BU Research Blog

July 22, 2021

New joint publication with Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust

NHS, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This morning International Journal of Mental Health Nursing informed us that our article ‘Cultural issues on accessing mental health services in Nepali and Iranian migrants communities in the UK‘ has been published today. This paper is written by an interdisciplinary team including Hannah Blunt who works at Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust, Dr. Bibha Simkhada who is Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Huddersfield and Dr. Mariam Vahdaninia who works in the Peninsula Medical School at the University of Plymouth. Both Mariam and Bibha worked with me at Bournemouth University at the time of the study.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

July 4, 2021

Unsatisfactory conference attendance?

conferences, international, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Over the 15 months many academics have learnt to use online tools to communicate with colleagues, students, the media, politicians and the general public. The COVID-19 pandemics forced us to introduce (more) virtual classrooms, internet-based tutorials, online marking, Zoom and Teams meetings (and other platforms!) as well as online conferences and workshops, albeit each with their own limitations. In general, we often marvel about the internet and online conference technology as well as value the reduction of our carbon foot print, reaching global audiences and so on.

The past three weeks I attended three international conferences in three countries without leaving my living room, including the postponed 2020 ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) conference. Perhaps there is an element of online-working fatigue, but I am beginning to see more and more disadvantages of online conferences. First, the contact with fellow presenters, chairs and the audience is more superficial than at a physical conference. At a conference held in person you meet people over lunch or coffee or people simply stop you in the corridors of the conference centre to discuss or challenge your paper or express their ideas for future studies.

Secondly, many conferences seem to use two online systems and have different ways of running online conferences, at one of the recent conferences the presenters and the audience were in different cyber spaces, so as a presenter you had no idea how many people attended or how the audience reacted to what you have just said. Moreover, in one conference any questions people in the audience had written in the chat box were invisible to the speakers. These questions had to be read out by the chair, who was tasked with linking the two cyber spaces, that of speakers and that of the audience. At another conference the chair largely let the speakers deal with questions in the chat without any direction or guidance, as a consequence I was still answering questions in the chat long after the next speaker had started.

Thirdly, because I was not physically away I didn’t attend as many of the sessions at any of the three recent conferences as I would have liked to. This issue is similar in nature as the ‘old’ problem of attending a face-to-face conference at your own institution. Since you are not away your students, colleagues, etc. manage to find you and expect you to do something else instead of attending the conference. Fourthly, you don’t meet up in person with international colleagues, therefore, you don’t get a chance to discuss long-term ideas, plans, problems over a meal and a beer.

I am still positive about online conferences, but perhaps not as enthusiastic as I was in a BU Research Blog in April last year! In this blog I pointed out that Donald Nicolson in his book Academic Conferences as Neoliberal Commodities raised the question about return of investment of a conference [1-2] not just for the conference organisers (and funders) but also for individual academics. Internet-based conferences are cheaper than face-to-face conferences although often not free, two of my three international conferences had a registration fee, moreover there is the opportunity cost for the academic in attending a conference, especially if one does not receive the traditional benefits of meeting like-minded people in person.

Some thought for Sunday morning.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

Nicolson. D.J. (2017) Academic Conferences as Neoliberal Commodities, Palgrave Macmillan.
Nicolson. D.J. (2018) Guest post by Donald Nicolson: The problem of thinking about conferences and Return on Investment (ROI)

June 30, 2021

New obstetrics publication by PhD student Sulochana Dhakal Rai

international, PG research, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Mrs. Sulochana Dhakal Rai on the publication today of her PhD article ‘Classification of Caesarean Section: A Scoping Review of the Robson classification‘ in the Nepal Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology [1]. Sulochana’s PhD project in the Centre of Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Juliet Wood and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen at BU and she is supported in Nepal by Prof. Ganesh Dangal [Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kathmandu Model Hospital] and senior obstetrician Dr. Keshar Bahadur Dhakal [Karnali Province Hospital, Nepal]. Sulochana has already published two earlier papers from her PhD thesis research [2-3].

