October 4, 2024

Dementia in Nepal: new publication

BU research, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Shanti Farrington, Principal Academic in Psychology, on the publication of her latest paper ‘The impact of cultural practice and policy on dementia care in Nepal‘ [1]. This paper in the international journal BMC Geriatrics reminds us that our wider culture plays a vital role in both dementia care and policy. This study explored the cultural practice and policy influence around caring for People Living with Dementia (PLWD) in Nepal. It comprised four in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions with 29 participants, including family members, health care professionals, and other stakeholders. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

This qualitative research resulted in four major themes (each with several sub-themes): 1. Cultural practice in dementia care; 2. Impact of policy on the dementia care; 3. Service provision; and 4. Education and training. The authors conclude that is a need for community-based awareness raising on dementia and its care, to sensitize all relevant stakeholders to meet the needs of PLWD. In addition, capacity building of health workforce is needed to enhance their knowledge of and skills around dementia care.

The lead author is Dr. Bibha Simkhada, formerly in BU’s Department of Nursing Sciences, and currently based in the School of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. Further co-authors are Pallavi Simkhada, PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, Sanju Thapa Magar, based at Aging Nepal and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, in BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health.

Reference:

Simkhada, B., Magar, S.T., Simkhada, P., Farrington, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2024) The impact of cultural practice and policy on dementia care in Nepal, BMC Geriatrics24, 842 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05438-8

April 10, 2024

Dr Shanti Farrington presenting on dementia

BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, Knowledge Exchange, Publishing, Research Centres, Research news, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

Today Dr. Shanti Farrington, Principal Academic in Psychology, presented our research work on dementia in India today. She was invited to speak to the ‘Research Participation Group of the Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at Bournemouth University. She addressed a range of interesting issues, for example she spoke about lack of training of health care workers in dealing with people living with dementia, but also in lack of experience in diagnosing different forms of dementia. She also spoke about the lack of experts neurologists in India, and the ageing population in this vast country.

The discussion with the online audience also covered the role of diet in prevention of dementia and the limitations of using online health promotion material and general information on dementia in English, where some many languages are spoken. The underpinning research was largely funded by GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH (Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health)

February 17, 2024

Interdisciplinary Research Teams/ Interdisciplinarist

Global engagement, international, open access, research methods, Research news, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist

Worldwide there is a growing interest in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research. This overview paper addresses some of the pitfalls and barriers to being an interdisciplinary researcher. Being involved in interdisciplinary research is not an easy option for an individual discipline expert. It requires individual skills, ability to see beyond one’s discipline and perhaps personality characteristics such as a great team player. Interdisciplinary research may involve a mixed-methods approach underpinned by conflicting, and according to some incommensurable, research philosophies. The paper uses some examples from our own experiences of working in interdisciplinary teams to illustrate its potential.

On Valentine’s Day we received a message from ResearchGate that our paper ‘The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist’ has received 2,000 reads.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Reference:

Shanker S, Wasti SP, Ireland J, Regmi PR, Simkhada PP, van Teijlingen E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist. Europasian J Med Sci.;3(2):111-5. Available from: https://www.europasianjournals.org/ejms/index.php/ejms/article/view/317

December 7, 2023

Promoting interdisciplinary research

conferences, ECR Network, Featured academics, Global engagement, humanities, international, Publishing, REF Subjects, research integrity, research methods, research staff, Research Training, Training, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week’s Bournemouth University (BU) advertised a forthcoming event in February 2024 ‘Early Career Researchers and Interdisciplinarity in the Medical Humanities – South West‘. To promote this event I would like to highlight some papers published recently by BU academics on interdisciplinarity.

First, Dr. Shanti Shanker in the Department of Psychology and Dr. Pramod Regmi in the Department of Nursing Science and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Department of Midwifery & Health Sciences published the paper ‘The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research’ [1]. This interesting paper is co-authored with two BU Visiting Faculty, Ms. Jillian Ireland, Professional Midwifery Advocate in Poole Maternity Hospital (University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust) and Prof. Padam Simkhada based at the University of Huddersfield. This paper argues that interdisciplinary working is within the team, not the person being interdisciplinary . Multidisciplinary teams provide unique opportunities for researchers from different disciplines (and hence different ways of working and thinking) to collaborate with one another. We need to be careful not to try to create interdisciplinarists, or at least, not too many. The worlds needs people who are strong in their discipline and open-minded/flexible/reflective enough to see the value of other people’s disciplines.

