now coming up to retirement age.

This research project runs to September 2016 when a final report will be issued to the Academy of Marketing.

29 July 2016

PGR Feedback – we need your help!

PG research jnugent

Dear all,

BU and SUBU are currently conducting a survey regarding the experience of those studying a research degree at BU (MRes/MPhil/PhD/EngD/DProf ).

The survey asks questions relating to supervision, resources, research degree policies, administration and research culture. In order for BU to understand the best practices and things that could be improved we need to build an accurate picture by gathering as many responses as we can.

If you could spare just 10-15 minutes of your time to complete this survey we would massively appreciate it: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BU_PGR_Student_Experience_2016

Warmest regards

29 July 2016

Fieldwork preparation in Nepal

international, PG research Edwin van Teijlingen

If you have a number of research projects running in the same location it pays to combine some of the preparation. Thus as part of five different studies and one PhD project, I’m currently in Kathmandu. The projects are (1) the THET-funded intervention in Nawalparasi; (2) the CEL-funded qualitative research led by Dr. Catherine Angell on CPD (Continuous Professional Development); (3) the FHSS-funded project on transgender which is led by Dr. Pramod Regmi; (4) the FHSS-funded project with Pourakhi which supports Nepali women returning home after having been abroad as migrant workers; and (5) the Green Tara Trust funded project on improving maternal health care in Dhading and Nawalparasi, and the FHSS PhD project is that of Mrs. Preeti Mahato. Two of the project and the PhD topcic are closely related as all three cover maternity care in one for or another in Nawalparasi. The planning meetings we are having in Nepal involve planning training sessions and workshops, resource allocation and research preparation.

Fortunately, it is not all work. Today I enjoyed Kheer (Achar and Chana) for lunch in the Green Tara flat in Kathmandu a lovely rice pudding with slightly sour green vegetables and chick peas (see photo). The actual meal is traditionally health tomorrow but as this is the weekend the staff brought it one day forward so that I could join in too.

Finally, I like to thank colleagues who gave me mobile phones and a camera. One of the mobile phones is already in use by one of the Nepali charity workers in Kathmandu. I bought a new battery and memory card for camera in the UK and it is working fine, the photo with this blog has been taken with the donated camera!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (writing from Nepal).

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health Research

21 July 2016

IFOMPT 2016

conferences, PG research jbranney

I was delighted to present this month at a large international conference, IFOMPT 2016, in Glasgow. The International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) is an international body composed of many national groups specialising in post-graduate musculoskeletal physiotherapy. This is the first time the IFOMPT Conference, which is held every four years, has been hosted in the UK since 1988. This conference presented an ideal opportunity to promote the reputation of BU, the new Orthopaedic Research Institute, and AECC (where the research was undertaken).
I gave a poster presentation on work related to my PhD research into the mechanism of spinal manipulation in the treatment of neck pain. I was really pleased that there was a good bit of interest in the poster and I made useful contacts in Japan, China, USA – and Bournemouth! I was able to tempt some people I admire to my poster by posting the picture below on Twitter and sending to the Twitterati I knew were at the conference – social media works (I was not begging for attention, honest).

Come and see my poster!

The other cool bit of technology I used for the first time at this conference was the conference app – no conference abstract booklet to have to carry around in a tacky conference bag for a couple of days.

Is a paper copy of conference proceedings now a thing of the past?

The app had everything – the full itinerary, abstracts (including those of the 190 posters), and there were biographies and contact details for all the speakers and most of the delegates too. Networking can be exhausting and intimidating – this enabled me to contact people directly whom I wanted to discuss my research with and contributed to an excellent conference experience.
If you’d like to know more about the conference, or my research into the mechanism of spinal manipulation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. (You can get a copy of my poster by clicking here).

Dr Jonny Branney
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences
jbranney@bournemouth.ac.uk

18 July 2016

SmartAbility gets the Green Light at Silverstone Circuit

PG research, Public engagement, Research themes

From the 26^th – 28^th May, my supervisor (Dr Huseyin Dogan) and I attended the 2016 Mobility Roadshow at Silverstone (Northamptonshire), where Bournemouth University had a stand thanks to QR funding, as a part of my PhD research. The roadshow is the UK’s original hands-on consumer event that has been showcasing mobility innovation for over 30 years. The roadshow is an annual event that takes place at different venues around the country and this year it was at the Silverstone circuit. The university’s stand was located in the Information Village and was a good opportunity to validate our research in the assistive technology domain with a user community of people with disability as well as manufacturers.

The purpose of the validation was to present the SmartAbility Framework, which considers how technology can support people with disability and addresses the concept of not having a ‘single technology solution to suit all disabilities’. It consists of seven elements; Disabilities, Impairments, Range of Movements, Movement Characteristics, Interaction Mediums, Technologies and Tasks, interlinking aspects of Human Computer Interaction. The roadshow was the first opportunity to validate the framework as it had been developed based on state of the art literature reviews and results from conducted feasibility trials and user experimentations. The validation was performed using a paper-based version of the framework and involved the participants/manufacturers completing the first four elements, to describe how their disabilities affect their Range of Movement. The knowledge contained within the framework was then used to provide recommendations of suitable Interaction Mediums and Technologies that could potentially improve their quality of life. Each participant completed a questionnaire to provide their views on the framework. In addition to the validation, we demonstrated Smartglasses (a Recon Jet), to assess the usability for people with disability.