References:

Rai SD, van Teijlingen E, Regmi P, Wood J, Dangal G, Dhakal KB. (2021) Classification of Caesarean Section: A Scoping Review of the Robson classification. Nep J Obstet Gynecol. 16(32):2-9.
Dhakal-Rai, S., Regmi, PR, van Teijlingen, E, Wood, J., Dangal G, Dhakal, KB. (2018) Rising Rate of Caesarean Section in Urban Nepal, Journal of Nepal Health Research Council 16(41): 479-80.
Dhakal Rai, S., Poobalan, A., Jan, R., Bogren, M., Wood, J., Dangal, G., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Dhakal, K.B., Badar, S.J., Shahid, F. (2019) Caesarean Section rates in South Asian cities: Can midwifery help stem the rise? Journal of Asian Midwives, 6(2):4–22.

May 28, 2021

Qualitative methods training in Nepal

Awarded & submitted bids, international, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The national health ethics organisation in Nepal, the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), invited Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen to be part of its week long training programme next week. Edwin will be running a session on Focus Groups as qualitative on Bank Holiday Monday (31 May) and a session on Publishing Qualitative Research on Friday 4th June. As part of BU’s International Partnerships our staff help build research capacity in a number of low- and middle-income countries, such as Nepal.

The invitation came through Prof Madhusudan Subedi, one of his Nepali collaborators on a research project on ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’. The project, funded under the DFID/ESRC/MRC/Wellcome Health Systems Research Initiative, examines the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure. The PIs for the project, Dr. Simon Rushton and Dr. Julie Balan , are based at the University of Sheffield, further collaborators include: Prof. Padam Simkhada (BU Visiting Faculty) who is based at the University of Huddersfield, Dr. Pratik Adhikary (BU Visiting Faculty & BU PhD graduate) who is based at PHASE Nepal and Prof. Sujan Marahatta, who is based at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences in Kathmandu (MMIHS). BU has a further collaboration with MMIHS as we currently have an Erasmus+ student & staff exchange.

April 23, 2021

BU’s THET project showcased by WHO Collaborating Centre

international, Publishing, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The THET (Tropical Health & Education Trust)-funded project ‘Mental Health Training for Rural Community-based Maternity Care Workers in Nepal‘ [1], led by Bournemouth University, has been showcased on the webpages of Public Health England (PHE). PHE hosts the WHO (World Health Organization) Collaborating Centre for Public Health Nursing and Midwifery. A WHO collaborating centre is an institution designated by the Director-General of the WHO to form part of an international collaborative network set up by WHO in support of its programme at the country, intercountry, regional, interregional and global levels. In line with the WHO policy and strategy of technical cooperation, a WHO collaborating centre also participates in the strengthening of country resources, in terms of information, services, research and training, in support of national health development.

This THET project was organised by Tribhuvan University in collaboration with Bournemouth University and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Mental health is high on the global agenda and this project raised the importance of the issue in Nepal. The three universities collaborated on an education intervention training Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi on mental health issues and mental health promotion. The project was supported by Green Tara Nepal, an Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with whom BU has been working for over a decade. More details on this exciting project can be found in previous BU Research Blogs written in 2016 (see here) and 2017 (see here) and 2018 (see here)! The project has resulted in several academic publications including Dr. Preeti Mahato in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), Dr. Catherine Angell (CMMPH), Dr. Bibha Simkhada (formerly BU lecturer in Nursing) and FHSS Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada and Jillian Ireland. Jillian is Professional Midwifery Advocate at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. [2-6].

References:

Mackay, S. (2021) Maternal mental health training in rural Nepal, World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre – Evidence Based Public Health Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions into Practice, Public Health England
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
Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Ireland, J. on behalf of THET team (2018) Qualitative evaluation of mental health training of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in rural Nepal. Nurse Education Today 66: 44-50. http://www.nurseeducationtoday.com/article/S0260-6917(18)30150-3/abstract
Ireland, J., Havelock, D., Lawrie, A., Ghimire, S. (2021) Facilitating Learning for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives around Maternal Mental Health in Southern Nepal, Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) 2(1): 105-108.

