On the last day of April we presented our key findings from the THET-funded project on Mental Health Training for Rural Community-based Maternity Care Workers in Nepal. The session in Hotel Yak & Yeti in central Kathmandu was jointly organised by Tribhuvan University with Bournemouth University and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Mental health is high on the global agenda and increasingly so in Nepal. Mental health in pregnant women and new mothers is increasing recognised across the world. However, for many people in Nepal mental health problems are still difficult topics to discuss.
The team presented slides on mental health in maternity care issue, the curriculum review, the intervention and the volunteers and various aspects of the evaluation. The slide (below) highlighting a few mishaps with UK volunteers definitely got the most laughs.
The three universities have been working together training Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi on key aspects of mental health and mental health promotion. The project led by Bournemouth University was funded under the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) which is managed by a London-based organisation called THET (Tropical Health & Education Trust).
Prof. Vanora Hundley from FHSS was one of the key speakers commenting on the intervention, the research and its findings. The audience also heard from two of the ANMs who had been in the training and the chief nurse in the district about there views on the UK volunteers and their training sessions. To date the work has resulted in three academic publications, all are Open Access journals. [1-3]
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
- Simkhada, B., Sharma, G., Pradhan, S., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. & the THET team. (2016) Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 20-26. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15793/12738
- Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Winter, R.C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., Marahatta S.B. (2015) Why are so many Nepali women killing themselves? A review of key issues Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 43-49. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/12001
- van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B., Fanning, P., Ireland, J., Simkhada, B., Sherchan, L., Silwal, R.C., Pradhan, S., Maharjan, S.K., Maharjan, R.K. (2015) Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(3): 499-501. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/13607/11007

Yesterday, the RCUK launched reports detailing the impacts of a collective investment of £3.4Bn in 2015/16. These impact reports showcase specific examples of the impact of investment through their various awards, programmes and collaborations. The wide-ranging nature of the impact extends from furthering technological advances to combatting disease to breakthroughs in the creative economy. Click
The call for participants for the 2017 ESRC Festival of Social Sciences will be opening on 29th March. The festival this year is taking place from the 4th to the 11th of November with events taking place across the BU Campus and in the local area. We will be looking for applications from social sciences researchers to run workshops/exhibitions/lectures/activities (we’re open to ideas) open for attendance for the wider public.

RKEO have hosted two funder visits in the past three weeks (Interreg and Medical Research Council). Both funders highlighted the ‘So what?’ principle in terms of research ideas, i.e. what is the consequence of your work; who can benefit from your work in the long-term and what can be done to increase the chances of the work reaching those beneficiaries. Even if your proposal doesn’t directly address economic or societal impact you should be able to explain the pathway that links your work to – using the example of MRC – improving human health.











Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.










Register now to attend the 17th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference – Wednesday 3 December 2025
Portrait Concert featuring BU academic at L’Espace du Son Festival 2025, Brussels
From Clinical Applications to Neuro-Inspired Computation
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Application Deadline Friday 12 December
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease