BU Research Blog

16 August 2022

Café Sci: Tuesday 6 September – How can cities cope with climate change?

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.

We’ll be joined by Dr Hiroko Oe and Dr Ediz Akçay on Tuesday 6 September from 6:30 – 8:00pm.

How can cities cope with climate change?

Explore how major cities in Japan and Turkey have adapted to improve their resilience to the effects of climate change.

This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talk starts at 6:30pm, the café will be open early so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.

Attendance is free but booking is required

Should you have any questions about this event, or if you would like to get involved with a future Café Sci talk, please contact the Public Engagement Team; publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

15 August 2022

Could you help the Health Research Authority improve the research ethics review?

Guidance, NHS, PG research, Research Ethics Suzy Wignall

What: Join a workshop to help the HRA improve research ethics review

Who: Researchers and people who apply for ethics review

When: Wednesday 31 August 10am to 12.30pm

Are you a researcher in health and social care? If so, the HRA want to hear from you.

They are holding a workshop to gather ideas to make the ethics review more proportionate. The HRA want to hear from researchers and people who apply for ethics review about your views on how they can further improve the current service.

The Research Ethics Service reviews a wide range of studies with varying levels of ethical complexity and ethical risk. The HRA know that there are ways in which they can make some of the current methods of review more proportionate to the material ethical risks within a research proposal, which could contribute to an overall streamlining of review of research.

Their ideas

Introduce a tool to support researchers to think ethically as they design their study and before they submit their study for review
Make more use of expert Research Ethics Service and approvals staff in reviewing lower risk research
Delegate ethics review for studies within a programme of research to research institutions, cutting back bureaucracy for programmes which already have a favourable ethics opinion

The online workshop will take place on Wednesday 31 August from 10am to 12.30pm. To express interest in attending this workshop, please email engagement.team@hra.nhs.uk.

Rethinking ethics review: the public conversation runs from 13 June until 23 September. You can read more and take part in the HRA’s survey on their website.

Remember – support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS or social care – email the Clinical Research mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance section of the website.

11 August 2022

Interested in health research in Nepal?

international Edwin van Teijlingen

Today 11 August we are running a workshop at Talbot Campus (in person and online) facilitated by Prof. Sujam Marahatta on ‘Health Research in Nepal: Past and Present, Opportunities and Barriers’. The physical meeting will be in the Fusion Building room F111 starting at 14:00 and finishing at 16:00. Prof. Marahatta, is Professor of Public Health at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal. He is visiting Bournemouth University as part of the ERASMUS+ Key Action 107 which includes the exchange of academic staff and students between BU and MMIHS. Several of BU’s PhD students and staff have already been to MMIHS as part of this exchange. He hopes to stimulate debate and generate ideas that will help build health research capacity in Nepal.

In order to open the meeting to other researchers in the UK studying Nepal the meeting will be hybrid and also available via Teams.

Meeting ID: 399 955 418 574
Passcode: 6Uzh5k

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, Prof. Vanora Hundley & Dr. Pramod Regmi

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

28 July 2022

July update on Horizon Europe

Ainar

According to UK Research Office (UKRO), the UK Government has announced a new package of measures to support applicants to Horizon Europe affected by the delays in association. The measures aim to ensure the stability for UK researchers and businesses and their European partners.

The measures will only come into force if the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe and will ensure that there is no funding gap. The UK government remains committed to a strong research collaboration with Europe and has reiterated that association remains its preferred outcome. The UK Government is ready to formalise association to EU programmes at the earliest opportunity.

Full details about the new measures are available on the dedicated page of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) website.

The main message from the Government to the UK academics and research institutions remains the same – UK organisations can continue to apply to Horizon Europe in line with the European Commission’s ‘Q&A on the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe’ document.

The General Annexes attached to the main Horizon Europe work programme (2021-2022) ensure that UK applicants are treated as if the UK is an associated country throughout the process, from admissibility and eligibility to evaluation, up until the preparation of grant agreements. However, grant agreements can only be signed by UK participants if the association has come into force. Before that, normally, UK organisations will receive grant funding from the UK Government.