April 18, 2021

BNAC Study Days 2021

conferences, international Edwin van Teijlingen

This coming Thursday and Friday BNAC (British Nepal Academic Council) will be organising its annual Study Days. This year these will be held largely online. Bournemouth University is well represented in several papers as well as running a workshop for Early Career Researchers. On Thursday there will be two presentations based on the MRC-funded study on the impact of the federalisation process on health policies in Nepal:

The provincial health policies in Nepal: Opportunities and challenges for an effective implementation, Sharada P Wasti & Padam Simkhada, University of Huddersfield; Edwin van Teijlingen, Bournemouth University; Simon Rushton & Julie Balen, University of Sheffield
Federalization and health system in Nepal: A systematic review of the literature, Pratik Adhikary, PHASE Nepal; Sujata Sapkota, Sujan Gautam & Sujan Marahatta (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences); Sarita Panday, Andrew Lee, Julie Balen & Simon Rushton, (University of Sheffield); Edwin van Teijlingen, Bournemouth University ; Padam Simkhada & Sharada P Wasti (University of Huddersfield); Madhusudan Subedi (Patan Academy of Health Sciences).

On Friday there will be four presentation with links to Bournemouth University:

Are GBV response and rehabilitation services provided through OneStop Crisis Management Centers in Nepal inclusive of needs of women and girls with disability? Sapana Basnet Bista, Liverpool John Moores University; Padam Simkhada, University of Huddersfield; Edwin van Teijlingen, Bournemouth University, Shaurabh Sharma, Humanity & Inclusion
Impacts of men’s migration on non-migrating spouse’s health and the implications for Nepal: A systematic literature review, Shraddha Manandhar, Philip Brown & Padam Simkhada, University of Huddersfield; Edwin van Teijlingen, Bournemouth University
Maternal and neonatal health services in Jumla, Nepal: A health facility survey, Pasang D Tamang, Padam Simkhada & Paul Bissel, University of Huddersfield; Edwin van Teijlingen, University of Bournemouth and Rose Khatri, Liverpool John Moores University
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices amongst the literate cohorts of Nepal about COVID-19, Mohan Kumar Sharma, Shanti Prasad Khanal, and Ramesh Adhikari, Tribhuvan University; Jib Acharya, ANC, Premium Services Ltd./Bournemouth University PhD Graduate

At Thursday lunchtime there will be a mentoring session for Early Career Researchers which will be coordinated by Premila van Ommen from the University of the Arts, London, and facilitated by Edwin van Teijlingen, University of Bournemouth.

April 15, 2021

Congratulations to PhD student Raksha Thapa

international, PG research, Publishing, Student Engagement, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week BU PhD student Raksha Thapa heard from the editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health that her manuscript “Caste Exclusion and Health Discrimination in South Asia: A Systematic Review” has been accepted for publication [1]. Raksha is supervised in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Vanessa Heaslip and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. The paper is a systematic review and the protocol for it was published in PROSPERO early on at the start of her PhD studies [2].

Well done!

References

Thapa, R., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Heaslip, V. (2021) Caste Exclusion and Health Discrimination in South Asia: A Systematic Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (accepted).
Thapa, R., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Heaslip, V. (2018) Caste exclusion and health discrimination. Prospero CRD42018110431crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID=CRD42018110431

April 14, 2021

Happy New Year 2078 (in Nepal)

international Edwin van Teijlingen

Bournemouth University wishes all its Nepali students, staff and collaborators in both the UK and in Nepal a Healthy and Happy New Year 2078 today.

March 27, 2021

Some thoughts about PhD supervision in Public Health

international, PG research, Publishing, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Recently, Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health published our article on ‘PhD supervision in Public Health’ [1]. The lead author is Dr. Pramod Regmi, with co-authors Prof. Padam Simkhada (FHSS Visiting Faculty) from the University of Huddersfield and Dr. Amudha Poobalan from the University of Aberdeen. The paper has a strong Aberdeen connection, the fifth oldest university in the UK. Three of us (Poobalan, van Teijlingen & Simkhada) use to work in the Department of Public Health at the University of Aberdeen (one still does), and three of us (Poobalan, Regmi & van Teijlingen) have a PhD from Aberdeen.

Reference:

Regmi, P., Poobalan, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) PhD supervision in Public Health, Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health 20(1):1-4. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/32735/28111

March 18, 2021

FHSS team wins British Academy award

international, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The British Academy informed us yesterday that we have been successful in our application to the Writing Workshops 2021. The project builds research capacity of early career researchers researching gender in higher education institutions in Nepal. The grant will provide training in academic writing and publishing to help improve Nepali staff’s chances of getting published in international journals in English. The workshops will be co-delivered by a team of UK-based (Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen) and Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar from Nepal’s oldest university, Tribhuvan University, supported by Nepali scholars/editors from Social Science Baha (SSB).

