Tagged / Health

New BU publication on birth centres in Nepal

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Congratulations to Dr. Preeti Mahato in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perintal Helath (CMMPH) on the acceptance of the  paper ‘ Evaluation of a health promotion intervention associated with birthing centres in rural Nepal’.   This paper is part of Dr. Mahato’s PhD work and will appear soon in the international journal PLOS ONE.   The journal is Open Access so anyone across the world may copy, distribute, or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited.

The research in this thesis used a longitudinal study design where pre-intervention survey was conducted by Green Tara Nepal a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) in year 2012.  The health promotion intervention was conducted by the same NGO in the period 2014 to 2016 and the post-intervention survey was conducted by Dr Mahato in the year 2017.

The intervention was financially supported by a London-based Buddhist charity called Green Tara Trust.   The results of the pre- and post-intervention surveys were compared to identify statistically significant changes that might have occurred due to the intervention and also to determine the factors affecting place of birth.   This study is co-authored by Professors Edwin van Teijlingen and Vanora Hundley and Dr Catherine Angell from CMMPH and FHSS Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada (based at the University of Huddersfield).

 

 

Fertile Ground: Collaborative Success

Fusion Investment Fund, Research news

Dr Jeffrey Wale (FMC) and Professor Sam Rowlands (FHSS) have been fortunate enough to have three papers accepted for publication during the lockdown period.  First, they have an article ‘A constructivist vision of the first-trimester abortion experience‘ being published by the Health and Human Rights Journal in June 2020.  Second, they have a paper ‘Incentivised Sterilisation: Lessons from India and for the Future‘ being published by The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care.  Finally, the BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health Journal will be publishing their paper ‘The ethics of State-sponsored and clinical promotion of long-acting reversible contraception‘.

New BU breastfeeding research paper

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Congratulations to Dr. Alison Taylor  in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) the publication two days ago of her paper ‘Commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding: video diaries by first-time mothers’ in the International Breastfeeding Journal [1].   Alison is Deputy Head of Department Midwifery and Health Sciences as well as Infant Feeding Lead.   This paper is the third paper from her excellent PhD study It’s a relief to talk…”: Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding recorded in video diaries.  The first and second paper we published in 2019 also with Alison supervisors Professors Jo Alexander, Kath Ryan and Edwin van Teijlingen [2-3].  This third paper focuses on how many of aspects of our lives became increasingly commercialised. Although breastfeeding is perhaps a late comer to this process in recent years, it too has seen significant commercialisation facilitated by social media and our obsession with celebrity culture. This paper explores how the commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding impacts mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding.

This qualitative research is based on five new mothers in the United Kingdom recorded their real-time breastfeeding experiences in video diaries. The purposive sample of five participants recorded 294 video entries lasting 43 h and 51 min, thus providing abundance of rich data. using a multi-modal method of analysis, incorporating both visual and audio data, a thematic approach was applied.  The study found that women preparing for breastfeeding are exposed to increasing commercialisation. When things do not go to plan, women are even more exposed to commercial solutions. Under the influence of online marketing strategies the need for paraphernalia grew.  Women’s dependence on such items became important aspects of their parenting and breastfeeding experiences.  Alison and her co-authors conclude that the audio-visual data demonstrated the extent to which “essential” paraphernalia was used.  The paper offers new insights into how advertising influenced mothers’ need for specialist equipment and services. Observing mothers in their video diaries, provided valuable insights into their parenting styles and how this affected their breastfeeding experience.

References:

  1. Taylor, A.M., van Teijlingen, E., Alexander, J., Ryan, K. (2020) Commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding: video diaries by first-time mothers, International Breastfeeding Journal 15:33   https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-020-00264-1
  2. Taylor A, van Teijlingen, E.,Ryan K, Alexander J (2019) ‘Scrutinised, judged & sabotaged’: A qualitative video diary study of first-time breastfeeding mothers, Midwifery 75: 16-23.
  3. Taylor, A.M., van Teijlingen, E., Alexander, J., Ryan, K. (2019) The therapeutic role of video diaries: A qualitative study involving breastfeeding mothers, Women & Birth 32(3):276-83. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871519218300064

BU academics at Virtual International Day of the Midwife

BU research, conferences, Featured academics, international, PG research, Publishing, writing

Five FHSS academics have presentations and/or posters at this year’s Virtual International Day of the Midwife (IVDM) conference.  Dr. Luisa Cescutti-Butler  (Senior Midwifery Lecturer in  the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Dr. Humaira  Hussain have an online presentation ‘on the topic of Making discoveries through research: midwifery student’s perceptions of their role when caring for pregnant women who misuse substances: neonatal simulators as creative pedagogy’.