Over the 3 days of the roadshow, we had 36 participants that all provided positive feedback, therefore, proving the usefulness of the framework. Improvements were also suggested from some of the participants which will be used to enhance the framework. The technology recommendations were helpful as a number of the participants were not aware of some of the technologies. Not all participants were able to use the Smartglasses due to impaired vision or finger dexterity. However, the participants who were able to interact enjoyed the experience as it was new to them.

The roadshow exhibits a range of products for people with disability as well as adapted cars and wheelchair accessible vehicles. As the roadshow was at Silverstone, visitors had the opportunity to test drive a range of vehicles around 2 laps of the short National circuit. This was an opportunity not to be missed and when I wasn’t manning our stand, I test drove a range of vehicles including a Ford EcoSport and BMW 2-series. Unfortunately, there was a 40 mph speed limit imposed on the circuit (for safety reasons), but one of the instructors allowed me to do 50 mph on the Hanger straight and follow the racing line on the corners! I chose to have the final test drive slot on the last day and was able to do 5 laps as the instructor didn’t want to clear up in the pits!

Overall, attending the Mobility Roadshow was an enjoyable experience and provided valuable results and knowledge for the final stage of my PhD, which I am aiming to complete in November. The future research activities will involve validation with domain experts from computing and healthcare and designing for the SmartAbility Framework to be exploited as a smartphone application. There is also the small task of writing up my thesis…

14 July 2016

BUDI presents at the iNav international conference in Bad Gastein (Austria)

international, PG research, Public engagement mobrien

Dr Jan Wiener, Dr Ramona Grzeschik and Mary O’Malley represented Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) at the 1^st Interdisciplinary Navigation Symposium (iNav) in Bad Gastein from 26-30^th June 2016. The iNav is a meeting that aims to bring together a diverse group of scientists from backgrounds such as (cognitive) neuroscience, animal behaviour and ethology, theoretical neurobiology and robotics to shed some light into the neural systems involved in spatial cognition and navigation.

Mary presented a poster showcasing her PhD research with the topic “How do we get there? The effects of cognitive ageing on map reading abilities.” – a study using ‘you-are-here maps’ and a virtual care environment to investigate orientation experiences of older people with memory difficulties.

Ramona presented a poster with preliminary results of her study on “Effects of Aging on Landmark Recognition” that investigates what features of landmarks are helpful for older people to memorize a route. Jan gave a talk about “The effects of typical and atypical ageing on orientation and navigation behaviour” where he presented two studies about the effects of ageing on different route learning strategies.

Jan additionally co-hosted a discussion on how compatible virtual reality navigation is with real-life navigation

13 July 2016

The Graduate School visits Liverpool

PG research ccutler

On the 4th and 5th of July, three members of the Graduate School attended the annual UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) Conference in Liverpool. Dr Julia Taylor presented a co-authored paper on the ‘Development of a New Model for Doctoral Supervisory Training at Bournemouth University’. The Conference attracted delegates from more than 75 Higher Education Institutes from across the UK. The presentation was delivered in the prestigious Council Chamber of Liverpool Town Hall and generated an interesting discussion around BU’s innovative approach to supervisory training and how other higher education institutes can implement similar methods.

12 July 2016

Brexit and the implications for Open Access

BRIAN, open access, PG research, Publishing jharris

Whilst it’s relatively early to predict what Brexit will mean for Open Access in the UK, JISC recently released a blog post outlining the main issues that will arise from the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

The blog post raises issues around the future of EU OA policy and also funding.

At the present time, it appears the main effect of Brexit will be to create greater reliance on Green OA (usually accepted, peer-reviewed versions of outputs) rather than gold paid open access owing to fluctuating financial markets and uncertainty surrounding future European funding.

Library and Learning Support have recently created a OA support video, looking at the benefits of OA and how you can make your research OA through engaging with BRIAN and BURO.

Please contact the BURO team with any queries you may have and we will be happy to help.

Don’t forget our guide Open Access and Depositing your research

Category / PG research

2 Nuffield students gaining hands-on research experience at BU

RCUK Policy Internships Scheme

Public Engagement in the sunshine!

Making the most of the Library during the summer

EU AniM Workshop – Still time to register.

Multidisciplinary research: where Fusion meets REF

An update on Academy of Marketing funded research

PGR Feedback – we need your help!

IFOMPT 2016

SmartAbility gets the Green Light at Silverstone Circuit

BUDI presents at the iNav international conference in Bad Gastein (Austria)

The Graduate School visits Liverpool

Brexit and the implications for Open Access

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UKRI

Category / PG research

The Centre for Qualitative Research is kicking off its new seminar series on Wednesday 7 September at 1 pm in Royal London House RLH 201 Masterclass Suite.

New to BU and FHSS, Prof. Sam Porter (Head of Social Work & Social Sciences Dept. at FHSS) will join CQR’s Kip Jones and Caroline Ellis-Hill “in conversation” about “The Relationship between the Arts and Healthcare”.

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