Secondly, the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences published our editorial ‘Public Health is truly interdisciplinary’ [2]. This editorial was largely written to counteract some of the jurisdictional claims made in Nepal by certain people in Public Health. These claims express themselves in arguments around the question whether Public Health is a single academic discipline or a broad interdisciplinary profession comprising many different individual academic disciplines. There are two quite distinct and opposing views. Some argue that Public Health is a broad-ranging single discipline covering sub-disciplines such as Epidemiology, Management, Medicine, Nursing, Health Psychology, Medical Statistics, Sociology of Health & Illness and Public Health Medicine. Those who support this argument, typically see: (a) Public Health is the overarching dominant discipline, which brings these sub-disciplines together; and (b) that a true Public Health practitioner amalgamates all these individual elements. Others argue that Public Health is more an overarching world view or interdisciplinary approach for wide-ranging group of professionals and academics [2]. In this view some Public Health professionals are first trained as clinicians, others as psychologists, health economists, health management, statisticians, or demographers, and so on and have later specialised in Public Health.

Thirdly, doing multidisciplinary research is not without its problems, hence we reflect on some of these in the paper ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward’ [3]. The authors are BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Nirmal Ayral in the Department of Nursing Science and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada and BU graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary (currently at the University of the West of England). We all are Public Health researchers, with very different educational backgrounds and training, reflecting the diversity of and interdisciplinarity in the field. Several of us have a first degree in Education or Health Education, but one has a first degree in Sociology. Whilst four of the five authors have Master degree in Public Health and/or Health Promotion, two have a Master in Education. Most of the authors have a Ph.D. in Public Health, but again the Ph.D. of one of us is in Sociology. The key point is that we are all working in Public Health.

Unfortunately the ‘Early Career Researchers and Interdisciplinarity in the Medical Humanities – South West’is for ECRs from the South West Hub only.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH

References:

Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences 3(2):1-5.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Public Health is truly interdisciplinary. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 6(1): 21-22.
van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7.

April 12, 2023

Dementia research in Nepal

BU research, Events, international, Research news, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday (April 11^th) Dr. Bibha Simkhada presented key findings from our research project on ‘Cultural practice and policy in dementia care in Nepal’. She spoke at the ‘Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal’. This annual health summit in Kathmandu is organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council). Dr. Simkhada, who is Visiting Faculty in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS), started this work whilst at Bournemouth University, before she moved to the University of Huddersfield to become a Senior Lecturer in Nursing. This project is a cross-faculty collaboration with Dr. Shanti Shanker in the Department of Psychology.

This qualitative study comprising four face-to-face interviews and four focus groups with carers, health workers and other stakeholders. The two key conclusion she presented are:

Stigma and stereotyping around dementia needs addressing. Nepal needs better policies, guidelines and service provision for people living with dementia and their carers.
There is need for inclusion of Dementia/Alzheimer education in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula of nurses, doctors and allied health professionals in Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

February 9, 2023

British Academy Writing Workshop in Nepal in 2022

conferences, international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Two days ago one of the participants of our British Academy funded Academic Writing Workshops announced on Facebook that the paper, we had helped her put together, had been published in a peer-reviewed journal. It is satisfying to see the fruits of our labours in print following two sets of three-day workshops in Kathmandu and Pokhara. The team running the 2022 workshop comprised three Faculty of Health & Social Sciences’ (FHSS) staff: Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Dr. Pramod Regmi, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and our colleague Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar at Nepal’s oldest and largest university (Tribhuvan University) and BU’s Visiting Faculty Dr. Emma Pitchforth, who is Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow in Primary Care at the University of Exeter. Dr. Shovita Adhikari has since left Bournemouth University to become Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Sociology at London Metropolitan University.

