BU Research Blog

12 June 2015

New BU authored paper in latest issue of Journal of Asian Midwives

The latest issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives includes an article Twinning in Nepal: the Royal College of Midwives UK and the Midwifery Society of Nepal working in partnership by BU Visiting Faculty and NHS Poole midwife Jillian Ireland, co-authored by Joy Kemp (RCM Global Professional Advisor) and BU Professor Edwin van Teijlingen.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in the UK has twinned with the Midwifery Society of Nepal (MIDSON) to help strengthen the latter, through its Global Midwifery Twinning Project (GMTP). The GMTP aims to strengthen midwifery and develop leadership, advocacy, and campaigning skills both at the level of the association and at the individual midwife level. Reciprocity is an important aspect of twinning as the RCM also hopes to strengthen midwifery in the UK through greater engagement of its members and a raised profile of global maternal and new-born health. This paper describes the importance of collaboration between established national midwifery organisations and newly established ones. It includes a case study outlining the experience of a UK midwifery volunteer in Nepal. The paper ends with some thoughts on the effects of the GMTP project on midwifery in Nepal.

This paper is part of a larger body of research work conducted by the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health in Nepal.

Reference:

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.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

5 May 2015

Datalabs 3: Digital Storytelling with Data

Knowledge Exchange, R & KE Operations afeigenbaum

Digital transformations in communications have led to the increasing popularity of data visualisations and the use of maps and other multimedia interactives for representing complex data. Often, these visual data stories can better communicate the significance of research findings to policy-makers and the public. Beyond engendering greater comprehension, this turn to the visual can also tap into our emotions and cultural values.

Next week the Fusion CCCP funded Datalabs project brings you Datalabs 3: Digital Storytelling with Data. Bringing together academic colleagues, learning support and IT staff, UG and PG students, as well as external stakeholders and community participants, the Datalabs project is co-creating digital skills and data literacy through hands-on workshops. Our first two events have been oversubscribed, so please register early to secure your participation!

Datalabs 3 hosts two events.

Thursday

14 May 2015 register here

MASTERCLASS: Turning Numbers into Narratives: An introduction to digital storytelling with data
Time: 11:00-14:00 (Please note there will be lunch served at 12:30)
Location: KG01, Kimmeridge House, Talbot Campus
In this Masterclass, we will introduce the audience to the emerging interdisciplinary field of data storytelling research. Drawing on a range of contemporary examples, we will present a variety of techniques and technologies for creating data stories.

Friday 15 May 2015 register here

WORKSHOP: Digital Storytelling with Data
Time: 10:00-16:00 (Please note there will be lunch served at 12:30)
Location: W403, Weymouth House, Talbot Campus
In this hands-on workshop we will engage with data visualisation tools, gaining insight into the process that data storytellers use to get information online and out into the public. We will take participants from spreadsheet to headline, looking at how narrative practices shape the ways we design visualisations to tell stories with data. We will also reflect on the ethical questions that come with turning numbers in narratives.

23 April 2015

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities emilner

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Innovate UK

Portable Renewable Energy Generation. A project competition has been opened to identify and develop innovative solutions to generate portable renewable energy technologies that are able to work in a range of locations on underused or vacant land in Cardiff. Up to £1m will be awarded. Closing Date: 08/06/2015

Medical Research Council

Tackling AMR Theme 2: Accelerating therapeutic and diagnostics development. Bids are welcome for the broad theme encompassing the development, scale up and manufacture of new human and animal therapies and the diagnostics required to better target both new and existing therapies, and to monitor bacterial pathogen spread. Funds will be available to support research over 12-24 months period, and are expected to be around £200k (80% fec). Closing Date: 04/06/2015 at 16:00

UK-Brazil Neglected Infectious Diseases Partnership. This initiative will provide funding for collaborative 2-3 year research projects, focused on neglected infectious diseases in Brazil. Closing Date: 18/06/2015 16:00

UK – Philippines: Joint Health Research Call. The focus of this call is research into infectious diseases that impact the most vulnerable in society within the Philippines. Up to £3.2m funding is available with up to £640k available per partnership. Expression of Interest Closing Date: 16/07/2015