To finish this update and the whole academic year on an optimistic note, I am glad to tell you that in July 2022 BU academics have been awarded two Horizon Europe collaborative grants. This is amazing – congratulations!

UPDATE: just after publication of this blog we received information the from European Commission that the third Horizon Europe grant has been awarded to BU in July.

I wish all academics to enjoy the rest of the summer and keep promoting their research ideas in way of developing and submitting external grant applications. Majority of RDS pre-award staff will also be enjoying summer holidays in August to continue providing support after their return.

P.S. the recording and presentation from this year’s last funding briefing (Horizon Europe: Searching for funding opportunities and finding a call) is available on Brightspace. See you in September funding briefings again!

27 July 2022

New paper by Dr. Orlanda Harvey

international, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey and Dr. Margarete Parrish both in the Department of Sociology and Social Work on the acceptance of their latest paper ‘Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review’ by the journal Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes [1]. Orlanda was invited to write this review on the basis of her PhD research project. Her PhD used a mixed-methods approach with people using un-prescribe /recreational Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS) in several high-income countries including the UK. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids are synthetic drugs mimicking male sex hormones, especially testosterone, and are often used for their anabolic effects, for example, increasing muscle and strength. This PhD study resulted in several high-quality academic publications [2-4] as well as a feature article in HED Matters under the title ‘ECR Spotlight: From Social Work to Studying Steroids’ [5].

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2022) Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes (accepted)
Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E, Trenoweth, S. (2021) Libido as a reason to use non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 29:3,276-288,DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2021.1882940
Harvey, O., Keen, S., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2019) Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Literature Review into what they want and what they access. BMC Public Health 19: 1024 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7288-x https://rdcu.be/bMFon
Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E., Trenoweth, S. (2020) Support for non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids users: A qualitative exploration of their needs Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 27:5, 377-386. DOI 10.1080/09687637.2019.1705763
Harvey, O., (2019) ECR Spotlight: From Social Work to Studying Steroids, HED Matters 2(2):16-19.

12 July 2022

My Turing Scheme experience in Nepal

international, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Student Engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

My name is Sulochana Dhakal-Rai. I am a final-year PhD student at Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS). My PhD research is related to factors affecting the rising rate of CS in urban hospitals in Nepal. There are several reasons to choose BU to do PhD study. Firstly, this university offers strong professional orientation with focus on academic excellence and employability to multinational students from multicultural background. Secondly, it provides opportunities to students for undertaking different activities, for example – international student exchange programme. I am always keen to be involved in such types of activities for my personal and professional development.

I applied for Turing Scheme Fund to do research activities in Nepal. The application process was very easy. I had received positive support from my supervisors and team of international grants. I was delighted to participate in international mobility, because I had a chance not only sharing my research experience to student and teachers at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS), Kathmandu, but also to do my own research activities (secondary data verification and analysis).

Although, it was hot weather, polluted and over-crowded in Kathmandu, I enjoyed eating Nepali cuisine, meeting own people and speaking Nepali language. For me, there was not any problem in local language and culture. However, it was uncomfortable using public transport at times. I had suffered from of an episode of indigestion problem as well.

I loved meeting students and teachers of MMIHS. During my stay in MMIHS, I had the opportunity to share experience about my research study, using mixed methods in research study and my experience working as a foreign nurse in UK to relevant teachers and students. They were really good and inspiring people. I always received respect and support from them while I was there.

After this international activity, I have learnt how to work with people from different organisation and different place. I have developed my confidence in employability and career skills. I would like to express my thanks to Bournemouth University for providing me such a golden opportunity. I strongly recommend to other student at Bournemouth University to participate these kinds of international mobility programmes.

Sulochana Dhakal-Rai.