BU Midwifery Lecturer Denyse King also in CMMPH has been interviewed by the VIDM her poster on her PhD research around Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLE), which can be offered as a computer-generated virtual simulation of a clinical workspace.

Whilst Dr. Luisa Cescutti-Butler,  Dr. Jacqui Hewitt-Taylor and Prof. Ann Hemingway have a poster  ‘Powerless responsibility: A feminist study of women’s experiences of caring for their late preterm babies’ based on Luisa’s PhD research.  Last, but not least, FHSS Visiting Faculty and holder of a BU Honorary  Doctorate Sheena Byrom is key note speaker at the week’s IVDM conference!

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Free online course! – Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research

BU research, nhs, NHS, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news, Research Training, Training

Interested in clinical research and what’s involved? Are you contemplating a career in healthcare or the life sciences, or, do you want to find out more about the role of clinical research in improving healthcare?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, then why not sign up to FutureLearn’s Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research course?

The course has been developed by the University of Leeds and is be available now, via this link.

It is completely free and all online, lasting 4 weeks.

This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. By completing the course you will have achieved 16 hours of CPD time.

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

BU midwifery paper cited in WHO report

BU research, Featured academics, international, Knowledge Exchange, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

Last week the Regional Office for South East Asia of the WHO (World Health Organization) published its strategy for strengthening midwifery [1].  The report highlights how Bangladesh, India and Nepal have recently introduced midwifery education. They joined DPR Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and TimorLeste in establishing midwives as an independent cadre of the health workforce.

This report cited our 2015 paper on midwifery developments in Nepal which appeared in the Journal of Asian Midwives [2].  The lead author Jillian Ireland is a Visiting Faculty in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Professional Midwifery Advocate at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, my other co-author, Joy Kemp, is Global Professional Adviser at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).  The paper reflects on the RCM Global Midwifery Twinning Project in Nepal.  The paper argues that the presence of a strong professional association of midwives in a country yields double benefits. On one side, the association provides inputs into framing policies and developing standards of care, and on the other, it ensures quality services by continuously updating its members with information and evidence for practice.

Bournemouth University’s work in Nepal is ongoing with a project run by CMMPH helping to develop midwifery education and training the trainers funded by the German aid organisation GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).

 

References:

  1. World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia (2020) Regional Strategic Directions for strengthening Midwifery in the South-East Asia Region 2020–2024, Delhi: World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia.
  2. 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. http://ecommons.aku.edu/jam/vol2/iss1/5/

 

COVID-19 Outbreak Expert Database – update

BU research, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, policy, Research communication, Research news

According to Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU), more than 3,500 researchers from across the UK have signed up to its  COVID-19 Outbreak Expert Database, which includes a number of BU academics across all faculties.  

The KEU reports that it is already making use of the database and, later this week, will be directly contacting experts to ask them to share their insights into the COVID-19 pandemic and its short, medium and long-term impacts. Where possible, the KEU aims to acknowledge researchers’ contributions publicly.

If you haven’t already signed up, it’s not too late, as it is a live database. Follow the link and please email your faculty impact officer to let them know, so we can track BU involvement.

Signing up does not commit you to contributing in any way, it’s simply so that Parliament has your details to hand and can contact you very rapidly; if they contact you and you aren’t able to respond, they will fully understand.

The topic areas where Parliament may need to be able to access research expertise are listed below, and found on the sign up page. If you identify an area that has not been listed, please do feel free to give details on the sign-up form in ‘other’:

Agriculture and farming, Airlines/airports, Arts, Behavioural science, Burial and cremation, Brexit, Business, Charities, Children and families, Civil contingency planning and management, Climate change, Communicating uncertainty, , Consumer protection, Coronavirus, Coroners, Countryside, Courts, Criminal justice, Criminal law, Crisis communications, Critical national infrastructure, Data protection, Death, Defence, Economics, Education – higher and further, Education – schools, Elections, Emergency planning, Emergency services, Employment, Employment law, Energy, Environment, European Union, Financial services, Financial systems and institutions, Foreign policy, Government, Health economics, Health services, Housing, Human rights, Immigration, Immunology / vaccinology, Industry, Infection control, Inflation, Insolvency, International law, IT, Law, Legal aid, Leisure and tourism, Local government, Medicine, National security, Package holidays, Pandemics, Pensions, Police powers, Ports and maritime, Prisons, Public expenditure, Public finance, Public health, Public order, Railways, Registration of deaths, Religion, Social security and tax credits, Social services, Sports, Surveillance , Taxation, Trade, Transport, Unemployment, Virology, Waste, Water, Welfare, Welfare benefits.