We have planned three stages: 1) virtual mini workshops, guided discussion/input on academic writing, publishing, journal submission, and review processes ; 2) online workshops where participants present their draft papers/work and receive feedback from peers, mentors, invited speakers/editors and opportunities networking/collaborations (for co-authorship, peer review and peer support); and 3) monthly tutorials (webinars) later in 2021 to provide mentorship and peer support to participants.

This application is third time lucky as two previous applications to The British Academic for Writing Work had not been successful. Over the years the team has build up capacity in academic writing and publishing in Nepal ad hoc. This grant will allow us to offer a more systematic approach to academic writing capacity building in Nepal. It is building on a growing number of paper published by FHSS staff on various aspects of academic writing and publishing. [1-14]

References:

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. International J Soc Sci Management, 7(1), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v7i1.27405
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, 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 (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.pd

March 3, 2021

Two new COVID-19 papers in FHSS

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today FHSS Prof. Jonathan Parker published an article (online first) on structural discrimination and abuse associated with COVID-19 in care homes in The Journal of Adult Protection [1]. Whilst Dr. Preeti Mahato, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and FHSS Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada had a COVID-19 paper published in the Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) in late-January 2021 [2], although an electronic copy only reached their email inbox today.

Parker, J. (2021) Structural discrimination and abuse: COVID-19 and people in care homes in England and Wales, The Journal of Adult Protection, Online ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-12-2020-0050
Tamang, P., Mahato, P., Simkhada P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Coronavirus Disease: What is known so far? Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) 2(1): 96-101.

February 4, 2021

BU research tackles global challenges – Aftershock Nepal

Julie Northam

Funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund has enabled Bournemouth University academics to undertake cutting-edge research in partnership with organisations in developing countries. These projects help to build collaborations with researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in developing countries, ensuring that the outcomes of the research have tangible outcomes for people in those countries. In February, we are sharing stories about BU’s GCRF research.

In Nepal, one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world, Professor Einar Thorsen and Dr Chindu Sreedharan are undertaking research to understand the challenges that journalists face in reporting on disasters and to strengthen editorial preparedness by building capacity among journalists and journalism educators. The original Aftershock Nepal project brought together a team of 38 journalism students and seven staff members from five universities around the world. They travelled to the Himalayan country in the run-up to the first anniversary of the 2015 Nepalese earthquake, capturing stories which explored loss, recovery and life after the catastrophe, in a bid to help the Nepalese people. The project produced a single-issue news site, with an alternative, people-centred coverage on post-disaster Nepal.

GCRF funding enabled the publication of the project’s first report in September 2018 entitled Voices from Nepal: challenges faced and lessons learnt in post-disaster journalism. This was followed a year later with the publication of a bilingual book with UNESCO in Kathmandu and two years later with the publication of a bilingual report in Nepali and English that mapped the impact of COVID-19 on journalists in Nepal.

Summer 2020, in cooperation with the Kamana Group, one of Nepal’s leading media houses, saw development of the nation’s first disaster journalism editorial policy, Reporting Disasters: Code of Conduct and Reporting Guidelines. Further, to address the gendered challenges in Nepali journalism, the project worked with the Working Women Journalists (WWJ) to deliver four training workshops. A peer-support network for female journalists was also established.

GCRF funding was instrumental in establishing the Disaster Journalism Network, a collaborative of six news organisations, in July 2020. Based on the information available, this is the world’s first disaster journalism network run solely by women journalists.

The benefits and impacts to Nepal include:

Policy changes and practices of news organisations, UNESCO, and the Nepal government. The Kamana Group adopted a disaster-specific editorial policy to guide its news coverage. Similarly, the project recommendations made a “valuable contribution” to policy research in Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen, influencing its “thinking on gender mainstreaming and women empowerment in the media industry”.
Policy changes and working practices of three national journalism organisations. The project brought about changes within the Federation of Nepali Journalists and Working Women Journalists, which adopted resolutions to committing action on disaster resilience.
Capacity-building for 105 journalists and changes in curricula and pedagogical approaches. This was achieved via workshops delivered in partnership with the Nepal Press Institute, Disaster Journalism Network, Tribhuvan University and the Kantipur City College.

