Tagged / Health

Using participatory asset mapping and PhotoVoice in Nepalese alcohol study

international, open access, Publishing, writing

This week we received an email from the editorial office of  Perspectives in Public Health with congratulations on the acceptance of your paper ‘Participatory asset mapping and photovoice interviews to scope cultural and community resources to reduce alcohol harm in Chitwan, Nepal’ [1].  The lead researcher on this public health alcohol research project in Nepal is Dr. Ranjita Dhital, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Health Studies in the Arts and Sciences Department at UCL (University College London).

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Nepal, morbidity and mortality risks are greater per litre of pure alcohol consumed than in higher-income countries. This is largely due to poverty, poor nutrition, adverse living conditions, and poor access to care. These inequities are made worse by the dearth of understanding of the most appropriate and cost-effective approaches to reduce alcohol-related harm in LMICs.  Our study aims to stimulate new thinking on how cultural and community assets could be integrated to co-designed alcohol interventions for future evaluation in LMICs, through scoping the breadth of cultural and community assets in relation to alcohol use and to exploring attitudes towards alcohol and people experiences with it.

The journal Perspectives in Public Health is published by SAGE and the paper will be Open Access when it appears online.  My previous alcohol studies have focused on students [2], Nepalese migrants living in the UK [3], and Public Health measures to reduced alcohol misuse in Scotland [4].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

Reference:

 

  1. Dhital, R., Yoeli, H., Adhikari, A., Luitel, N.P., Nadkarni, A., van Teijlingen, E., Sin, J. (2023) Participatory asset mapping and photovoice interviews to scope cultural and community resources to reduce alcohol harm in Chitwan, Nepal, Perspectives in Public Health (accepted).  DOI: 10.1177/17579139231180744).
  2. Engs, R.C, van Teijlingen E (1997) Correlates of alcohol, tobacco & marijuana use among Scottish post-secondary helping profession students, Journal of Alcohol Studies, 58:435-44.
  3. van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in the UK BMJ Rapid Response: bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
  4. Ludbrook A, Godfrey C, Wyness L, Parrott S, Haw S, Napper M, van Teijlingen E. (2002) Effective & Cost-Effective Measures to Reduce Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: Lit Review, ISBN: 0755932803 www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/files/MeasureReduce_Full.pdf

 

Congratulations to Heidi Singleton

PG research

Dr. Heidi Singleton, Programme Lead for Children’s and Young People’s Nursing  in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences had a paper from her PhD ‘Accounting for complexity in critical realist trials: the promise of PLS-SEM’ accepted this month by the Journal of Critical Realism.   This journal is published by Taylor and Francis.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

BU Workshop on Health Systems in Nepal

open access, writing

You are invited to a two-hour ‘Workshop on Health Systems in Nepal’ at Bournemouth University (BU) on Thursday 25th May in the Bournemouth Gateway Building (BGB room 315) starting at 14.00, aiming to finish at 16.00.  We have the pleasure of welcoming three academic visitors from Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu who are at BU on an Erasmus+ exchange.

‘Prof. Sujan Marahatta, Dr. Sujata Sapkota and Dr. Sujan Gautam from MMIHS are part of an international project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure.  This project, launched in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, is led by the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with BU, the University of Huddersfield, PHASE Nepal and MMIHS.  This nearly four-year project is UK-funded by the MRC (Medical Research Council), the Wellcome Trust and DFID (now called Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office [FCDO]) under the Health Systems Research Initiative.

The project has resulted in several publications, all in Open Access journals.  The first of three papers introduced the research project ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’ [1], the second focused on COVID-19 when examining the effects of changing Nepal’s constitution towards a federal republic on its health system [2], and the third one highlighted  Public Health approaches around the ongoing federalisation of the state of Nepal and the associated decentralisation processes in its health system [3].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (formerly CMMPH)

 

References:

  1. 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 7 (1): 36-42.
  2. 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
  3. 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 (2020) 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 3(3)

Drumming for health event – 10th May 2023

Coffee Morning

Please join us at our next ADRC coffee morning on May 10th from 11-12:30 (arrival at 10:45 in reception).This is an in-person coffee morning which will be taking place at our Executive Business Centre at Lansdowne Campus.

In this session Caroline, Lyndsey, Michelle and Kim will join us to share their work on the impact of drumming on health and wellbeing. During the session they will share the findings of their research focused on drumming with people with dementia, before inviting you to take part in a drumming session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places are free but if you would like to attend please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk to book your place.

 

 

 

IMIV MRI Research Project Scheme 2023

BU Challenges, NHS

The Institute of Medical Imaging and Visualisation (IMIV) is pleased to announce the launch of the IMIV MRI Research Project Scheme 2023.

Under the scheme, two innovative MRI research projects will each be awarded up to 100 hours of scanning time on the IMIV’s state-of-the-art 3T Siemens Lumina MRI scanner.  Applications for the scheme are now open.