2 July 2022

Celebrating FHSS Visiting Faculty’s contribution

international, NHS, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Some people are unsure (or unaware) of the contribution of Bournemouth University’s Visiting Faculty. At many UK universities eminent scholars (researchers, teachers and/or professionals) are offered honorary unpaid appointments to enhance the skills and knowledge of that institution’s academic staff and/or students. Unusually, these Visiting Faculty members are hosted when there already exists a well-developed professional relationship between the Visiting Faculty and the university’s staff. The Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) has a number of Visiting Faculty members, including some local, national and international collaborators.

It just occurred to me this morning that my last two scientific publications, including the one highlighted yesterday on the BU Research Blog are co-authored with academics who are FHSS Visiting Faculty. Yesterday’s paper ‘‘A survey of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety and Depression among Flood Affected Populations in Kerala, India‘ [1], was co-authored by two of our Visiting Faculty: Prof. Padam Simkhada (in the School of Human & Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield) and Dr. Brijesh Sathian (in the Geriatrics & Long-term Care Department at Rumailah Hospital, Qatar). Whilst last week’s publication ‘COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU (neonatal intensive care units)—an exploratory cross-sectional study‘ in the journal Acta Paediatrica [2] was co-authored by two Visiting Faculty members from University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The two clinicians, who co-authored this international paper, are both based at Poole Maternity Hospital: Prof. Minesh Khashu (Lead Consultant Neonatologist) and Ms. Jillian Ireland (Professional Midwifery Advocate).

Both papers are Open Access, and hence free to access for anybody across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

Asim, M., Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E., Mekkodathil, A. A., Babu, M. G. R., Rajesh, E., Kumar, R. N., Simkhada, P., & Banerjee, I. (2022). A survey of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety and Depression among Flood Affected Populations in Kerala, India . Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 12(2), 1203–1214. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v12i2.46334
Adama E.A., Koliouli F., Provenzi L., Feeley N., van Teijlingen E., Ireland J., Thomson-Salo F., Khashu M and FINESSE Group (2022) COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU—an exploratory cross-sectional study, Acta Paediatrica (forthcoming) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apa.16455

1 July 2022

New BU disaster publication

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday the latest issue of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology carried our paper ‘A survey of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety and Depression among Flood Affected Populations in Kerala, India‘ [1]. This paper was co-authored by two Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) Visiting Faculty, namely Prof. Padam Simkhada (in the School of Human & Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield) and Dr. Brijesh Sathian (in the Geriatrics & Long-term Care Department at Rumailah Hospital, Qatar). This study is longer-term follow-up of the 2018 floods in Kerala. The authors conducted a cross-sectional household survey between November 2019 to January 2020 in one district of Kerala with adults who had been directly exposed to the 2018 flood. The paper concludes that the vast majority of respondents (92% of women & 87% of men) still showed sub-clinical psychiatric symptoms one year after the flood. An earlier paper had argues for further research in India to explore “the long-term sequelae of catastrophic floods on physical and mental trauma on disaster-affected populations” [2].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

References:

Asim, M., Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E., Mekkodathil, A. A., Babu, M. G. R., Rajesh, E., Kumar, R. N., Simkhada, P., & Banerjee, I. (2022). A survey of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety and Depression among Flood Affected Populations in Kerala, India . Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 12(2), 1203–1214. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v12i2.46334
Asim, M., Mekkodathil, A., Sathian, B, Elayedath, R., Kumar N.R., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2019) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among the Flood Affected Population in Indian Subcontinent, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 9(1): 755-758. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/24003

26 June 2022

Building International Partnerships

conferences, Fusion themes, international Edwin van Teijlingen

On Monday 27th June Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will be presenting at the ‘Global Partnership for International Research Meeting’ at the University of Huddersfield. The meeting is organised by Prof. Padam Simkhada, who is Associate Dean International and Professor of Global Health, as well as Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University. Edwin will be talking about his experience in building long-term sustainable and effective international partnerships, using examples from both the health and sociology field.