Over the years our team has published a wide range of papers on many aspects of academic writing [1-38]. The authors include: Prof. Vanora Hundley [3-5,8-9,14,16-19,21,23,28-33,36], Dr. Orlanda Harvey [2,22, ], Dr. Pramod Regmi [2,7,13-14,17,22,24-25 ], Dr. Rachel Arnold [20], Dr. Alison Taylor, Dr. Nirmal Aryal [14,24], Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, PhD student Mrs. Sulochana Dhakal-Rai [8] all in FHSS, Prof. Ann Luce in the Media School [5] and Dr. Shanti Shanker in the Department of Psychology [6] as well as several BU Visiting Faculty: Dr. Brijesh Sathian [1,7-8,21,31,34], Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhiikari [24-25 ], Dr. Preeti Mahato [11,20, ], Prof. Padam Simkhada [3-4,6,8-9,13,16-19,21,23,25-31,34 ], Dr. Emma Pitchforth [11-12,37], Prof. Bhimsen Devkota [12,16 ], Prof. Sujan Marahatta [7], Dr. Bibha Simkhada [9,14,25,27,29] and Ms. Jillian Ireland [8,20,22,27,31].

has build up capacity in academic writing and publishing in Nepal on many occasions and at many different institutions. This grant allow us to offer a more systematic approach to capacity building in academic writing, and it build a growing number of paper published by FHSS staff on various aspects of academic writing and publishing.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

References:

Sathian B, van Teijlingen E, Banerjee I, Kabir R. (2022) Guidance to applying for health research grants in the UK. Nepal J Epidemiol 12(4):1231-1234.
Harvey, O., Taylor, A., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Struggling to reply to reviewers: Some advice for novice researchers. Health Prospect, 21(2):19-22.
van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P.P., Wasti, S.P. (2022) Introduction, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 1-4.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Swoveet, P. (2022) Writing an Academic Paper, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 6-14.
Hundley, V., Luce, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Collaborative Writing for Publication, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 15-19.
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Shanker, S. (2022) Selecting an Appropriate Journal and Submitting your Paper, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 20-31.
van Teijlingen, E., Thapa, D., Marahatta, S.B., Sapkota, J.L., Regmi, P. Sathian, B. (2022) Editors and Reviewers: Roles and Responsibilities, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 32-37.
van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V, Dhakal Rai, S., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2022) Identifying an appropriate Title, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 39-47.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, B, Acharya D.R. (2022) Writing an Abstract for a Scientific Conference, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 48-56.
Subedi, M., van Teijlingen, E., Baniya J., Sijapati, B. (2022) Writing the Introduction and Background, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 57-67.
van Teijlingen, E., Pitchforth, E., Keenan Forrest, K., Mahato, P. (2022) Writing a Qualitative Paper, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 88-97.
Wasti, S.P, Devkota, B., Bhatta, D.N., Pitchforth, E., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Writing the Introduction and Background, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 112-120.
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2022) Writing up the Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 121-129
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Simkhada, B., Subedi, M., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P., Hundley, V, Khatri, R. (2022) Being Ethical in Writing and Publishing, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 153-161.
van Teijlingen, E., Venter, K. (2022) Writing a Book Review, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 162-167.
Devkota, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V, Wasti, S.P. (2022) Writing a Research Proposal, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 168-175.
Wasti, S.P. Regmi, P.R., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2022) Writing a PhD Proposal, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 176-183.
Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Converting your Master’s or Doctoral Thesis into an Academic Paper for Publication, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 184-189.
van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Acharya, J., Silwal, R.C., Wasti, S.P. (2022) Academic Writing: Final Thoughts, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 201-20
Arnold, R., Ireland, J., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Writing and publishing a reflective paper: Three case studies, Welhams Acad J 1(1): 4-11.
van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V, Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., Robinson, J., Banerjee, I. (2022) The Art of the Editorial Nepal J Epidemiol, 12(1): 1135–38.
Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, A., Regmi, P.R., Ireland, J., Rijal, A., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Co-authors, colleagues, and contributors: Complexities in collaboration and sharing lessons on academic writing Health Prospect 21(1):1-3.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. (2022) Writing and Publishing Academic Work, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books
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). https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v20i1.37391
Adhikari, S. D., van Teijlingen, E. R., Regmi, P. R., Mahato, P., Simkhada, B., & Simkhada, P. P. (2020). The Presentation of Academic Self in The Digital Age: The Role of Electronic Databases. Int J Soc Sci Management, 7(1), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v7i1.27405
van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, PP, Rizyal A (2012) Submitting a paper to an academic peer-reviewed journal, where to start? (Guest Editorial) Health Renaissance 10(1): 1-4.
van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada. PP, Simkhada, B, Ireland J. (2012) The long & winding road to publication, Nepal J Epidemiol 2(4): 213-215 http://nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/7093/6388
Hundley, V, van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, P (2013) Academic authorship: who, why and in what order? Health Renaissance 11(2):98-101 www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Download/vol-11-2/Page_99_101_Editorial.pdf
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, BD. (2013) Writing an Abstract for a Scientific Conference, Kathmandu Univ Med J 11(3): 262-65. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/43/262-265.pdf
Simkhada P, van Teijlingen E, Hundley V. (2013) Writing an academic paper for publication, Health Renaissance 11(1):1-5. www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Pp_1_5_Guest_Editorial.pdf
van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2014) Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic authors, Nepal J Epidemiol 4(1): 344-347.
van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Bick, D. (2014) Who should be an author on your academic paper? Midwifery 30: 385-386.
Hall, J., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) The journal editor: friend or foe? Women & Birth 28(2): e26-e29.
Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Roy, B, Banerjee, I. (2016) Grant writing for innovative medical research: Time to rethink. Med Sci 4(3):332-33.
Pradhan, AK, van Teijlingen, ER. (2017) Predatory publishing: a great concern for authors, Med Sci 5(4): 43.
van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V. (2002) Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper, J Advanced Nurs 37(6): 506-11.
Pitchforth, E, Porter M, Teijlingen van E, Keenan Forrest, K. (2005) Writing up & presenting qualitative research in family planning & reproductive health care, J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 31(2): 132-135.
van Teijlingen, E (2004), Why I can’t get any academic writing done, Medical Sociol News 30(3): 62-63. britsoc.co.uk/media/26334/MSN_Nov_2004.pdf