New FHSS nutrition publication

international, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to FHSS academics Dr. Fotini Tsofliou and Prof. Carol Clark on the acceptance for publication of their latest article ‘Effects of lunch club attendance on the dietary intake of older adults in the UK: a pilot cross-sectional study’ [1].  This paper is forthcoming in the journal Nutrition & Health (published by SAGE).

 

Reference:

  1. Tsofliou, Fotini; Grammatikopoulou, Maria; Lumley, Rosie; Gkiouras, Konstantinos; Lara, Jose ; Clark, Carol (2020)  Effects of lunch club attendance on the dietary intake of older adults in the UK: a pilot cross-sectional study.  Nutrition & Health (accepted)

Research in the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic – HRA update

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Guidance, nhs, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, Research news

You may have seen an earlier blog post with regard to a halt on the review and approval of undergraduate and master’s clinical research projects. The HRA have released another update with regard to all other research and the state of play due to COVID-19.

To recognise the significant pressures on the NHS at this time, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) announced that all new and existing studies supported through its Clinical Research Network would be paused to focus instead on COVID-19 research. You can read the full statement on the NIHR website.

The full HRA statement can be viewed here. If you have any queries mai in Research Development & Support.

Research Development & Support are also updating the following help page regularly for academics and researchers.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Health Implications in Nepal

international, open access, policy, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Our editorial today in the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology highlights some of the key issues related to COVID-19 related to a low-income country such as Nepal [1].  There are various Public Health challenges to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in South Asia including Nepal. Learning from the  COVID-19 outbreak in China, there will be slowdown of economic activity with damaged supply chains which impact upon the public health systems in Nepal. Moreover, there is limited coordination among different stakeholders in healthcare management with few policies in place for infection prevention and control, shortage of testing kits and medical supplies (shortages of masks, gloves), and poor reporting are major challenges to be tackled in case of the COVID-19.

All South Asian countries are vulnerable to a mass outbreak with high population density in cities which is challenging to create social distancing, made worse by generally poor hygiene and often low (health) literacy. Additionally, some COVID-19 cases remain asymptomatic; so it is difficult to predict the epidemic outbreak that may introduces further difficulty in diagnosis of newer cases. Finally, healthcare workers across the globe were infected at high rates during the MERS and SARS outbreaks, so Nepal has to initiate health workers’ training including simulation exercises to provide health staff with a clearer picture of the complexities and challenges associated with COVID-19 and containing potential outbreaks.

This editorial has a very different time span between submission and publication than the one highlighted last week on the BU Research Blog (see details here!).  This  COVID-19 editorial took exactly one month between submission and publication, the one mentioned last week took  three-and-a-half years between submission and publication.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

  1. Asim, M., Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E.R., Mekkodathil, A., Subramanya, S.H., Simkhada, P. (2020) COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Health Implications in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 10 (1): 817-820. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/28269

Congratulations to Psychology colleagues

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This week the journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth  accepted a new paper written by three Bournemouth University Psychologists.  The paper ‘Be Quiet and Man Up: A Qualitative Questionnaire Study into Men Who Experienced Birth Trauma’ is written by Emily Daniels, Emily Arden-Close and Andrew Mayers [1] . The paper, using online questionnaires, argues that fathers reported that witnessing their partner’s traumatic birth affected them. They felt this affected their mental health and relationships long into the postnatal period. However, there is no nationally recognised support in place for fathers to use as a result of their experiences. The participants attributed this to being perceived as less important than women in the postnatal period, and maternity services’ perceptions of the father more generally. Implications include ensuring support is available for mother and father following a traumatic birth, with additional staff training geared towards the father’s role.

This paper adds to the growing pool of publications by Bournemouth University staff on men and maternity care.  Earlier research work has been published in The Conversation [2] and  the Journal of Neonatal Nursing [3-4].

 

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal health (CMMPH) and Associate Editor BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth

 

References:

  1. Daniels, E., Arden-Close, E., Mayers, A. (2020)  Be Quiet and Man Up: A Qualitative Questionnaire Study into Men Who Experienced Birth Trauma, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth  (accepted).
  2. Mayers, A. (2017) Postnatal depression: men get it too, The Conversation, 20 November https://theconversation.com/postnatal-depression-men-get-it-too-87567
  3. 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 the literature, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 22(4): 171–176.
  4. 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

COVID-19: health and social care research projects for educational purposes

BU research, Clinical Governance, nhs, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, Research news, student research

The HRA have therefore decided stop reviewing applications for individual undergraduate and master’s student projects from now until further notice.

