25 September 2015

Sustainable Development Goals summit today in New York

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) summit is being held today in New York. As part of this summit the pope will address the United Nations in NY as will Bill and Melinda Gates who run the largest private philantropic organisation in the world. The key underlying principles of the SDGs are: (a) reducing (or eradicating) poverty eradication; (b) changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production; and (c) protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development. The seventeen SDGs are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1 Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1	End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2	End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3	Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4	Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5	Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6	Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7	Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8	Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9	Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10	Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11	Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12	Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13	Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14	Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15	Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16	Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17	Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) formally from today onwards. Key questions to be asked by researchers (and policy makers) include: (a) how are these SDGs different from the MDGs in their effect on international development?; (b) How successful will the SDGs be?, including the question: What do we define as success?; and (c) How useful were the MDGs, in which countries and for whom? These are ‘big’ system level questions, for those of use working in the field of maternity care more specific questions to address would be around priority settting. As reducing maternal mortality was one of the eight MDGs, i.e. recognised as an individual goal or target, but in the SDGs maternal health will fall under the overarching heading of Goals 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’. As health is only one of 17 SDGs and maternal health fits in with all other aspects of the lifespan does this mean maternal health has become less of a priority? Of course only time and plenty of good research will tell.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

17 September 2015

Joint project with Tribhuvan University

Awarded & submitted bids, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Today I attended a contract-signing meeting at the Department of Health, Physical and Population Education at Nepal’s oldest university, Tribhuvan University (TU).

BU, TU and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) have been awarded a Tropical Health & Education Trust (THET) grant for health partnerships to carry out training and capacity-building projects in low-income countries, such as Nepal.

The new BU-led THET project will bring highly experienced UK volunteers to train some 100 maternity care providers, such as Auxiliary Health Workers (AHWs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) about the key mental health issues in pregnancy and in the months after birth. A local charity Green Tara Nepal (GTN) will support the work through some of the curriculum design, sensitising UK volunteers to live in rural Nepal, assisting in translating, as well as helping to recruit the local health workers. The two UK universities have a long history of working with GTN as well as its sister organisation Green Tara Trust (GTT), a Buddhist charity based in London. The new project will be based in Nawalparasi in the sub-tropical part of the country bordering India. The target population consists of grassroot health care practitioners since there are no doctors in these rural villages.

The pictures accompanying this post illustrate the inequalities and the mix of modern and traditional in Kathmandu today. The city crowded with motorbikes and then occasionnally one sees a couple cows been driven through these busy streets. The green house is in the street in front of where I am staying and the shanty town building are the backdoor neighbours. The picture with text is the price-list ourside the main infectious diseases hospital informing patients about the costs of certain treatments, tests and drugs. A reminder that health care might be free in name for the poorest people, there are still many costs involved in gettiong treated in hospital!

This project is supported by the Tropical Health & Education Trust (THET) as part of the Health Partnership Scheme, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The following people make up the international project team: Edwin van Teijlingen, Padam Simkhada, Bhimsen Devkota, Padmadharini Fanning, Jillian Ireland, Bibha Simkhada, Lokendra Sherchan, Ram Chandra Silwal, Samridhi Pradhan, Shyam K. Maharjan, Ram K. Maharjan

16 September 2015

Where Numbers met Narratives: A Final Review of the BU Datalabs Fusion Project

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Exchange, Post-award afeigenbaum

Carried out between January 2015 and July 2015, our Fusion CCCP and RKEO Small Grant funded BU Datalabs project explored the possibilities and challenges associated with the communicative power of visualizations, maps and related interactive digital media for telling data stories on sensitive subjects of societal importance.

We use the term Data Storytelling to refer to the process of creating data-driven stories, from data collection all the way through to crafting the visual and contextual narratives that give data meaning(Greshon and Ward 2001).