Natural Environment Research Council

Environmental Risks to Infrastructure Innovation. A budget of up to £1m is available for research that addresses the challenge of making our infrastructure resilient and mitigating the effects of extreme weather events and climate change. Expressions of Interest Closing Date: 28/05/ 2015 at 16:00

The Royal Society

International Scientific Seminars. This scheme is for Royal Society Research Fellows who want to organise a small two-day scientific seminar, specific to a particular field of science or cross disciplinary in nature, at the Royal Society at Chicheley Hall. Closing Date: 11/06/2015

Wellcome Trust

Research Training Fellowships. This scheme is for medical, dental, veterinary or clinical psychology graduates who have little or no research training, but who wish to develop a long-term career in academia. Fellowships are normally for two to three years and cover research expenses and the fellow’s salary. Closing Date: 07/09/2015

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

9 April 2015

Social Science Baha lecture series Nepal

Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Earlier this week Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen presented at Social Science Baha on the topic of research capacity building in Nepal. Together with many colleagues in Nepal and the UK Edwin has been working on a DFID and British Council funded project under the title PARI (which stands for ‘Partnership on improving Access to Research Literature for Higher Education Institutions in Nepal’). The invited presentation has been recorded by Social Science Baha and is now available online here.

The slides used on Monday are available too.

Presentation April 2015 Soc Sci Baha

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

5 April 2015

Invited talk Easter Monday

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

On 6th April, Easter Monday, professor Edwin van Teijlingen will present the process and selected findings of research capacity building work conducted in Nepal. The invited lecture at Social Science Baha in Kathmandu was originally planned for early January, but unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last moment due to a national strike in Nepal.

PARI (Partnership on improving Access to Research Literature for Higher Education Institutions in Nepal) refers to a project to support and enhance health research in Nepal; a partnership between Tribhuvan University, three UK universities (including Bournemouth University), and the Development Resource Centre (Nepal). The British Council and DFID (UK) funded PARI to help build research capacity over a three-year period.

Nepal has limited capacity in health research, which restricts ability to implement evidence-based health care. PARI aimed to move university lecturers away from textbook teaching and make them more critical of the academic literature available on the Internet.

PARI workshops delivered to Nepal universities introduce the foundations of evidence-based practice and outline key electronic databases of health care and health service literature available to Nepalese academics. These workshops were informed by: (1) a curriculum review of all health-related courses at the major universities in Nepal; and (2) a needs assessment with lecturers, librarians and students of the major universities.

Key message included that We need to move away from textbook teaching in health care and teach health-care discipline students how to find the most appropriate evidence-based treatment for each patient.

The PARI team:

Ram Sharan Pathak,Tribhuvan University,Nepal

Padam Simkhada, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.

Bhimsen Devkota, Development ResourceCentre,Nepal

Edwin van Teijlingen,Bournemouth University,UK

Julie Bruce,University of Warwick, UK

Pramod Regmi, Development Resource Centre, Nepal

Amudha Poobalan, University of Aberdeen, UK

Trilochan Pokharel, Nepal Administrative Staff College, Kathmandu Nepal

The work has resulted in two academic publications:

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. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/11375
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. www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/9185

2 April 2015

Publishing an academic book in a low-income country

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Earlier this year our book ‘The Dynamics of Health in Nepal’ was published by Himal Books for Social Science Baha in Kathmandu.¹It is an edited collection covering a range of current health topics in Nepal, including issues such as maternal health, HIV/AIDS, sexual health, road traffic accidents, non-communicable diseases and the role of the media and migration.

One of us had published several books, with for example international publishers such as Elsevier, Routledge (part of Taylor Francis) and Oxford University Press.^2-4All editors authors are UK PhD graduates from the universities of Aberdeen (van Teijlingen), Southampton (Simkhada) and Sheffield (Wasti) respectively. All three of us were based in the UK at the time of conception of the book. Padam Simkhada was Senior Lecturer in International Health at the University of Sheffield, Edwin van Teijlingen still is professor at Bournemouth University and Sharada Prasad Wasti was a PhD student at ScHARR (University of Sheffield). So it made sense to talk to publishers in the UK, which is what we did. However, it rapidly became clear that we could get a deal for an expensive hardback book, a book which would sell way above what the average academic in Nepal could afford. After some soul searching we decided to look into getting the book published in Nepal.