Read more about Aftershock Nepal on the project website: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/aftershock-nepal-changing-perceptions-through-sustained-crisis-journalism.

January 13, 2021

2021: More COVID-19 publications

open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The year 2021 started in many ways in the same way as it had ended with a country gripped in COVID-19 and a national lock down to limit the spread of the disease. It is appropriate timely that the first publication from our international collaboration, studying the health system in Nepal, focuses on COVID-19 [1]. This academic paper forms part of our on-going study of the decentralisation of the Nepal health system. The study is run by the University of Sheffield, the University of Huddersfield and Bournemouth University in the UK and PHASE Nepal and Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences in Nepal. The study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative.

This paper was unplanned as nobody (neither in the UK or in Nepal) had heard of COVID-19 when we submitted the grant application in mid-2019. It was only when we started our project officially in April 2020 that COVID-19 had become the pandemic it is today. We took the opportunity to assess some of the early evidence on the effectiveness of the actions taken to deal with COVID-19 by the national government as well as provincial and local governments and the levels of cooperation and coordination between them.

Authors on this include BU PhD graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary and FHSS Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada, as well as our collaborator on other funded projects, Dr. Sujan Marahatta from Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (Nepal).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Adhikary P, Balen J, Gautam S, Ghimire S, Karki JK, Lee AC, Marahatta SB, Pandey S, Pohl G, Ruston S, Sapkota S, Simkhada PP, Subedi M, van Teijlingen ER, on behalf of the NFHS Team. 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. 2020; 3(3)

December 10, 2020

New interdisciplinary COVID-19 paper

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

An evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach on risk zoning, personal and transmission risk assessment in near real-time, and risk communication would support the optimized decisions to minimize the impact of coronavirus on our lives. This interdisciplinary paper [1], pubished today in Scientific Reports, offers a framework to assess the individual and regional risk of COVID-19 along with risk communication tools and mechanisms. Relative risk scores on a scale of 100 represent the integrated risk of influential factors. The personal risk model incorporates age, exposure history, symptoms, local risk and existing health condition, whereas regional risk is computed through the actual cases of COVID-19, public health risk factors, socioeconomic condition of the region, and immigration statistics. A web application tool (http://www.covira.info) has been developed, where anyone can assess their risk and find the guided information links primarily for Nepal. This study provides regional risk for Nepal, but the framework is scalable across the world.

The authors comprised researchers from the University of Bristol, Science Hub (Nepal), University of the West of England, Public Health Perspective Nepal, Nepal Open University, Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Huddersfield and Bournemouth University.

Reference:

Parajuli, R.R., Mishra, B., Banstola, A. Multidisciplinary approach to COVID-19 risk communication: a framework and tool for individual and regional risk assessment. 21650 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78779-0

November 25, 2020

University lockdown: An internationalisation opportunity?

conferences, innovation, international, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

The general effects of lockdown on healthy individuals range from a general annoyance to a major limiting factor in life, especially in lockdown affects someone livelihood and/or mental health. These effects have been well documented in the media. At a societal level these effects are more mixed, first and foremost, there is positive outcome in terms of a reduced spread of the infectious disease COVID-19. Further positive effects include a reduction in air pollution, water pollution levels (in Venice), traffic jams, but also fewer break-ins (as more people are at home for more of the time). Whilst negative effects include not only economic decline, but also a lack of opportunity to travel for work or leisure, children missing education and people avoiding health care professionals for screening and treatment of diseases other then COVID-19. We have also learnt that lockdown affects different groups in society differently, some quite unexpectedly. For example, AbilityNet highlighted that “For students living with physical impairments and long-term health conditions, the benefits of studying from home and avoiding the exhausting experience of accessing face-to-face learning has left them with more energy to apply to their studies” [1]. Even before the first lockdown universities in the UK had been pro-active in their response to the pandemic [2]. One of the practical responses was to move to webinars, online teaching, marking and meetings. Before March most university academics don’t much about Zoom, Teams, Jitsi Meet or Google Meet, and today most academics will have used most of these platforms (and several others) for research meetings, webinars and conferences.