Through a series innovative Datalabs events and workshops, we used a hands-on, participatory approach to teaching that combined principles of scaffolded technology learning and hacklabs (Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007). Activities included:

Data Scraping & Cleaning – Monday March 16 and Tuesday March 17, 2015
Data Visualisation with Mapping – Monday April 27 and Tuesday April 28, 2015
Digital Storytelling with Data – Thursday May 14 and Friday May 15, 2015
Mapping for Justice – 2 June 2015, w/ Richmond, American University in London
Interdisciplinary Research Week: Turning Numbers into Narratives: An introduction to digital storytelling with data –14 May 2015, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University
Festival of Learning: Datastorytelling: How to Give Narrative to Numbers –13 July 2015, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University
Civic Forensics Design Workshop – 20 July 2015, Friends House, London

Prioritising collaborative exchange, we brought together researchers, students, journalists and NGOs to generate key insights and co-create tangible outputs. Partners included the Omega Research Foundation, who co-author reports with Amnesty International, and Minute Works, whose sustainable design roster includes Greenpeace. Together with our partners we co-created visualisation outputs including the Data Distortion Layer Cake, the Reclaim Brixton map, and the #RiotID civic forensics project. Partners also went on to put their new visualisation skills into action. Our partner IRIN, a humanitarian news agency, created infographics and maps, including this interactive map of migrant deaths.

Feedback from our survey of Datalabs participants showed that most people’s familiarity with the tools and concepts taught during the workshops increased substantially, with most participants leaving the workshops feeling ‘familiar’ or ‘experienced’ with the basic tools and techniques of Data Storytelling.

Challenges and Opportunities

The emergent area of data storytelling provides both opportunities and challenges. Like any new digital skill, visualising data requires time and resources. This puts NGOs and small organisations at a disadvantage in terms of their ability to tell compelling data stories with visualisation. This disadvantage does not only manifest itself in the lack of resources to afford certain technologies, but also to afford know-how in the form of data visualization designers that are being “snatched up” by the corporate sector to work under Non-Disclosure Agreements (Wilson 2015).

In addition, while the rise of digital tools and techniques certainly diversifies the kinds of narratives we can tell with numbers, not all data stories are easy to capture. Sensitive subjects often have no straightforward data source, documents are scattered across agencies and organisations.

Our BU Datalabs project contributed to broader initiatives to bridge the emerging ‘big data divide’ that stands to leave the third sector and SMEs behind. Here at BU, we can help to narrow this divide by bringing together our skills and resources with stakeholder partners, to co-create visual resources and data stories for public engagement.

What’s Next?

Our BU Datalabs Report reflects on the key insights that arose out of this co-creation project. The aim of the final report is to show how other universities and organisations can use our model as a template, enabling their organisations to co-create data stories with public stakeholders. A preliminary version of the report was presented at the Data Power conference in Sheffield in June 2015. A further presentation is scheduled for November 2015 at the Media Education Summit in Boston, USA.

This year we are working to institute Datalabs activities and Data Storytelling education at BU through continuing collaborations between the Faculty of Media and Communication, the Data Science Institute, and the GIS Lab. We also continue to work with our partners as we prepare for larger bids.

Our next public Datalabs event is scheduled during the ESRC Festival of Social Science. This day long workshop on Datastorytelling will take you through the full process of creating a data story, from scraping and cleaning to crafting the narrative.

To find out more about the Datalabs project you can visit civicmedia.io or email: afeigenbaum@bournemouth.ac.uk or ethorsen@bournemouth.ac.uk

References

Gershon, N. and Ward P., 2001. ‘What Storytelling Can Do For Information Visualization’. Commun. ACM, 44 (8),pp.31-37.

Hmelo-Silver, C.E., Duncan, R.G. and Chinn, C.A., 2007. Scaffolding and Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42(2), pp.99-107.

Wilson, M., 2015. What Killed The Infographic? Fast Company, [blog] 6 May, Available at: <http://www.fastcodesign.com/3045291/what-killed-the-infographic> [Accessed 27 July 2015].

9 September 2015

Your most popular paper this week was ….

BRIAN, Publishing, Research themes, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Every week I receive an email telling me what my most accessed paper is on Academia.edu. As a research-active academic I would like this ‘top paper’ to be one of my research papers based on primary research or perhaps a systematic review. My second preference is that I would like it to be one of my few more theoretical papers and, if not that, then at least one of many methods papers I have published with colleagues over the past decade. But no, every single week a fairly basic ‘how-to-do’ paper is my most accessed paper. This week’s message is typical: “Your most popular paper for the week was Writing an academic paper for publication, which had 142 views.”

This how-to-write-an-academic editorial has been my most read paper for months now. It is a paper Prof. Vanora Hundley, Prof. Padam Simkhada (Liverpool John Moores University & BU Visiting Faculty) and I wrote in an attempt to help budding academics and postgraduate students in a low-income country to think about the process of drafting and writing a scientific paper.