One of the advantages of publishing Nepal is the same most outsourcing to low income-countries, namely it keeps the production costs down. Rather than increasing our profit margins by keeping the low production costs, as it the typical case in the global market, we used this to keep the retail price low. The book retails for 800NR (about £5.50) in Nepal which means it is affordable to academics and postgraduate students in Nepal. Similar books from international publishers sell for at least £20!

We had some trepidation about the potentially quality of the book before we signed the contract with Social Science Baha. These low expectations were based on the quality of printed text books we had seen for sale on small stalls outside the Kittipur Campus of Tribhuvan University. One of these shoddy looking books was based on lecturers given by our Nepalese colleague Prof. Dr. Bhimsen Devkota. When we passed one of these stalls many years ago he pointed at a particular book and said: “See that book, a student who had attended my lectures two years in a row, copied all I said, and the materials I handed out, all of it word for word. That student then got it published as a book.”

However, our expectations were wrong. From the outset the publishing process was impressive. Social Science Baha employed a very professional proof-reader/copy-editor who picked up a lot of minor style and language issues even after we had most of the chapters professionally proof-read in the UK. The classic example of the thoroughness of his checking was the name of one for the chapter contributors ‘Sally Woodes Rogers’, he came back to us and said, “But her name on the web pages of the University of Aberdeen is ‘Sarah’ not ‘Sally’, are you sure?” At which point we had to assure him that ‘Sarah’ was her correct birth name but that she wanted herself to be known as ‘Sally’.

The final version of our book looks very good. The cover is beautifully printed; the font, chapter lay-out and overall style are of a very high quality. Our book has the feel of a typical academic book published in Europe or North America. There is really nothing about it that says this book is published in a low-income country.

The book has been well received at its launch in Kathmandu in January 2015. The first published book review was also very complementary.⁵ Last but not least, having produced a great looking book, for us the final feel-good factor is that we agreed to donate all profits from the sale of the book to the charity Green Tara Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Prof. Padam Simkhada

Dr. Sharada P. Wasti

References:

Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.(eds.) (2015)The Dynamics of Health in Nepal,Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha&Himal Books
DeVries, R., Benoit, C., Teijlingen van, E., Wrede, S. (eds.) (2001) Birth by Design: Pregnancy, Midwifery Care and Midwifery in North America and Europe,New York: Routledge.
Taylor R., Smith, B.,Teijlingen van, E. (eds.) (2003) Health & Illness in the Community: an Oxford Core Text, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alder, B. Abraham, C., van Teijlingen, E., Porter, M. (eds.) (2009) Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine: An Illustrated Colour Text (third edn), Edinburgh: Elsevier Science.
Pradhan S. (2015) Book review The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Public Health Perspective 5(2) on line journal: http://www.phpnepal.org/index.php?listId=943

26 March 2015

REF update: HEFCE’s REFlections event, 25 March 2015

Research assessment Julie Northam

I went to HEFCE’s (rather cleverly named) REFlections event on Wednesday to hear about the review of REF 2014 and plans for the future of research assessment.

The key points were:

Collaboration and multi-/interdisciplinary research are likely to be important for the next REF
HEFCE have commissioned Elsevier to undertake a project on measuring multidisciplinary research to inform the next REF
The REF impact case studies database went live yesterday and is an excellent resource
Dual support system is likely to stay
Impact case studies are likely to stay, however, the impact template may change/become obsolete
Peer review will stay, informed by metrics in some disciplines (akin to REF 2014)
Metrics are not yet robust enough to have a metrics-driven REF. In particular, this is not yet possible for the assessment of outputs or impact. It is possible, however, to rely more heavily on metrics for the environment assessment and there could be changes to this part for the next REF.

HEFCE plan to consult with the sector on future plans for the REF this coming autumn.