With lockdown this all has changed, like my BU colleagues I teach every week using Zoom, meet colleagues online through a range of platforms, meet students for individual tutorials through Skype or Teams. Although having the occasional limitation, there is a great opportunity as it removed the need for staff and students to be in the same room. One example of a BU education innovation was last week’s International Student Midwives’ Networking Day held on November 18^th. With the restrictions of lockdown on midwifery students the BU Midwifery Team led by Dr. Laura Iannuzzi and Dr. Juliet Wood used the opportunities provided by Zoom to bring together midwifery students from across the globe. Using their long-established research links [3-16], BU academics manage to bring together student midwives from Italy, Nepal and the Netherlands to discuss midwifery and maternity issues with fellow midwifery students at BU. The day was nicely broken into two with a lunchtime event called ‘Zoom the midwife’, which as the third of its kind. In this ‘Zoom the midwife’ webinar BU’s Dr Rachel Arnold and BU Visiting Faculty Margaret Walsh shared their experience of working in different cultures for projects in Afghanistan and Nepal respectively.

Our second example is a project to support midwifery education in Nepal. The Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) in collaboration with Dalarna University in Sweden and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust produced a draft Bridging Course for nursing lecturers in Nepal who are currently teaching midwifery and maternity care. This project is funded by GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). As part of this project BU offers academics at NAMS (National Academy of Medical Sciences) in Kathmandu support in their professional and pedagogic development.

Following the lockdown and seeing the success of online teaching of BU’s students earlier in 2020 we decided to try out online teaching with midwifery lecturers at NAMS. Since many people in Nepal only have a one-day weekend (Saturday) Sunday is usually a working day and due to time difference early Sunday morning are ideal times for webinars. To date online sessions in Kathmandu have been delivered by Juliet Wood, Michelle Irving, Edwin van Teijlingen and CMMPH Visiting Faculty Jillian Ireland (Professional Midwifery Advocate in Poole). The sessions proved very popular with 30 to 40 people regularly attending online from Nepal.

With challenges to delivering face-to-face lectures and tutorials at universities, online teaching and webinars have opened a whole set of new opportunities to internationalise our education.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References

Universities UK (2020) Universities rise to Covid-19 challenges, online news item 7 April https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/Pages/Universities-rise-to-Covid-19-challenges-.aspx
Low, A. (2020) Covid-19 silver linings: how the pandemic has increased opportunities for disabled university students. https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/blog/Pages/covid-19-disabled-students-increased-opportunities.aspx
Dani, C., Papini, S., Iannuzzi, L. and Pratesi, S., 2020. Midwife-to-newborn ratio and neonatal outcome in healthy term infants. Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics, 109 (9), 1787-1790.
Daly, D., Iannuzzi, L. et al., 2020. How much synthetic oxytocin is infused during labour? A review and analysis of regimens used in 12 countries. PLoS ONE, 15 (7 July).
Setola, N., Naldi, E., Cocina, G.G., Eide, L.B., Iannuzzi, L. and Daly, D., 2019. The Impact of the Physical Environment on Intrapartum Maternity Care: Identification of Eight Crucial Building Spaces. Health Environments Research and Design Journal, 12 (4), 67-98.
Skoko, E., Iannuzzi, L. et al., 2018. Findings from the Italian babies born better survey. Minerva Ginecologica, 70 (6), 663-675.
Nieuwenhuijze, M., van Teijlingen, E., Mackenzie-Bryers, H. (2019) In risiko’s denken is niet zonder risiko (In Dutch: Thinking in terms of risk, it not with its risk). Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 43 (4): 6-9.
Bogren M, van Teijlingen E., Berg M. (2013) Where midwives are not yet recognized: A feasibility study of professional midwives in Nepal, Midwifery 29(10): 1103-09.
Bogren, M.U., Berg, M., Edgren, L., van Teijlingen, E., Wigert, H. (2016) Shaping the midwifery profession in Nepal – Uncovering actors’ connections using a Complex Adaptive Systems framework, Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 10: 48-55.
Dhakal Rai, S., Poobalan, A., Jan, R., Bogren, M., Wood, J., Dangal, G., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Dhakal, K.B., Badar, S.J., Shahid, F. (2019) Caesarean Section rates in South Asian cities: Can midwifery help stem the rise? Journal of Asian Midwives, 6(2):4–22.
Bogren, M.U., Bajracharya, K., Berg, M., Erlandsson, K., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2013) Nepal needs midwifery, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (JMMIHS) 1(2): 41-44. www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/9907/8082.
Milne, L., Ireland, J., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P. (2018) Gender inequalities and childbearing: Qualitative study two maternity units in Nepal, Journal of Asian Midwives 5 (1):13-30.
Ekström, A., Tamang, L., Pedersen, C., Byrskog, U., van Teijlingen, E., Erlandsson, K. (2020) Health care provider’s perspectives on the content and structure of a culturally tailored antenatal care programme to expectant parents and family in Nepal. Journal of Asian Midwives 7(1):23–44.
Wrede, S., Benoit, C., Bourgeault, I., van Teijlingen E., Sandall, J., De Vries, R. (2006) Decentered Comparative Research: Context Sensitive Analysis of Health Care, Social Science & Medicine, 63: 2986-97.
De Vries, R., Wiegers, T., Smulders, B, van Teijlingen E (2009) The Dutch Obstetrical System: Vanguard of Future in Maternity Care. In: Davis-Floyd, R., Barclay, L., Tritten, L, Daviss B.-A. (eds.) Birth Models that Work. Berkeley: University of California Press, 31-54.
van Teijlingen E, Sandall, J., Wrede, S., Benoit, C., DeVries, R., Bourgeault, I. (2003) Comparative studies in maternity care RCM Midwives Journal 6: 338-40.