Perhaps this paper is popular because there is a global need for it (Academia.edu also gives break down from where in the world the paper has been accessed). It is also possible that it is on course reading list or perhaps it is recommended on webpage somewhere. The paper is,of course, Open-Access which helps in terms of providing more people across the globe easy and free access!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2013) Writing an academic paper for publication, Health Renaissance 11(1): 1-5. healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Pp_1_5_Guest_Editorial.pdf

8 September 2015

Bestival 2015

Public engagement ocooke

Before I first started this job the last thing I expected was to be going to one of biggest music festivals in the UK, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! I have been asked to join the team going to Bestival, where we will be showcasing some of the world class research happening at BU within the very popular science tent.

Being given the opportunity to showcase BU’s research at an event that sees more than 50,000 people through its gates, will be greatly beneficial towards the public/student engage of Bournemouth University.

The purpose of our activities will be to host a series of tests which will give the public a chance to test their physical and mental skills against those of the best athletes the U.K has to offer. These will include a Jump Mat test, which will test the participant’s stationary jumping power. The next activity is the T Wall Reaction test; this will test the participant’s reaction time as well as their memory. The last activity will be the running gate, this will test the participants running speed.

Please keep a close eye on the @BU_research twitter account to get the latest updates and news on what’s going on from the festival itself.

8 September 2015

Workshop on Falls (Older People) 01/10/15 – Purpose to develop multidisciplinary bids!

Funding opportunities boardm

From recent discussions with BU colleagues it is clear that many staff across all four BU faculties are involved in research and practice that is connected to the prevention and reduction of falls occurring in the older population.

It is also recognised that communications between BU researchers in this subject area can be greatly improved and cross faculty, multi-disciplinary bids developed to meet future research challenges (RCUK and European Horizon 2020, UK Charities etc) and the improvement of falls services provided by the NHS.

RKEO is organising a 1 day Catalyst Workshop on Falls (older people) to be held on the 01/10/15 in the Executive Business Centre (EBC), Lansdowne. The workshop will be facilitated by an external company Knowinnovation. This workshop is open to ALL BU academics whose research could be applied to falls, indeed emphasis is now on recruiting non-medical related academics to the workshop, to grow the multi-disciplinary content of future bids.

If you think that your research can add to a multidisciplinary approach and you are able to attend the full day workshop then please contact Mike Board or Dianne Goodman or Emily Cieciura for further information and book your place (dependent on remaining spaces!).

26 August 2015

An Early-Career Academic’s Experiences: How Grants Academy supported me to supervise an Undergraduate Research Assistant?

Awarded & submitted bids, Grants Academy jgavin

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to enrol on the Grants Academy, working to develop a draft proposal for what would be my first research study at BU. Having been taught the art of ‘craftsmanship’, ‘free writing’, and then developing the proposal(s) over time, allowed me to reflect upon and begin realising my research idea. This led to a cross-faculty research partnership and a Grants Academy Small Grant award, to fund a preliminary study to determine whether leg position influences the effects of an electrostimulation device used to prevent deep-vein thrombosis. The pilot study aimed to monitor leg muscle activity and balance ability in healthy, older adults, to provide a foundation for the future study focusing on post-operative, older adults. Not only did the Grants Academy develop my proposal writing skills and an understanding of research funding acquisition, but also supported me to establish my research profile at BU. Shortly after the internal-award, I applied for the Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) scheme, which would allow me to supervise a student for six weeks during the research study. The project was successful in supporting a URA, who sadly finished earlier this month.

Once a URA myself (albeit at Manchester Metropolitan University), I felt was it important to involve the assistant throughout the research process, including: protocol design, recruitment, laboratory testing, as well as data collection, archiving and early analysis. The URA proved to be mature, diligent and self-motivated, and also a great laboratory partner. After an induction week, she quickly familiarised herself with the lab equipment and was soon able to contribute to refining the study protocol. Partly due to her enthusiasm, partly due to Grants Academy funding, the URA worked hard: achieving NHS Good Clinical Practice training, co-presenting findings at Festival of Learning (Research Reflections event) and co-authoring the study protocol for Clinical Trial Register recognition. She also worked closely with academics from the Faculty of Management, and Faculty of Health and Social Care. Based on the URA’s performance and commitment, my co-investigator and I have invited her to continue working on the project to disseminate the study findings (with conference abstracts and two articles in preparation).