A current example he will highlight is one of Bournemouth University’s international research collaborations is the Nepal Federal Health System Project, led by the University of Sheffield. This three-year project (2020-2023) is funded by the Health Systems Research Initiative (incorporating the MRC, DFID, Wellcome Trust), it has partners in the UK and Nepal and bring together an interdisciplinary team of specialists in public health, sociology, health systems, social geography, health economic, political science, anthropology, medicine, emergency management, nursing & international development.

23 June 2022

Sorry, the publication of your paper is being delayed because….

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday a colleague in Nepal notified me that the publication of our latest paper has been delayed. This paper ‘Writing and publishing a reflective paper: Three case studies’ [1] is another method-type paper on aspects of academic writing and publishing published by BU academics and FHSS Visiting Faculty. A delay in getting in print is not uncommon in academic publishing, but usually the justification is that reviewers are sitting on the manuscript and not returning their report, or the journal editor can’t find academics to volunteer as reviewers, or the editor is ill. Occasionally the journal has too few papers to publish the next issue yet with your accepted paper in it, but this time the excuse was ever rarer.

We had submitted our paper to a brand new journal. A research collaborator in Kathmandu had asked me to submit a paper for the journal’s inaugural issue, which we did as we saw this a part of our role in academic capacity building in Nepal. The delay in publishing this journal is the shortage of ISSN [International Standard Serial Number] numbers in Nepal. Every good academic journal across the globe will have registered for a unique ISSN number [2]. Apparently the office issuing ISSN numbers in Paris head office has not delivered ISSNs to Nepal, and according to my colleague “many journals are waiting for a number …It’s not good news for the academic writers and scholars but we’re really sorry for late due to the unavailability of ISSN.”

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health

References:

Arnold, R., Ireland, J., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., (2022) Writing and publishing a reflective paper: Three case studies, Welham College Journal (accepted for publication)
van Teijlingen, E.R., Dhakal Adhikari, S., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, A., Aryal, N., Panday, S. (2021). Publishing, identifiers & metrics: Playing the numbers game. Health Prospect, 20(1).

17 June 2022

New paper on federalisation of health system in Nepal

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Earlier this week the editor of the Journal of Nepal Public Health Association informed us the journal had accepted our latest paper ‘Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal’ [1]. This article addresses some of the key Public Health approaches around the ongoing federalisation of the state of Nepal and the associated decentralisation processes in its health system. This is the third paper of our three-year project, which is UK-funded by the MRC, Wellcome Trust and DFID under the Health Systems Research Initiative and led by Dr. Julie Balen and Prof. Simon Rushton based at the University of Sheffield. The first two papers introduced our international research project ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’ [2], and focused on COVID-19 when examining the effects of changing Nepal’s constitution towards a federal republic on its health system [3].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health Research)

References

Sapkota, S., Panday, S., Wasti, S.P., Lee, A., Balen, J., van Teijlingen, E., Rushton, S., Subedi, M., Gautam, S., Karki, J., Adhikary, P., Marahatta, S., Simkhada, P. for the Nepal Federal Health System Team (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of Nepal Public Health Association (forthcoming).
Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., Subedi, M., Balen, J., Karki, J., Simkhada, P. on behalf of the Nepal Federal Health System Team (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146
Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Gautam, S., Ghimire S., Karki J.K., Lee A.C., Marahatta S.B., Pandey S., Pohl G., Ruston S., Sapkota S., Simkhada P.P., Subedi M., van Teijlingen E.R., on behalf of the NFHS Team. The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system. Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences. 2020; 3(3)

16 June 2022

Trusted Research – information now live

Guidance, Research assessment, Research Ethics Suzy Wignall

Within the Research Environment pages on the BU website, there is now a section on the Trusted Research agenda.

The Trusted Research Agenda is a government initiative to secure the integrity of the system of international research collaboration and innovation.

Please visit the page to find out more, including key details and guidance.

16 June 2022

Sign up for a new course on participatory research: last few places!

Public engagement, Training Amanda Edwards

‘Participatory Research: Doing Research Inclusively, Doing Research Well’: 11th & 12th July, 1.30-3.30pm, BGB216

Photo by Andrew Moca on Unsplash

Learn how to engage stakeholders and communities in your research in a more meaningful, collaborative way in this short course, led by the co-director of the National Centre for Research Methods, Professor Melanie Nind. We have a small number of places left for researchers at all stages in their careers – you can sign up here.

