Tagged / ehealth

Pioneering Research to Tackle Maternity Disparities: BU Academics Lead Major NIHR Initiative

Women's Academic Network

We’re thrilled to announce that Bournemouth University (BU) is at the forefront of a significant national effort to address inequalities in maternity outcomes. Two distinguished professors from across our faculties, Professor Huseyin Dogan and Professor Vanora Hundley, have been appointed to lead crucial workstreams within the prestigious National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maternity Disparities project over the next five years.

This vital initiative aims to make a tangible difference in the lives of mothers and babies by tackling the complex factors that contribute to disparities in maternity care and outcomes.

Professor Huseyin Dogan will co-lead the Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science workstream. His expertise will be instrumental in leveraging innovative digital tools and robust data analysis to better understand and address existing inequalities. This workstream will focus on developing effective strategies for monitoring progress and ensuring that evidence-based interventions are successfully implemented in practice. Prof Dogan has also played a pivotal role in curriculum innovation at BU, co-founding several innovative MSc programs, including the UK’s first MSc Digital Health.

Professor Vanora Hundley has been appointed as a Capacity Training and Development Lead. As part of the Capacity Development Group, she will be responsible for developing an ambitious programme to inspire, develop and support the next generation of maternity disparities researchers. Vanora will also oversee the capacity development programme within the MIHERC collaboration. She is an experienced mentor for career young researchers and has received international recognition for her work in mentoring clinical academics: Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2020) and a European Recognition award (2023).

Adding further strength to this ambitious project, Professor Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr Deniz Cetinkaya will also be integral members of the team, providing their expertise and support over the next five years.

This significant involvement in the NIHR Maternity Disparities project is also anticipated to bring substantial research funding to BU, with projections estimating over one million pounds will be secured over the next five years through their respective roles and internal consortium project proposals. This investment will further fuel their research and impact in this critical area.

In a proactive move to lay the groundwork for the NIHR project, the BU team has collaborated with Sheffield Hallam University to establish the Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC). This dedicated centre will serve as a hub for cutting-edge research, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in maternal and infant health equity. We encourage you to explore the centre’s website for more information: https://miherc.org/.

MIHERC is already actively engaged in shaping the discourse around these critical issues. The team has commenced the organisation and chairing of impactful events, including the upcoming Artificial Intelligence for Maternity and Women’s Health and Wellbeing session at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AIiH 2025). Further details about this exciting session can be found here: https://aiih.cc/maternity-and-women-health-wellbeing/.

Locally, the project will benefit from strong collaborations within Dorset. The team is working closely with NHS Dorset and Dorset Women CIC to address inequalities in women’s health.

This collaborative effort has already seen the launch of a valuable Women’s Health resource this month, demonstrating the immediate impact of this work.

The BU team is deeply committed to this crucial research and will continue to keep the wider community informed of their progress and key milestones over the next five years. This initiative represents a significant step forward in our collective efforts to ensure equitable and positive maternity experiences for all. Stay tuned for further updates!

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25

Bournemouth University eHealth paper cited 40 times!

open access, Publishing, writing

Yesterday, ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] had reached 40 citations!  This paper has four Bournemouth University (BU) authors and one author, Prof. Gary Smith, who was FHSS Visiting Professor at the time of publication.  This literature review, published in 2020, sought midwives’ perspectives on women self-monitoring their pregnancy using eHealth and mHealth.

The paper fund that  midwives generally held ambivalent views towards the use of eHealth and mHealth technologies in antenatal care. They acknowledged the potential benefits of such technologies, such as their ability to modernise antenatal care and to help women make more informed decisions about their pregnancy. However, midwives were quick to point out the risks and limitations of these, such as the accuracy of conveyed information, and negative impacts on the patient-professional relationship.

This paper will contribute to our recently awarded NIHR funding to tackle inequalities in UK maternal healthcare as part of the NIHR Challenge Call: Maternity Disparities Consortium.  Profs Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery and Women’s Health, and Prof. Huseyin Dogan and Dr. Deniz Cetinkaya from the Department of Computing and Informatics collaborate in MIHERC (Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre).   MIHERC is led by Prof. Hora Soltani at Sheffield Hallam University, and it is a partnership with Bournemouth University, the City of Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub as well as several charities and voluntary organisations.  Prof. Dogan has recently been appointed  the co-lead for the “Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science” work stream of the NIHR Maternity Disparities consortium.

 

Reference:

  1. Vickery, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Smith, G. B., Way, S., Westwood, G. (2020). Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Midwifery, 4(Sept.), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625

 

BU e-health paper read 4,000 times

international, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Our paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] reached 4,000 reads on ResearchGate today.  Obviously, there is a growing interest in the use of mobile apps as well as the more general application of mHealth and eHealth in the UK and elsewhere.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

Reference:

  1. Vickery, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Smith, G. B., Way, S., Westwood, G. (2020). Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Midwifery, 4: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625

New CMMPH midwifery paper

NHS, Publishing, writing

Today the European Journal of Midwifery published our paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’.  There are many apps to help women to monitor aspects of their own pregnancy and maternal health. This literature review aims to understand midwives’ perspectives on women self-monitoring their pregnancy using eHealth and mHealth, and establish gaps in research. mHealth (mobile health) is the use of mobile devices, digital technologies for health, health analytics, or tele-health, whilst eHealth (electronic health) is the health care supported by electronic processes.