Early data suggests healthy, older adults benefit more from electrostimulation with the leg bent (seated position), than having the leg straight (typical hospital-administered, lying position). These findings will provide the basis for the future study examining the impact of leg position in clinical patients recovering from surgery. So thanks to Grants Academy, BU and my URA, I’ve been able to establish a sustainable, cross-faculty research plan that will promote co-creation and co-production with students, end-users and research partners into the future. Regardless of where you are in your career, Grants Academy and the URA Scheme offer boundless opportunities for professional and personal development – much recommended!

Dr James Gavin

Lecturer (Exercise Physiology)

Department of Sport and Physical Activity

Faculty of Management

23 August 2015

BU PhD student publishes in Huffington Post

PG research, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

From Aspirations to Reality: How to Effectively Measure the Sustainable Development Goals

PhD student Ms. Sheetal Sharma in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) published an article in online newspaper The Huffington Post this week. In the article argues in order that the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are achieved in 2030 we set out clear he measurable guidelines and targets as well as mechanisms to facilitate that measurement. The measuring progress in itself is important as transparent measurement stimulates a culture of accountability.

With co-authors Prof. Zoë Matthews and Dr. Sylvia Szabo both from the University of Southampton, Sheetal argues that we need a Call to Action. Now is not the time for weakness, neither in the implementation nor in tracking technical progress. They state: “We cannot be conservative in our measurement of progress in the post-2015 agenda. The measurement framework must empower the implementation of the SDGs and improve equity, welfare and environment for all for greatest and most inclusive developmental impact.”

The proposed two-track SDG indicator framework for 2030:
• Track 1 could monitor political goals (about 30 impact indicators) to assess overall progress regionally and globally.
• Track 2 could include a larger number of technical indicators to measure the means of implementation or processes towards each goal (300 indicators, or more).

Sheetal Sharma is currently writing up her PhD thesis on issues around evaluation of a maternity care intervention in Nepal. She has submitted several papers based on her PhD work for publications. Her PhD supervisory team comprises professors Vanora Hundley, Padam Simkhada (BU Visiting Faculty) & Edwin van Teijlingen and doctors Catherine Angell & Elisa Sicuri (BU Visiting Faculty).

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Twitter: @EvanTeijlingen

Follow Sheetal Sharma on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sheetale

11 August 2015

New publication by BU PhD student Jib Acharya

Publishing, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to FHSS Ph.D. student Mr. Jib Acharya, whose paper ‘Study of nutritional problems in preschool aged children in Kaski District in Nepal’ has just been published in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Healthcare [1]. The academic paper, based on his Ph.D. thesis, reports on his mixed-methods Public Health study addressing attitudes and knowledge of mothers of young children (pre-school aged) in one particular district in Nepal. The research comprises a quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups. Jib Acharya, who is originally from Nepal, compares and contrasts the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of poor rural and poor urban women (=mothers) in that district. The research is supervised by Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

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.

6 August 2015

BU hosts a programming secondary school trip

Public engagement, student research shodge

Staff and students from the Bourne Academy recently came to Bournemouth University for a school trip. The trip was organised to thank the school for being involved with research projects in partnership with BU. The staff included James Foreman and Dan Orme, who both teach Computer Science plus Nicola Al-Jassar.

With support from Dr Christos Gatzidis, Principal Academic in Games Technology and Games Programming, the trip was organised to support the Academy students’ Computer Science classes giving them the opportunity to learn more about programming and projects at BU. The day was run by BU Ph.D. student Karsten Pedersen (Games Technology and Games Programming; Department of Creative Technology) and facilitated by BU Ph.D. student Sarah Hodge (Morality and Video Games, supervised by Dr Jacqui Taylor and Dr John McAlaney; Department of Psychology).

(Nicola Al-Jassar, Dan Orme, James Foreman, Sarah Hodge and Karsten Pedersen)

The students got to experience the facilities at BU by engaging in many programming activities; including how to program in Javascript from the basics to, later on, extending to a simple framework to make a Space Invaders-type game. The students were shown previous final year project work from students at BU. They also played some of the games made by students at BU. The Academy students were encouraged to build upon the code that they learnt during the day in order to support the programming that they current do at their school and also coding club.