Further information:

REF Manager’s Report was published this month, available here: http://www.ref.ac.uk/media/ref/content/pub/REF%20managers%20report%20-%20final.pdf.
Report of the nature, scale and beneficiaries of research impact in REF 2014, available here: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/Independentresearch/2015/Analysis,of,REF,impact/Analysis_of_REF_impact.pdf
Report on the REF 2014 impact preparation and assessment, available from: http://www.rand.org/randeurope/research/projects/evaluating-impact-component-ref2014.html
Information on HEFCE’s independent review on the role of metrics in research assessment, available from: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/rsrch/metrics/

19 March 2015

Policy brief on Obesity

Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today my colleagues at the University of Aberdeen’s Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) published their latest HERU Policy Brief on ‘Gaining pounds by losing pounds: research finds financial incentives could help reduce obesity’. The policy brief is now available on line. These policy briefs are concise summaries of the findings of research projects, presented with a focus on policy implications. Linking research findings to possible policy improvements increase the chance that our research has an impact on the wider society. Furthermore, that our research has an impact in REF terms.

This latest policy brief ‘Gaining pounds by losing pounds: research finds financial incentives could help reduce obesity’ is part of a larger project called PROGRESS (Prevent Obesity GRowing Economic Synthesis Study), funded by the National Preventative Research Initiative (NPRI) and the Universities of Aberdeen and Melbourne. The project started when I was still at the University of Aberdeen, before I came down to Bournemouth more than five years ago now. Our research highlights that despite evidence that dietary interventions are the most effective way to lose weight, respondents preferred lifestyle interventions involving physical activity. Also that behaviour-change support improves effectiveness of interventions, but its value to participants was limited. A general preference to maintain current lifestyles, together with the sensitivity of take-up to financial costs, suggests financial incentives could be used to help maximise up-take of healthy lifestyle interventions. Finally, men required more compensation to take up healthier lifestyles.

Full details on methods and results are available in the health economics paper due to be published later this year, currently ‘published ahead of print’ (Ryan et al. 2014).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

Reference:

Ryan, M., Yi, D., Avenell, A., Douglas, F., Aucott, L., van Teijlingen, E. & Vale, L. (2014) Gaining pounds by losing pounds: preferences for lifestyle interventions to reduce obesity, Health Economics, Policy & Law, [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1017/s1744133114000413.

6 March 2015

Two new CMMPH publications this week!

Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Dr. Jenny Hall published her interesting piece on Nursing Times.net under the title ‘Time-wasters in A&E: time to shake the label’. Jenny uses quite a sociological argument highlighting that “However, labels such as time waster are unhelpful and inappropriate. Instead we have a duty to provide a service that is caring, compassionate and welcoming – no matter the pressures. “

The second CMMPH paper this week is by Professor Emeritus Paul Lewis and BU Visiting Faculty Jillian Ireland in collaboration with Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust midwife Danielle Freemantle. Their paper ‘The loss of midwifery supervision: to mourn or rejoice?’ in the March edition of The Practising Midwife reflects on and discusses some of the possible consequences of the NMC’s decision to end statutory supervision of midwives in the UK.

Congratulations to all!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

13 January 2015

Huffington Post Blog BU by PhD student Sheetal Sharma

PG research, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

FHSS PhD student Sheetal Sharma and ICS Integrare’s Petra ten Hoope-Bender discuss issues around the evidence to support the policy direction after the Millennium Development Goals come to end in 2015. The global research and policy community has been gathering the evidence and the lessons learnt on what has worked for whom and how. They remind us that the UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group has identified 17 new goals that cover far-reaching sustainable development issues, such as ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests. Read all at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/petra-ten-hoopebender/women-newborns-and-health_b_6459614.html

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

7 January 2015

Book launch in Kathmandu

PG research, Publishing, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

This week sees the publication of a new book co-edited by BU Professor Edwin van Teijlingen. The book The Dynamics of Health in Nepal is published for Social Science Baha by Himal Books in Nepal. The lead editor Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti was awarded his MSc from the University of Aberdeen and his PhD from the University of Sheffield. The second editor, Padam Simkhada is Professor of International health at Liverpool John Moores University as well as Visiting Faculty in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.