November 5, 2020

innovation, international, Knowledge Transfer, Publishing, Research Integritiy, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today saw the publication of a new paper ‘Importance of involving patients and public in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and health research in South Asia’ co-authored by the BU Public Involvement in Education and Research (PIER) Partnership [1]. This paper is co-written with Dr. Bibha Simkhada, until recently Lecturer in Nursing in N4LTH Centre (Nursing for Long-Term Health) and now Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Huddersfield, Dr. Aliya Naheed at icddr,b in Bangladesh, Angela Warren based at PIER, Dr. Sue Green (Principal Academic) and Prof. Edwin van Teilingen. The paper appears in the International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, which is published by Cambridge University Press.

The authors highlights that Patient and Public Involvement/Engagement (PPI/E) in public health research and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in has significantly increased over past decade in countries such as the UK. PPI/E helps improve health research and hence benefits patients and service users. For example, organisations like BU’s PIER bring a unique patients and (potential) users’ perspective of these services, which enables FHSS to enhance the education the future workforce in health and social care as well as research in this area.

However, PPI/E is still very new concept in many LMICs (Low- and Middle-Income Countries). This paper considers the importance of PPI in public health research and HTA in the development and implementation of technology in the health sector in South Asia. Currently, in this region, health technology is frequently adopted from HICs without local research and HTA. It also discusses the importance of local co-creation of technology to reflect the needs of users within a culturally appropriate setting. It is important for LMIC-based researchers to understand the potential of PPI/E and how it can contribute to it to improve health care and research, especially perhaps in the era of COVID-19.

Reference:

Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen, E., Naheed, A., Warren A., Green, S. (2020) Importance of involving patients and public in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and health research in South Asia. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care [Online First 5 November, pp. 1-3].

October 29, 2020

Steady stream of Nepal migration papers

international, open accecss, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today we added to our growing pool of publications on aspects of labour migration in Nepal. The Open Access journal BMC Health Services Research published our paper ‘Accessing health services in India: experiences of seasonal migrants returning to Nepal’ [1]. The paper explores the experiences of returnee Nepali migrants with regard to accessing healthcare and the perspectives of stakeholders in the government, support organizations, and health providers working with migrant workers in India. The paper concludes that Nepali migrants experience difficulties in accessing healthcare in India. Hence the authors recommend partnerships between the Nepali and Indian governments, migrant support organizations and relevant stakeholders such as healthcare providers, government agencies and employers should be strengthened so that this vulnerable population can access the healthcare to which they are entitled.

Three of the authors are based at BU (Dr. Nirmal Aryal, Dr. Pramod Regmi & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen), whilst Dr. Pratik Adhikary is a BU PhD graduate and Prof. Padam Simkhada, from the University of Huddersfield, is BU Visiting Faculty.This qualitative paper is part of a larger International Organization for Migration research project on ‘Health vulnerabilities of the cross-border migrants from Nepal’ [2].