Both staff and students thoroughly enjoyed the very inspirational day and hope to taking their programming skills to the next level!

31 July 2015

Mission accomplished: fish genetics and population restoration are fused!

Rob Britton

Our recent blogs on our fusion-funded co-creation and co-production project on fish population restoration were reporting our strong recent progress as our students began their placements – and all of a sudden, the project is now finished! So what did we discover?

Well, firstly, our students who completed their placements with the University of Insubria in Northern Italy have worked incredibly hard, with excellent reports coming back from our Italian partners (see below). They produced some excellent genetic data to help progress our work. Our placement students based at BU have also been working very hard (albeit in much cooler conditions!) and produced some excellent ecological data.

(Above) Our placement students outside the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria with Dr Serena Zaccara (3rd from left) and Caterina Antognazza (2nd left)

Secondly, through our co-creation with stakeholders, students and research collaborators, we have successfully revealed the extent of the disturbance of human activities on fish genetic patterns in the UK. We have revealed clear impacts relating to losses of genetic integrity of fish at the river basin level that we suggest affect their ability to adapt to local conditions – which could be important in the context of climate change. We will be publishing our findings in at least two peer-reviewed papers in the next few months with our students as co-authors.

Thirdly, did we discover how these fish populations could be restored sustainably? Yes, we think we did and we have already passed these on to the relevant authorities at our recent workshop, so these are being considered for implementation.

Finally, we have shown once again that co-creating and co-producing knowledge with our students, stakeholders and international collaborators brings multiple benefits, including enhanced mobility and employment prospects for our students. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience for all!

– Rob Britton, Demetra Andreou & Ben Thomas (all SciTech)

31 July 2015

Arjan Gosal one of our RKEO Research Reflections event presentation joint winners!

Festival of Learning Dianne Goodman

At our recent RKEO Research Reflections event at the Festival of Learning it was really interesting to hear about the amazing variety of research taking place at BU and to have them presented with such enthusiasm and different styles.

A big congratualtions to Arjan Gosal who was one of the joint winning presenters – please see below for a taste of his presentation – ‘Losing sight of the trees for the honey’.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment highlighted the importance of quantifying ecosystem services as being pivotal to the allocation of environmental resources though robust policy creation and implementation. Whilst biophysical and economic values are often used in conservation planning by decision makers, community ecosystem values are rarely quantified or defined clearly. Recreation, aesthetics and cultural ecosystem services are primary to this work.

A multifaceted approach using various techniques, including participatory GIS, spatial mapping, GPS tracking of visitors and use of existing data sets are explored in relation to the New Forest. Situated on the South Coast of England, it is a prime example of a historic natural landscape, from being a medieval hunting ground to a commoning system that survives to the current day. England’s most recently designated national park has over 34,000 residents and many more visitors each year. With a clear need to understand the dynamics of how people value the various habitats and areas of this national park; this work aims to provide a strong methodology for inclusion of peoples shifting views on habitats and changing landscapes.

Although a substantial amount of research has examined the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem processes and ecosystem services, much of this has been conducted at relatively small scales, and with a limited number of species. There is therefore a need to understand how these relationships translate to a landscape scale, at which environmental management decisions need to be undertaken. Thus it is important we don’t lose sight of the wider landscape when assessing cultural services, not just looking at the honeypot sights, so that we do not lose sight of the trees.

Please contact Arjan if you would like to receive further information relating to his research.

24 July 2015

New BU Research Methods paper

Knowledge Transfer, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday the journal Health Prospect published another of our research methods papers. This latest paper on cross-national comparative research has been written by five sociologists from Northern Europe and North America: Ray De Vries (University of Michigan USA & Hogeschool Zuyd, Maastricht University, the Netherlands), Cecilia Benoit (University of Victoria, Canada), Jane Sandall (King’s College London), Ivy Bourgeault (University of Ottawa, Canada), Sirpa Wrede (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University). We have been working together on cross-cultural and cross-national issues in maternity care and midwifery since the mid-1990s. Our collaborative research led to the edited volume Birth by Design: Pregnancy, Midwifery Care and Midwifery in North America and Europe (Routledge, 2001). The book was short-listed for the British Sociological Association’s (BSA) Medical Sociology Book Prize in 2004.