This edited volume has 13 chapters written on various health-related topics that are topical in Nepal. Many of the authors are from Nepal who completed their postgraduate studies at a UK university. The chapters cover amongst other topics such as Maternity Care, Health of the Elderly, Road Traffic Accidents, HIV/AIDS and Non-Communicable Diseases. The book will be formally launched in a hotel in Kathmandu on the morning of Sunday 11^th January.

The book also includes a chapter by BU PhD student Sheetal Sharma. She co-authored the chapter ‘Customs and believes surrounding newborn babies in rural areas’. One of her collaborator was a PhD student registered at the University of Aberdeen and another at London Metropolitan University, whilst third collaborator is the founder of Green Tara Trust, a UK-based Buddhist charity.

Copies of the book are for sale from Himal Books in Kathmandu and all profits from the book will be donated to Green Tara Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Bournemouth University

28 December 2014

Capacity Building in Health Research is Focus of International Symposium in Nepal

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

On 3 January 2015, a day-long symposium dedicated to research capacity building in Nepal will feature mixed-methods research in health and health care. The event is jointly organised by Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal, two UK universities, namely Bournemouth University (BU) and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), and the Confederation of Epidemiological Associations (CEA). The International Symposium on Mixed-Methods Research will promote the use of mixed-methods research designs. International experts from various health and social disciplines will come together to present and discuss best practices in the field.

“We have been working for more than ten years to help Nepal build capacity in health research” said Edwin van Teijlingen, one of the symposium presenters and BU Reproductive Health Research Professor. “The symposium is a great opportunity to learn about mixed-methods research and its potential for research into public health, care provision or health promotion.”

Presenters include Dr. Rose Khatri from LJMU will introduce the background to qualitative and quantitative research. Dr. Bibha Simkhada will illustrate the use of mixed-methods as applied in a largely qualitative maternity care study in rural Nepal. Dr. Brijesh Sathian, editor of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, will outline key quantitative issues in a mixed-methods approach. Dr. Padam Simkhada, Professor at Liverpool John Moores University will discuss some of the intricacies of mixed-methods approaches.

Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor in Family Health International (FHI 360) Nepal on an HIV/AIDS (a programme funded project by the World Bank) will present some of the practical issues of working in the field of HIV research using mixed methods. BU professor Edwin van Teijlingen will discuss some of the more theoretical issues and offer some advice on writing up and publishing mixed-methods studies.

The symposium presenters have all conducted health research in Nepal and between them have more than one hundred scientific papers and book chapters on the country’s state of health and health care system. Both Prof. Padam Simkhada and Dr. Bibha Simkhada are Visiting Faculty at BU.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

18 December 2014

Building Public Health in Nepal

Awarded & submitted bids, Public engagement, Publishing, Research Ethics Edwin van Teijlingen

It has been a good end of year at BU for Nepal research. Last week we had an ethics paper accepted on ‘Cervical Cancer Screening: Ethical Consideration’ in the journal Medicolegal & Bioethics as well as a research paper on ‘Sexual health knowledge and risky sexual behaviour of Nepalese trekking guides’ which will appear in 2015 in the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences.

We also had an editorial accepted on the importance of mixed-methods research in Nepal by the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology. The latter is linked to our planned Mixed-Methods Symposium on Saturday January 3rd 2015 in the city of Pokhara, Nepal (see our earlier BU Research Blog).

Yesterday we heard that we have been successful in our grant application to THET. Our grant forms part of the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) that funds health partnerships to carry out training and capacity-building projects in low-income countries. The Scheme is funded by the UK Department for International Development and managed by THET.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

15 December 2014

Symposium Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education on LSE Blog

BU Challenges, Fusion, Public engagement, Research assessment Edwin van Teijlingen

The LSE Impact Blog reports a piece by BU’s Zoë Sheppard, Vanora Hundley, Edwin van Teijlingen & Paul Thompson.

The LSE Blog presents the challenges of impact in healthcare recently discussed at a symposium held by the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education at Bournemouth University. As the results of the Research Excellence Framework 2014 are ut this week, the LSE Blog raises some timely issues on the implementation of impact point to further collaborations needed on the impact agenda in medicine and health care more generally.