It established that midwives generally hold ambivalent views towards the use of eHealth and mHealth technologies in antenatal care. Often, midwives acknowledged the potential benefits of such technologies, such as their ability to modernise antenatal care and to help women make more informed decisions about their pregnancy. However, midwives were quick to point out the risks and limitations of these, such as the accuracy of conveyed information, and negative impacts on the patient-professional relationship.  The authors conclude that with COVID-19 making face-to-face maternity service provision more complicated and with technology is continuously developing, there is a compelling need for studies that investigate the role of eHealth and mHealth in self-monitoring pregnancy, and the consequences this has for pregnant women, health professionals and organisations, as well as midwifery curricula.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

Reference:

  1. Vickery, M., Way, S., Hundley, V., Smith, G., van Teijlingen, E., Westwood G. (2020) Midwives’ views women’s use of mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature, European Journal of Midwifery 4: 36 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625

Productive week CMMPH

international, PG research, Publishing, student research, writing

Some weeks are more productive than others and this week the  academics in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) have been very busy.   Professor Hundley published  a paper  ‘The initiation of labour at term gestation: physiology and practice implications’ with two midwifery colleagues [1].   The further two CMMPH paper accepted this week were systematic reviews: (a)  Perceived Stress and Diet Quality in Women of Reproductive Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis; and (b)  ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [2-3].  Fourthly, CMMPH PhD student Sulochana Dhakal-Rai had a poster accepted at this year’s GLOW conference, which will be held, for the first time, online.  This poster based on her PhD ‘Factors contributing to rising caesarean section rates in South Asia: ​a systematic review’ is supervised by Dr. Juliet Wood, Dr. Pramod Regmi, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and Prof.  Ganesh Dangal (based in Nepal).

 

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

References:

  1. Hundley V, Downe S, Buckley S (2020) The initiation of labour at term gestation: physiology and practice implications. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology 67: 4-18  https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/best-practice-and-research-clinical-obstetrics-and-gynaecology/vol/67/suppl/C

  2. Khaled K, Tsofliou F, Hundley V, Helmreich R, Almilaji O Perceived Stress and Diet Quality in Women of Reproductive Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Nutrition (in press) 

  3. Vickery M, van Teijlingen E, Hundley V, Smith GB, Way S, Westward G. Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature.  European Journal of Midwifery (in press)

Spaces still available: Innovate UK visit- Health & Care at Innovate UK and Mini-STEAMLab 30/5/18

The M3 Network welcomes Chris Sawyer, Innovation Lead for Health & Care at Innovate UK, to speak at Bournemouth University on the 30th of May, 2018, 12:00-14:00. This event is an opportunity to gain not only information about Innovate UK and funding opportunities but to discuss the challenges facing health and care technology innovation.
Following the presentation there will be lunch and a facilitated workshop designed to bring forward ideas from academic and industry collaboration.
Academics from the M3 network and those from industry working with health and care technology are encouraged to attend. To book onto this session please e-mail RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk with your name and organisation.

HSS staff achieve eHealth publication

open access

Dr Carol Bond (Principal Academic Digital Health) and Dr Osman Ahmed (Lecturer in Physiotherapy) have recently had their work on online health information sharing published in the Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics.

Building upon their prior work on online communities, this study took a qualitative approach to explore the information shared by online discussion boards and how users shared this information. The study used diabetes forums as an exam, with key findings showing that much of the information sharing came from experience (including sharing their experiences from interactions with healthcare professionals). Drs Bond and Ahmed are now developing this work further by exploring similar patterns using other social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc).

This paper is available online at:

https://hijournal.bcs.org/index.php/jhi/article/view/853

Bond, CS; Ahmed, OH. Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition. Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics, 2016;23(3):620-626.

 

 

Hello from Osman Ahmed: Lecturer in Physiotherapy in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences

Hi all,

I’ve been a bit slow in uploading an introduction the BU research blog but wanted to say thanks to everyone for making feel at home at BU. I’ve been in the role of physiotherapy lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences for about 2 months now and am enjoying it greatly so far.

My clinical background is as a physiotherapist, and I have worked both locally (at Poole Hospital and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital) and internationally (in New Zealand). As well as working at BU, I am also currently working at Poole Hospital NHS Trust as an outpatient physiotherapist, and with the Football Association with their disability football squads. My work in this field is due to take me to Rio De Janeiro in September for the 2016 Paralympic Games.

My main areas of research interest are eHealth/mHealth, sports concussion, and disability sport. I was lucky enough to do my PhD at the University of Otago in New Zealand, where my thesis centred upon the use of Facebook to assist the return to play following sports-concussion. I am looking forwards to helping to educate the next generation of physiotherapists to be forward-thinking and able to cope with the demands of an ever-changing world.

Being Dorset born and bred, I am very proud to be working at BU at this exciting time for the university. I hope that BU can mirror the development of AFC Bournemouth (where I have a season ticket) with regards to reaching new heights and levels of success!

Best wishes,

Osman

New publication Carol Bond & Osman Ahmed

international, Publishing, writing

Bond+AhmedThe week saw the publication of a new book by Elsevier (June 9th) Health Through Social Media which contains a chapter by FHSS staff Drs Carol Bond and Osman Ahmed called ‘Patient Empowerment Through Social Media’.    Carol and Osman have a wide-ranging experience in researching and publishing about e-health, m-health and social media.  They co-authored this topical chapter with a colleague in Australia.

Congratulations!chp Bond Ahmed

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

 

Become a part of the new EU e-Health stakeholder group

The European Commission has launched a call for expressions of interest from both user and industry representatives to form a new eHealth Stakeholder group for 2012.

The group will provide a platform for the development of legislation or policy related to eHealth and will have two main objectives:
•provide input into design and implementation of eHealth policy activities, in particular the Digital Agenda for Europe on eHealth, and the implementation of the eHealth Action Plan; and
•deliver independent, sound and transparent advice, drawing on their knowledge and research.
The deadline for applications of interest is 30 January 2012, and those appointed will be expected be an active member of the group for three years.