Please see this new guidance which relates to health and social care research projects conducted by undergraduate and master’s students: https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/research-planning/student-research/

Latest CMMPH publication by Dr. Alison Taylor

BU research, Featured academics, international, open access, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Alison Taylor in the Centre for Midwifery,Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) whose third PhD paper  has just been accepted by the International Breastfeeding Journal.  Alison’s paper ‘Commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding: video diaries by first-time mothers’ reminds us that many of aspects of our lives are increasingly commercialised in post-modern society.  Although breastfeeding is perhaps a late comer to this process in recent years, it too has seen significant commercialisation facilitated by social media and our obsession with celebrity culture.

This paper explores how the commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding impacts mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding.  The paper highlights that women preparing for breastfeeding are exposed to increasing commercialisation.  When things do not go to plan, women are even more exposed to commercial solutions. The impact of online marketing strategies fuelled their need for paraphernalia so that their dependence on such items became important aspects of their parenting and breastfeeding experiences.   Dr. Taylor and her co-authors  offer new insights into how advertising influenced mothers’ need for specialist equipment and services. Observing mothers in their video diaries, provided valuable insights into their parenting styles and how this affected their breastfeeding experience.

The International Breastfeeding Journal is an Open Access journal owned by Springer.

 

References:

  1. Taylor, A.M., van Teijlingen, E., Alexander, J., Ryan, K. (2020) Commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding: video diaries by first-time mothers, International Breastfeeding Journal (accepted).
  2. Taylor A, van Teijlingen, E.,Ryan K, Alexander J (2019) ‘Scrutinised, judged & sabotaged’: A qualitative video diary study of first-time breastfeeding mothers, Midwifery 75: 16-23.
  3. Taylor, A.M., van Teijlingen, E., Alexander, J., Ryan, K. (2019) The therapeutic role of video diaries: A qualitative study involving breastfeeding mothers, Women & Birth 32(3):276-83. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871519218300064

Nepal reproductive health paper published yesterday

BU research, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Research news, student research, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations on the latest paper published yesterday by Dr. Preeti Mahato in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Reproductive Health (CMMPH) and colleagues.   This paper ‘Factors associated with contraceptive use in rural Nepal: Gender and decision-making’ [1], is freely available for the next 49 days through our personalized link: click here! 

 

This research paper in the journal Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare reports on a secondary analysis of pas a quantitative cross-sectional study in four villages of a hilly district in Nepal.  This authors found that gender was associated with current/ever use of contraceptives but decision-making was not found associated with current/eve use of contraceptives.  And, as perhaps was to be expected, socio-economic factors such as husband’s and wife’s education; and indicators showing sharing of childcare responsibilities were found to be associated with contraceptive use.   the paper concludes that educational, health promotional and family planning programmes involving husbands are needed to promote use of contraceptives.


Preeti’s co-authors are based at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, at CMMPH and at Singapore Clinical Research Institute/Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.

 

Reference:

  1. Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., De Souza, N., Sheppard, Z. (2020) Factors associated with contraceptive use in rural Nepal: gender and decision-making, Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 24: 100507 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2020.100507

 

Medical textbook translated into Spanish

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

This week saw the publication of Psicología y sociología aplicadas a la medicina [1].  This is a translated version of the fourth edition of Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine: An Illustrated Colour Text  [2] which was published last year by the international publishing house Elsevier.  This textbook for medical students is edited by Bournemouth University’s Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, who is a Medical Sociologist and Prof. Gerry Humphries, who is Professor in Health Psychology at the School of Medicine, University of St Andrews.

Una sólida herramienta que aporta a los lectores valiosos conocimientos sobre los provesos psicológicos y sociológicos, fundamentales para proporcionar una atención personalizada.  Obra extremadamente relevatne para el currículo y la práctica médica actual, donde se hace cada vez más hincapié en el lugar que ocupa la medicina en la sociedad y en la enfermedad como producto de las circunstancias psicológicas y sociales, más que como un mero fenómeno biológico.   Los temas se presentan resumidos visualmente enuna doble página. Se acompañan con casos que refuerzan la comprensión de los conceptos fundamentales y con cuadros resumen y cuestiones para la reflexión.   Ayuda a apreciar el lado “no científico” de la medicina; lo importante que es entender de dónde viene el paciente, geográfica e ideológicamente. Además, aborda a la perfección temas tan actuales, como las dificultades sociales derivadas de las pruebas genéticas.

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E. & Humphris, G. (Eds.) (2020) Psicología y sociología aplicadas a la medicina (Spanish translation), Madrid: Elsevier España [ISBN 978-84-9113-674-3/eISBN 978-84-9113-713-9].
  2. van Teijlingen, E. & Humphris, G. (Eds.) (2019) Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine: An Illustrated Colour Text (4th Edn), Edinburgh: Elsevier.