The paper in Health Prospect is the latest in a series of papers addressing issues around the method of doing cross-national research. We highlight some of the specific contributions the discipline of sociology can make to cross-national comparative research in the public health field. Sociologists call attention to often unnoticed social and cultural factors that influence the way national reproductive health care systems are created and operated. The paper is published in an Open Access journal so it is easily and freely available to anybody across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

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. info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/13036/10525

24 July 2015

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Project – ENEFOR

Awarded & submitted bids gfilis

We would like to welcome you to our Marie Sklodowska – Curie project “ENEFOR”. We proudly present you our website (http://enefor.eu) and we look forward for a live discussion on the project’s output!

This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement (No 658494). The project started on April 2015 and it will be completed on April 2017.

This exciting and innovative project aims to develop new econometric model frameworks to forecast oil price and oil price volatility, which will be successful in enhancing internal consistency, forecasting accuracy and easiness to communicate extracting added-value (in terms of predictability) information from the ultra high sampling frequency. In addition, this project aims to use the forecasted oil price volatility to predict the economic policy uncertainty in Europe, given that oil price shocks exert significant impact on the effectiveness of economic policy.

23 July 2015

UK Nepali community research dissemination event

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU and UKNFS jointly presented some of the key findings of their study into the UK’s Nepali community. The meeting (22 July) in the EBC was attended by local representatives of the NHS, the CCG and Healthwatch Dorset. BU Prof. Vanora Hundley, Deputy Dean for Research (FHSS), who herself has published several academic paper on Nepal or English-language academic journals in Nepal, welcomed the audience. She highlighted how the research fitted into the wider health and soial care research portfolio of the Faculty.

BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen’s presentation highlighted the issues of access the health and social services in growing Nepali community in the UK. The reports highlights health and lifestyle issues, help-seeking behaviour and the influence of culture on health-related decision making. He mentioned barriers such as language and knowledge about services (or lack thereof). The findings of this study relate to previous studies in the field of ethnic minority communities int he UK. Mr. Alan Mercel-Sanca, Chairperson of the UK Nepal Friendship Society thanked the key researchers Dr. Bibha Simkhada (BU VIsiting Faculty) and Dr. Rajeeb Kumar Sah for conducting this mixed-methods research to such a high standard. He also thanked the Big Lottery Fund for making this ground-breaking piece of work possible, and the NHS England Equality and Health Inequalities team for their interest in final report and advice on the research.

The Report offers a unique opportunity for local health crae providers and commissioners to improve their understanding of this particular ethnic minority group. In the long run the report may lead to more effectively service delivery, especially in terms of health and social services that are sensitive to the needs of the Nepali community. Moreover, the report’s findings have direct relevance to other South Asian and broader Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in the UK.

Finally, the audience heard how the report has been widely reported among the Nepali-language media to the Nepali community in the UK as well as in Nepal. This include coverage by the BBC World Service in Nepali, who interviewed Dr. Bibha Simkhada about the study.

The report is available online here!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

22 July 2015

Dragons’ Den a Roaring Success for BUCRU: ‘Now That’s What I Call Research!’

Festival of Learning Lisa Andrews

L-R: Mark Mould, Eileen Hayward, Alan Lindsay, Peter Atkins and Ann Hemingway

Last week the team from BUCRU hosted a Festival of Learning event to demonstrate their commitment to service user involvement in the research process. Using the BBC’s Dragons’ Den format, 4 local colleagues (Mr Bob Sangar, Dr Venky Dubey and Dr Neil Vaughan and Dr Steve Perring) showcased their research ideas to a panel of 5 dragons (who represented NHS service users) including Professor Ann Hemingway (HSS), Mark Mould (Chief Operating Officer, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) Peter Atkins (Carer and Service User Partnership, HSS), carer Eileen Hayward and service user Alan Lindsay. The event was expertly and humourously compered by Dave O’Loughlin from the HSS Mental Health Nursing team.

An audience of over 30 were entertained and informed about studying the best treatment for fractured ankles (Bob Sangar), a method for providing anaesthetists with the opportunity to practice siting obstetric epidurals (Venky Dubey and Neil Vaughan), and how the effect of cancer treatment on the central nervous system can be explored (Steve Perring). The afternoon was light hearted, fun and informative, with Peter Atkins kindly agreeing to be booted and plastered in the interests of science…

Audience participation resulted in Steve Perring’s project walking off with the dragons’ money, and Bob Sangar and Venky Dubey vowing to return next year for another bite of the cherry.