  • The focus of the scheme is on multi-disciplinary and cross-institutional projects, and priority will be given to projects with a clinical partnership.
  • All research projects must have a Bournemouth University researcher as lead or co-lead applicant.
  • Projects must be able to demonstrate how they will lead to peer-reviewed academic outputs and external funding applications for further MR imaging studies.
  • Up to 100 hours of scanning time will be awarded to up to 2 research projects. The award will not cover any additional expenses related to scanning, or other aspects of the project.
  • Projects will be expected to start in the 2023-24 academic year.

Applications close on Friday 7th July 2023. 

For further information and an application form, please email imiv@bournemouth.ac.uk

ERASMUS+ exchange with Nepal

international, PG research

The first half of April I have been in Nepal on the ERASMUS+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences MMIHS).  Apart from teaching and running tutorial and workshops at the host institution the exchange can also include student supervision.  I had the pleasure of offering some support to one of the MMIHS Master of Public Health (MPH) students.  Ms. Binita Dawadi designed an interesting project under the title on factors associated with burnout among nurses in the district of Jhapa (Nepal). She recently complete her research project as part of her dissertation which she subsequently presented as a poster at last week’s Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal.  This annual research conference organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council)  was held in Kathmandu on 11-12 April.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Perinatal Health {CMMPH}

New Delphi study published

PG research

Congratulations to Bronwyn Sherriff, Carol Clark, Clare Killingback and Dave Newell.  Their manuscript titled “Musculoskeletal practitioners’ perceptions of contextual factors that may influence chronic low back pain outcomes: a modified Delphi study” was recently published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies.   The Delphi study provides initial insights regarding a panel of musculoskeletal practitioners’ attitudes towards contextual factors during chronic low-back pain (LBP) rehabilitation in the UK. If you are interested in their findings, click here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-023-00482-4 or as a PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12998-023-00482-4.pdf.   

 

Congratulations and well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (CMMPH)

Successful event with senior policymakers in Nepal

international

Today, the last day of the Nepalese year 2079, we held a well attended event to discuss the preliminary findings of the interdisciplinary study of the impact of federalisation on health system in the country.  We invited policymakers and politicians from all three levels of government in the country to help the research team to analyse the large amount of high-quality data.  This meeting helped to validate the study results and guide our future capacity building as part of this project.  We were pleasantly surprised by the number who turned up and with their  active engagement!

One of the interesting comments made by the participants was that this was the first time that they had met with staff from differ levels to discuss the working of the system.  In fact, participants expressed that they wanted more opportunities to have this kind of discussions across all three levels of government. The researchers reported both positive and negative developments in the decentralized health system of Nepal.  Positive aspects included, for example, improvements in the availability of resources for health, the construction of new health posts and hospitals, better availability of essential medicines in many places.  We also commented on the positive management of COVID-19, compared to other many countries.  The policymakers from local, provincial and national level largely agreed with our findings and analyses.

This stakeholders’ event is part of the Nepal Federal Health System Project, our major collaborative project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015.  This is a joint project (2020-2024) led by colleagues the University of Sheffield in collaboration with the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, with two partners in Nepal, namely Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal.  This longitudinal interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Dementia research in Nepal

international

Yesterday (April 11th) 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)

 

Erasmus+ exchange visit to Nepal by Dr. Rebecca Neal

international

Last weekend Dr. Rebecca Neal, from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) arrived in Kathmandu on her Erasmus+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Nepal.  Rebecca is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology in the Department of Rehabilitation & Sport Sciences.  She met with Prof. Sujan Marahatta at MMIHS to discuss her her teaching in Kathmandu (see photo).  Prof. Marahatta is also BU Visiting Faculty in FHSS. Rebecca faciltiated a workshop session with MSc students on their research proposals for their dissertations on her first day in Kathmandu.

BU is currently in the process of renewing its MoA with MMIHS, to continue working together after the completion of the Erasmus+ programme.  We aim to to maintain the partnership, as the BU-MMIHS collaboration includes various funded and unfunded research projects apart from the Erasmus+ programme.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

#StepForward and become an NHS Research Ethics Committee member

NHS, Research Ethics

The Health Research Authority are inviting people to #StepForward and become a Research Ethics Committee (REC) member.

REC members meet virtually to review exciting new research studies for some of the biggest challenges in health and social care, including cancer, dementia and COVID-19.

It’s important that committees have insight from different perspectives so that we can all trust their decisions. The HRA are particularly looking for people with no healthcare or research experience.

You’ll be provided with regular training and support and it’s a great opportunity to work with people from a range of backgrounds and learn new skills.

You can find out more here. Alternatively, if you have any questions about being on a REC, please get in touch with Suzy Wignall, Clinical Governance Advisor, and Alternate Vice Chair of the West Midlands – Black Country Research Ethics Committee.