The authors to acknowledge the continuous support from Green Tara Nepal (GTN) during the field work. This Open Access paper from this FHSS team of researchers on migration and health research related to Nepal is the 19th paper in total on the topic [3-19].

References:

Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Dhungana, R.R., KC, R.K., Regmi, P.R., Wickramage, K.P., Duigan, P., Inkochasan, M., Sharma, G.N., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Accessing health services in India: experiences of seasonal migrants returning to Nepal. BMC Health Services Research 20, 992. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05846-7
IOM [International Organization for Migration]. (2019) Health vulnerabilities of cross-border migrants from Nepal. Kathmandu: International Organization for Migration.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Trenoweth, S., Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P. (2020) The Impact of Spousal Migration on the Mental Health of Nepali Women: A Cross-Sectional Study, International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health 17(4), 1292; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1704129
Regmi, P., Aryal, N., van Teijlingen, E., Adhikary, P. (2020) Nepali migrant workers and the need for pre-departure training on mental health: a qualitative study, Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health 22, 973–981.
Adhikary, P. van Teijlingen, E. (2020) Support networks in the Middle East & Malaysia: A qualitative study of Nepali returnee migrants’ experiences, International Journal of Occupational Safety & Health (IJOSH), 9(2): 31-35.
Simkhada, B., Sah, R.K., Mercel-Sanca, A., van Teijlingen, E., Bhurtyal, Y.M., Regmi, P. (2020) Health and Wellbeing of the Nepali population in the UK: Perceptions and experiences of health and social care utilisation, Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health (accepted).
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Mahato, P., Aryal, N., Jadhav, N., Simkhada, P., Syed Zahiruddin, Q., Gaidhane, A., (2019) The health of Nepali migrants in India: A qualitative study of lifestyles and risks, Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health 16(19), 3655; doi:10.3390/ijerph16193655.
Dhungana, R.R., Aryal, N, Adhikary, P., KC, R., Regmi, P.R., Devkota, B., Sharma, G.N., Wickramage, K., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2019) Psychological morbidity in Nepali cross-border migrants in India: A community-based cross-sectional, BMC Public Health 19:1534 https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7881-z
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Mahato, P. (2019) Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: a call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal. WHO South East Asia Journal of Public Health 8(1): 38-41.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Faller, E.M,, van Teijlingen, E., Khoon, C.C., Pereira, A., Simkhada, P. (2019) ‘Sudden cardiac death and kidney health related problems among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia’ Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 9(3): 755-758. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/25805
Adhikary P, van Teijlingen E., Keen S. (2019) Workplace accidents among Nepali male workers in the Middle East and Malaysia: A qualitative study, Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health 21(5): 1115–1122. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10903-018-0801-y
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A survey of health problems of Nepalese female migrants workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(4): 1-7. http://rdcu.be/E3Ro
Adhikary P, Sheppard, Z., Keen S., van Teijlingen E. (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care 14(1): 96-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2015-0052
Adhikary, P, Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar & Saudi Arabia, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10.
Simkhada, P.P., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health and well-being: A review of the literature, Journal of Travel Medicine 24 (4): 1-9.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, Y.K.D., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal 8(1):57-74.
Adhikary P, Keen S and van Teijlingen E (2011). Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in the Middle East. Health Science Journal.5 (3):169-i75 DOI: 2-s2.0-79960420128.
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK, BMC International Health & Human Rights 8(6). Web address: www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6

October 10, 2020

Insensitive question?

international, Publishing, Research Integritiy, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Last week I sent a reminder email to a health journal in Nepal enquiring about the progress of our submitted manuscript, assuming it had got stuck somewhere in the peer review process. The reply threw me a little and made me realise that some people’s situation is far and far worse than we think. The Nepali editor’s email went:

Dear Professor Edwin
Thank you for your email.
I will update the progress as early as possible.
Stay Safe.
PS: 25% of the medical personnel in the hospital where I am working is infected with COVID-19.
Hope for the positive news.

I immediately replied and told him not to worry and take as long as necessary. It also made me realise that we don’t always put ourselves in the editor’s shoes, even though I am a journal editor myself.

Food for thought!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Tagged / Nepal

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