22 July 2015

The Midwifery quilt online- URA scheme funded project

Fusion, Women's Academic Network jhall

As part of my EdD thesis on ‘The essence of the art of a midwife..’ http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16560/ I created a reflexive textile quilt, with each of the squares representing an entry in my research diary. Whenever I have been to conferences with my quilt the question has always been asked ‘what do the squares mean’? Though I anticipate that anyone looking at it will gather their own interpretation of the squares my stories behind them are now accessible online. In the spring of this year I applied, and was pleased to receive, funding from the BU Undergraduate research assistantship scheme in order to create a web site for the quilt. For the past six weeks George Upson undergraduate student from the BA (Hons) Media Production course has been active in designing and creating the web site with me and learning about the world of academia in a small way. I am indebted to him for his creative abilities and to Garratt Lynch and Richard Wallis for their early support in the process, and also for the URA scheme!

The Midwifery quilt maybe accessed here http://www.midwiferyquilt.co.uk/

Dr Jenny Hall

21 July 2015

Improving Nepali’s health & social care in the UK: Presentation of key findings 22 July at BU

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Bournemouth University presents some of the key findings of the first study of its kind of the Nepali community in the UK. The report also shows the way forward for improved UK Nepali community NHS and social care provision. The research is a joint initiative between the UK Nepal Friendship Society, Bournemouth University in collaboration with the South East London Nepali community and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

Key findings from the report suggest in particular that the elderly Nepali population struggle to access cultural appropriate health and social care. This results in people accessing health services too late. Further research is needed on mental health, especially on loneliness and social isolation in the elderly, but also on minorities within the broader community as well as those with limited English language skills. Its recommendations have potential transformational value for the relationship between this ethnic minority, most well-known for its Gurkha community, and the NHS and social care providers.

Many Nepali people evidenced that they struggle with accessing and navigating NHS services, and that there are significant confidence-building requirements that need to be addressed concerning a revealed need for experiencing more equitable NHS customer service provision. The lead author Dr. Bibha Simkhada is Visiting Faculty at BU.

Ruth Passman of NHS England, Head of Equality & Health Inequalities commented:

“This report and its findings indicate the scale of the need for the NHS to have a better understanding of the needs of the Nepali community accessing in an effective and equitable way, and through its profile of health and wellbeing seeking behaviour of the community for the NHS to have the opportunity to better address in partnership with the Nepali community, its particular needs.”
Prof. Gail Thomas the Dean of the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences added: “Bournemouth University has a long-standing history of health and health promotion research in Nepal. This study amongst the Nepali community in South London reminds us of the importance of addressing health and well-being issues in ethnic minority communities in the UK.”

Mr. Tej Bahadur Chhetri, the Acting Ambassador and Charge D’Affaires at the Embassy of Nepal sent the following message:

This report is a most helpful contribution, to promote much needed change in healthcare provision for the Nepali community, especially with the fast approaching 200 years of special friendship and diplomatic relations between Nepal and the UK. The link between the two countries started with the Gurkha regiments becoming part of the British Army, and having been so to this day. The UK Nepali community will clearly benefit from the report and its recommendations’

Alan Mercel-Sanca, the Chairperson of the UK Nepal friendship Society added: “We particularly appreciate Dr Bibha Simkhada and Dr Rajeeb Kumar Sah’s dedication and high quality research in the Nepali community. We would also like to thank the Big Lottery Fund for making this ground-breaking piece of work possible, and the NHS England Equality and Health Inequalities team for their great interest in the value of the research. The Report offers a unique opportunity for our evolving NHS and the Ministry of Health to better understand and more effectively meet the needs and hear the Voice of the Nepali community – it clearly has direct relevance to other South Asian and broader Black & Minority Ethnic communities using and seeking to access an NHS that is equitable and effective.”

The presentation will take place tomorrow Wednesday 22nd July at 15.00 in the Executive Business Centre on Holdenhurst Rd. The meeting will be introduced and opened by Prof. Vanora Hundley, Deputy Dean for Research & Professional Practice in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. Prof. Hundley herself has published several academic paper on Nepal or English-language academic journals in Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

@EvanTeijlingen

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