The LSE Blog can be found at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/12/15/the-impact-agenda-in-healthcare/

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

13 December 2014

Masterclass Systematic Reviewing

Edwin van Teijlingen

We a happy to announce a two-day Masterclass on Systematic Reviewing at Bournemouth University led by Professors Hundley and van Teijlingen. One way of collating and assessing the best possible evidence is through a method called ‘systematic reviewing’. Systematic reviewing is a specific research method whereby a structured, rigorous, and objective approach is used to provide a critical synthesis of the available evidence on a particular topic. This masterclass will examine the rationale for systematic reviews and take participants through the various elements of a systematic review: selecting (electronic) databases; literature searching; data extraction; data synthesis; interpretation and reporting.

The Masterclass will be held in the Executive Business Centre, Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth on 9-10 February 2015.

Booking price and information:

The price of £200 includes lunch and refreshments and all class materials. Accommodation and travel costs are not included. Book your place online by 1 February 2015.

Find out more and book your place here >>

For more information call 01202 962184 or email us.

Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

17 November 2014

Examination of the Newborn (EXON) Pilot Project for under-graduate student midwives: an update.

Fusion, Knowledge Transfer, student research, Training Luisa Cescutti-Butler

In November last year I published a blog on the first pilot project I undertook with five under-graduate pre-registration midwifery students which was designed to enable them to qualify with the skills and competencies around examination of the newborn (EXON). The students were required to access and study the module with post-graduate midwives. Four of the students successfully completed the course in September 2014 with one student leaving early on in the project due to unforeseen family circumstances. The journey to completion was not smooth. The first hurdle was a clash of assessments. The EXON assessment (a presentation) fell in the same week as Complex Care (CC), a third year unit assessment where students are required to undergo a VIVA and manage two obstetric emergencies. It is a stressful experience and therefore three of the students requested an extension to their EXON presentation with only one choosing to present with her post-registration colleagues. As the EXON assessment took place on the Monday of that particular week and Complex Care assessments were running over three days, the student managed to negotiate to undertake her CC assessment on the Friday. The three students were re-scheduled to present later in the year with a number of other midwives who were on extensions or resits. One of the advantages of choosing to present in January 2014 was that the student was able to choose a topic that she could use both for her learning around EXON and for her extended essay which was due to be completed somewhat later in the academic year. The student was successful in both endeavours as were all the others but at a later date.

Another hurdle students found themselves confronted with, was a lack of opportunity to undertake newborn examinations including a shortage of midwifery mentors who could support the training requirements of the project. Two of the students could not get any of the examinations done in their own trusts. Fortunately for them, the maternity unit and midwifery staff at Poole NHS Trust Hospital were extremely obliging and supported the students to work there which enabled them to complete the practical newborn checks. All four of the students have successfully qualified as midwives and have obtained midwifery posts in the local area. They remain committed EXON and have volunteered to be EXON ‘champions’ within their respective trusts. I am grateful to Jeanette Elliot, Luzie Schroter, Jenna Penhale and Bex Coleman-Moss for their hard work and dedication during the pilot and for their feedback and advice for the next intake.

Demand for places for the second pilot project remained high when the call was put out a short while ago. Unfortunately due to some of the barriers described above it was only feasible to recruit five students again and all of them based in the west. The students have commenced their studies and are enjoying the learning so far. The pilot projects are helping to inform what impact these barriers will have on the training needs for midwifery students within our local maternity units as this year we are introducing EXON theory to all midwifery students on our newly validated curriculum with the caveat that students will obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge but not all with qualify with the required skills. However by ‘fast-tracking’ students onto one of our twice yearly CPD EXON modules which has around 20+ midwives enrolled, by the time the students reach their third year there should be many more midwives qualified in EXON and in place to support our under-graduate students to gain the competencies around newborn examination. If you require any further information please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler on lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk

13 November 2014

Reducing Avoidable Term Admissions’ eLearning project

Fusion, Public engagement, Training Luisa Cescutti-Butler

In the region covered by Health Education Wessex, over half of all admissions to neonatal units are babies who are considered term gestation. An audit of neonatal unit admissions undertaken by University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust uncovered three main reasons for term admissions:

(Mal) adaptation to neonatal life (27%)
Respiratory Distress Syndrome (18%)
Sepsis (13%)

The findings suggest that with better care in the immediate and subsequent postnatal period some of these admissions may have been avoided. It appears to be a national problem with NHS England recognizing an increase in term admissions as a key concern. Separating the woman from her baby can be emotionally upsetting and may impact on a woman’s ability to successfully breastfeed her baby. Babies when admitted onto neonatal units are subject to many interventions and may suffer short term morbidities. In addition to the impact on the woman and her baby there are implications for resources, it costs £500 a day to care for a baby receiving specialist neonatal care. Units who have reduced their term admission rates cite midwifery involvement as vital. Midwives work within multidisciplinary teams; therefore involvement of all healthcare professionals is crucial if term admissions are to be reduced. Standardization of protocols and guidelines appear difficult to achieve based on the various ways services are configured, therefore education on the basic principles of prevention is required.

Following an initial meeting with Kate Graham-Williams (Locum Consultant Neonatologist), Kim Edwards (Network Educator) and Teresa Griffin (Deputy Manager/Lead Nurse) to explore ideas of developing a learning package, a further meeting took place with Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Debbee Houghton and Carol Wilkins (Senior Midwifery Lecturers) to discuss educational outcomes.The meeting concluded with all parties agreeing to work collaboratively on an e-learning package and to explore possible sources of funding. Health Education Wessex has a responsibility to ensure that NHS employees are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to deliver excellent health and patient care, therefore they were approached and agreed to provide funding. Alison Potter (E-Learning Project Manager) joined the project and is managing all stages of the project. The project which involves Health Education Wessex, Thames Valley and Wessex Neonatal Network, Bournemouth University and selected supplier (LEO) have agreed to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-disciplinary eLearning module with an aim in reducing avoidable term admissions to neonatal units.

Luisa, Debbee and Carol are working with Kate on developing content (case scenarios) of the e-learning package and a workshop with all parties including supplier LEO will be taking place in December at Bournemouth University. A number of key professionals from the Wessex region have agreed to be reviewers including a set of parents who would have experienced their baby being admitted to a neonatal unit for medical input. The project aims to be ‘live’ in March 2015.

If you require any further information please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Debbee Houghton or Carol Wilkins on the following email addresses: lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk, dhoughton@bournemouth.ac.uk , cwilkins@bournemouth.ac.uk

2 October 2014

Bangkok comms conference launched

Tom Watson

Following the very successful first International Corporate and Marketing Communication in Asia Conference (ICMCAC), held in November 2013, Chulalongkorn University and Bournemouth University are again providing a scholarly platform for research into Asian perspectives of corporate and marketing communication in all forms and time scales.

The conference will be conducted over two days (January 29 and 30, 2015) with a keynote speaker on both days. It is organised by a partnership of two leading research and teaching universities in the field of corporate and marketing communication with the aim of creating an Asian perspective in research and scholarship.

Advertising, corporate communication, marketing communications, mass communication, media and public relations researchers as well as educators and graduate students from Asia and Australasia are invited to submit abstracts for paper and poster presentation at the 2^nd ICMCAC. Researchers from outside these regions are most welcome to submit abstracts with cross-cultural or Asian perspectives.

Professor Tom Watson is BU’s conference leader and organiser for ICMCAC. Professor Watson said the first conference had drawn papers from 10 countries ranging including many Asian universities: “It was the start for development of Asian perspectives in the fields of corporate and marketing communications, and associated area of research”.

For Call for the Papers, click on this link: 2nd ICMCAC Call for Papers)

There are three themes for the 2^nd ICMCAC:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia
Creativity in corporate and marketing communications, including creative industries perspectives
Cultural identity and norms in mass communication in Asia

General papers are welcomed on a range of topics, as well. The deadline for submissions is: Friday, October 24, 2014 to comira@chula.ac.th.

The conference website is:http://cuprimcconference.net

The venue for the conference is the Pathumwan Princess hotel, near to Chulalongkorn University and the National Stadium rail station.

: Conference organisers Jirayudh Sinthuphan (R) and Tom Watson (L) with Phanasari Kularb (C)

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Bangkok comms conference launched

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