September 28, 2022

Two little mishaps in a row

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Integritiy, Research news, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

All research has its costs, we spend a lot of time as academics planning for and budgeting our studies. This starts with considering how much time each academic spends on preparing the grant application and finished with cost of dissemination of findings after the data have been analysed. We do risk assessments the try to reduce risk and mitigate unforeseen circumstances. My last two trips to Nepal both suffered from such unexpected events.

In May I traveled to Nepal with Prof. Vanora Hundley from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) as part of the ERASMUS+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) where we joined by Bournemouth University (BU) PhD student Sulochana Dhakal-Rai. Sulochana was in Nepal on the Turing Scheme, the UK government’s programme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world.

As part of this trip we had organised a one-day Systematic Review on Dementia Research Workshop on Sunday 29th May in at MMIHS in Kathmandu. This Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funded workshop was highly successful, it attracted 75% more participants than budgeted for, namely 53 instead of 30. However, the extra cost this incurred in terms of workshop resources, refreshments and lunches was not a great issue compared to the fact that I had contracted COVID-19 a few days before the workshop and had tested positive on a PCR test two days before. Thanks to the hard work of our colleagues at MMIHS, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Green Tara Nepal, and especially, Prof. Vanora Hundley, the workshop run very well. I even managed to make a guest appearance online from my hotel room 200 meters away from the workshop venue, albeit on a poorer quality internet connection than I would have had half way across the globe (at BU or at home).

This positive COVID-19 test also meant I could not travel on the India in early June due to COVID-19 travel restriction for entering India. There I had planned to meet Dr. Shanti Shanker from BU’s Psychology Department as part of our GCRF-funded project ‘Promoting dementia research in Nepal and India’. Again due to the presence of well organised colleagues the India part of the trip ran smoothly. Dr. Gayatri Kotbagi, who has works for us through the charity Sheetale Astitva, and Dr. Shanti Shanker managed to run the internal trip very well without me.