The course comprises two 2-hour workshop sessions for 12-30 people (optimum 20) plus recordings and additional materials. Both sessions will be in person at the Bournemouth Gateway Building, and we encourage academics from all faculties to sign up for both workshops.

Participants will gain clear insight into the multiple agendas driving participatory research. Together we will develop know-how in addition to know-what needed for participatory research. The group will work collaboratively to develop their own ideas stimulated by shared examples and real-life conundrums.

Day 1: The why of participatory research – Adding value

Researching with not on: The changing dynamics of research and rationale behind the democratisation of research
Making the most of lived experience to add value to research
Participatory research designs and methods – different ways of knowing
5 practical changes we can make and why

Day 2: The how of participatory research – How to enhance research participation and quality

Co-producing research proposals and project designs
Participatory ways of working – getting ideas from successful projects
This is my truth – tell me yours – co-producing findings and outputs
5 steps to doing research inclusively and doing research well.

Professor Nind is also the author of What is Inclusive Research?, Director of the Centre for Research in Inclusion at the University of Southampton and Deputy Director of the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. She has expertise in the areas of education, disability studies and methodology and extensive experience supporting the development of participatory/inclusive research both locally and internationally.

14 June 2022

Another CMMPH COVID-19 publication on fathers

innovation, international, Knowledge Transfer, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Visiting Faculty members Prof. Minesh Khashu and Ms. Jillian Ireland on the acceptance of their paper “COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU (neonatal intensive care units)—an exploratory cross-sectional study” has been accepted by Acta Paediatrica [1].

These authors, both employed by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, are part of an international team of researchers studying the role of fathers in maternity care. The first author on the paper, Dr. Esther Adama is Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Previous papers produced by some members of this team were both published in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing [2-3].

Congratulations to my colleagues!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

Adama E.A., Koliouli F., Provenzi L., Feeley N., van Teijlingen E., Ireland J., Thomson-Salo F., Khashu M and FINESSE Group (2022) COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU—an exploratory cross-sectional study, Acta Paediatrica (accepted).
Fisher, D., Khashu, M., Adama, E., Feeley, N., Garfield, C., Ireland, J., Koliouli F., Lindberg, B., Noergaard, B., Provenzi, L., Thomson-Salo, F., van Teijlingen, E. (2018) Fathers in neonatal units: Improving infant health by supporting the baby-father bond & mother-father co-parenting, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 24(6): 306-312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2018.08.007
Ireland, J., Khashu, M., Cescutti-Butler, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2016) Experiences of fathers with babies admitted to neonatal care units: A review of literature, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 22(4): 171–176

9 June 2022

RKEDF Clinical Research Governance Sessions

Guidance, NHS, Research Ethics Suzy Wignall

As you will be aware, RDS offers something called the RKEDF, or Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework – as part of this there are a number of sessions available surrounding clinical research governance. These sessions can be booked as a 1:2:1 or in bespoke group sessions with Suzy Wignall, BU’s Clinical Governance Advisor.

As always, general chats/specific discussions can also be booked in too – please just email!

The RKEDF sessions available are as follows:

Please get in touch if you are interested in any of these sessions.

For general guidance, documents and further information surrounding processes, take a look at the Clinical Governance website.

8 June 2022

Another research league table

international, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week Research.com, a prominent academic platform, published its 2022 Edition of the Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the area of Social Sciences and Humanities. Professor Edwin van Teijlingen, in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), is listed as number 234 in United Kingdom ranking as well as number 1238 in the Social Sciences and Humanities world ranking.

21 May 2022

Preparing for ERASMUS+ exchange to Nepal

international, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) shall be traveling to Nepal tomorrow (22 May 2022) as part of the ERASMUS+ KA107 exchange between Bournemouth University and Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu. They will be involved in teaching M.Sc. Public Health students as well as undergraduate Nursing students . Furthermore, one-to-one tutorials have been planned with MMIHS health researchers. There will also be sessions on academic writing and publishing following the recently published textbook Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences [1].