In August I traveled to Nepal again with two BU academics: Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Lecturer in Criminology, Department of Sociology & Social Work, Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health (Department of Nursing Sciences) and a colleague from the University of Exeter Dr. Emma Pitchforth. The main purpose of this visit was to run two sets of three-day Academic Writing Workshop in two cities in Nepal, namely Kathmandu and Pokhara. These workshops were funded by the British Academy and supported by Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar from the Central Department of Economics at Tribhuvan University, Nepal’s oldest and largest university, the charity Green Tara Nepal and Social Science Baha. This time the trip itself went very well, both workshop were very well attended, and even made it into a newspaper in Nepal: The Rising Nepal.

The trouble started after we had left Nepal. Dr. Pitchforth and I helped both fell ill some five to eight days after returning to the UK. We both had flu-type symptoms, including sore joints, night sweats, feeling tired, coughing, etc., although these were not exactly the same, my symptoms were perhaps a bit more like COVID-19. Which is why I did three COVID-19 tests in one week (all negative). It was not until the blood test came back from the NHS lab last week that my family doctor could tell me that I had dengue fever. Dengue fever is on the rise in Nepal. The national English-language paper The Himalayan Times reported yesterday (27th Sept. 2022) that dengue fever “has afflicted almost 26,000 people in Nepal” In July in the capital Kathmandu “…35 people had contracted the mosquito-borne disease. The number increased to 727 in August and 8,132 in September.”

I’m looking forward to my next trip to Nepal, as we have loads of on-going project. I have been going there for nearly twenty years, and having two incidents in two decades is not a lot, pity these came in the same year and on subsequent trips.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

May 1, 2022

Dr. Shanti Shanker publishes book chapter

Events, Featured academics, Global engagement, Publishing, Research Training, Training, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Last week Dr. Shanti Shanker, senior lecturer in Psychology, published ‘Selecting an Appropriate Journal and Submitting Your Paper’. [1] Finding the most appropriate journal for your academic paper is a skill. There are many scientific journals, with new ones appearing every year in just about every academic discipline. Prospective authors must ensure they pick an appropriate one. In selecting a journal, academics may want to consider their target audience, the standing of the journal within their discipline, the journal’s readership, and its reach and impact factor. Scholars may also want to consider whether there are constraints such as a high rejection rate of submitted manuscripts, the maximum prescribed number of words and/or tables, and whether or not there are submission or publication fees to be paid. But most important of all, the chosen journal needs to be appropriate for the paper in question.

Congratulations!

Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH.

Reference:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Shanker, S. (2022) Writing an Academic Paper, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 20-31.

April 15, 2022

Successful book launch in Kathmandu

BU research, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, Postgraduate Research, Publishing, Research news, Training, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Two days ago Bournemouth University (BU) Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen together with University of Huddersfield academics Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti and Prof. Padam Simkhada launched their edited collection Academic Writing and Publishing in Health and Social Sciences. This textbook is a guide for people attempting any kind of writing on social science or health science. Whether an MSc student, a PhD student, a health professional, a researcher, an academic or an editor, the book is packed with practical tips, expert advice, and examples to develop skills and build confidence. Each chapter addresses a different aspect of the art and science of writing and publishing. Written in a most accessible style, the book will be a particularly handy tool for budding academics who want to see their work in print.

The volume has been put together by editors with a long and wide-ranging experience as journal editors, peer reviewers, book authors and authors of papers published in scientific journals across the globe. They have brought together authors from Europe, Nepal, the Middle East, and the USA to share their skills, wisdom, and experience in the production of this very useful and usable book. The collaborators are all listed in the box on the side, but we would like to highlight those authors with a BU link. The authors include former BU PhD students Dr. Jib Acharya and Dr. Pratik Adhikary. We have contributions from both the current and a former BU librarian, Emma Crowley and Janet Ashwell respectively. There are contributions from several BU Visiting Faculty: Prof. Padam Simkhada & Dr. Bibha Simkhada (both University of Huddersfield), Dr. Emma Pitchforth (University of Exeter), Dr. Brijesh Sathian (based in Qatar), and Jillian Ireland (Professional Midwifery Advocate at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust). Several BU staff contributed to various chapters: Prof. Ann Luce, Dr. Shanti Shanker, Dr. Preeti Mahato, Dr. Nirmal Aryal, Dr. Pramod Regmi, and last but not least, current BU PhD student Sulochana Rai Dhakal.

The launch in Kathmandu was hosted by Martin Chautari and supported by Green Tara Nepal (GTN). Over one hundred people attended this book launch. Part of the deal with Social Science Baha and the publisher Himal Books is that the book price will be kept low to keep it affordable for students and poorly paid lecturers in Nepal .

August 23, 2021

New interdisciplinary paper

BU research, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Publishing, Research Integritiy, Research news, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Shanti Shanker in BU’s Department of Psychology and Dr. Pramod Regmi in the Department of Nursing Science on their paper ‘The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research’ which was accepted over the weekend by the journal Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences. This interesting paper is co-authored with two BU Visiting Faculty, Ms. Jillian Ireland, Professional Midwifery Advocate in Poole Maternity Hospital (University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust) and Prof. Padam Simkhada based at the University of Huddersfield. Co-author Dr. Sharada Wasti is also based the University of Huddersfield.

With interdisciplinary research growing in popularity, researchers, lecturers, journal editors and funders to consider how this is going to work in reality. This paper argues that interdisciplinary working is with in the team, not ‘in a person’. Multidisciplinary teams provide unique opportunities for researchers from different disciplines (and hence different ways of working and thinking) to collaborate with one another. We need to be careful not to try to create interdisciplinarists, or at least, not too many. We need people who are strong in their discipline and open-minded/flexible/reflective enough to see the value of other people’s disciplines.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH (Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health)

Reference:

Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences 3(2):1-5.

April 4, 2020

Psychological skills for health workers in Nepal

Featured academics, international, Knowledge Transfer, Research Training, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday Dr. Shanti Shanker (Lecturer in Psychology), BU Visiting Faculty Jillian Ireland and I produced a short three-minute video for health care workers in Nepal on the topic of living with uncertainty and the COVID-19 virus. Hopefully this will be the first in a series from our Bournemouth University team. The video is based on work funded by GCRF in the United Kingdom and supported by two NGOs (non-Governmental Organisations): (a) Sheetal Astitva and (b) Green Taral Nepal as well as Symbiosis International (Deemed University).

This video can be accessed here!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

April 13, 2019

Ten years at BU

BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Festival of Learning, Fusion, Global engagement, international, Publishing, Research news, the conversation, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

(more…)

May 18, 2018

New GCRF-funded study in South Asia

Featured, international, Research news, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

A new multidisciplinary project in South Asia, run between two of Bournemouth University’s Faculties, has recently been funded. The cross-faculty project “Scoping Study to understand the maternal health, ageing and wellness in rural India to develop a grass-root centre addressing these issues” has Dr Shanti Shanker (Psychology) as its principal investigator in collaboration with Prof Edwin van Teijlingen (Human Sciences & Public Health). These BU lead researchers have been working in India and Nepal for more than a decade.

This project was recently awarded £76k from the HEFCE GCRF (Higher Education Funding Council for England, Global Challenge Research Funds) Call, at Bournemouth University. The project will be running from 2017 to 2021 between Maharashtra, India, Nepal and the UK. This important research initiative aligns closely with Bournemouth University’s strategic plan around South Asia through Connect India. Connect India is BU’s hub of practice which focuses on the world’s most populated areas and a global region which is developing rapidly in many ways.

BU Research Blog

Tagged / Dr. Shanti Shanker

Promoting interdisciplinary research

Psychological skills for health workers in Nepal

Other services

Don’t miss a post!

Recent posts

Search by Category

Research Information Network

UKRI

Tagged / Dr. Shanti Shanker

The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist

Other services

Don’t miss a post!

Recent posts

Search by Category

Search by popular post topics