Earlier this spring Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health in the Department of Nursing Sciences, traveled to MMIHS as part of this exchange. His visit in April 2022 included running the ‘Migration and Health Research Capacity Building Workshop for Early Career Researchers’ in Kathmandu. Bournemouth University organised this two-day event jointly with the University of Huddersfield, MMIHS, and the charity Green Tara Nepal.

Two current Faculty of Health & Social Sciences Ph.D. students are also benefittng from being involved in this exchange. Yagya Adhikari returned back to the UK a week or so ago whilst Sulochana Dhakal-Rai will be arriving in Kathmandu tomorrow. Both will use this ERASMUS+ opportunity to developed aspects of their Ph.D. thesis.

Reference:

Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P.P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. (Eds.) (2022) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books. [ISBN: 9789937117609]

17 May 2022

Two new academic papers on COVID-19 research

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This month CMMPH has two new research papers focusing on COVID-19. The first one published in World Medical & Health Policy reports on a quantitative study of the availability of hand-washing facilities in households across Nepal [1]. This study used secondary data from Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 to assess the association between households’ wealth status to handwashing stations. The findings reported a statistically significant association between age of the household head, residence place, ecological zone, province, wealth status, having of mosquito net, having a radio, and TV at respondents’ household to fixed hand-washing stations at their households.

The second paper published three days ago in Vaccines is a qualitative study of of interviews with Nepali immigrants living in the UK and their attitudes towards COVD-19 vaccination [2]. Vaccination saves lives and can be an effective strategy for preventing the spread of the COVID-19, but negative attitudes towards vaccines lead to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Nepali community in the UK. This study found that attitudes towards COVID-19 are generally positive. Nine overlapping themes around barriers to COVID-19 vaccination were identified: (a) rumours and mis/disinformation; (b) prefer home remedies and yoga; (c) religion restriction; (d) concern towards vaccine eligibility; (e) difficulty with online vaccine booking system; (f) doubts of vaccine effectiveness after changing the second dose timeline; (g) lack of confidence in the vaccine; (h) past bad experience with the influenza vaccine; and (i) worried about side-effects. Understanding barriers to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine can help in the design of better targeted interventions. Public health messages including favourable policy should be tailored to address those barriers and make this vaccination programme more viable and acceptable to the ethnic minority communities in the UK. This Vaccine paper includes two FHSS Visiting Faculty as co-authors: Prof. Padam Simkhada and Dr. Bibha Simkhada.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

Sharma, M., Adhikari, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Handwashing station in Nepal: Role of wealth status in establishing a handwashing station, World Medical & Health Policy Accepted
Simkhada, P., Tamang, P., Timilsina, L., Simkhada, B., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sah, S.K., Wasti, S.P. (2022) Factors Influencing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Nepali in the UK: A Qualitative Study, Vaccine 10(5), 780;https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050780

Tagged / collaborative research

Café Sci: Tuesday 6 September – How can cities cope with climate change?

Could you help the Health Research Authority improve the research ethics review?

Their ideas

Rethinking ethics review: the public conversation runs from 13 June until 23 September. You can read more and take part in the HRA’s survey on their website.

July update on Horizon Europe

My Turing Scheme experience in Nepal

Trusted Research – information now live

Sign up for a new course on participatory research: last few places!

‘Participatory Research: Doing Research Inclusively, Doing Research Well’: 11th & 12th July, 1.30-3.30pm, BGB216

RKEDF Clinical Research Governance Sessions

Preparing for ERASMUS+ exchange to Nepal

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Rethinking ethics review: the public conversation runs from 13 June until 23 September. You can read more and take part in the HRA’s survey on their website.

‘Participatory Research: Doing Research Inclusively, Doing Research Well’: 11th & 12th July, 1.30-3.30pm, BGB216

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