BU Research Blog

July 2, 2019

Research Capacity Building in Nepal: 600 reads

Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, Knowledge Exchange, open access, Publishing, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

A few times a month ResearchGate alerts me that another paper has reached a miles stone of so having been read some many times. Today the ResearchGate message is about 600 reads for our paper ‘Research Methods Coverage in Medical and Health Science Curricula in Nepal’. [1] This paper was a report on research methods teaching in health-related Higher Education (HE) courses in the health and medical field in Nepal. This paper originates from a DelPHE (Round 4), British Council award. Our study ‘Partnership on Improving Access to Research Literature for HE Institutions in Nepal’ (PARI Initiative) was a collaboration between the oldest university in Nepal, namely Tribhuvan University and two UK university of which BU was one. A further paper from the PARI Initiative was published a year later. [2] The lead author of both papers in BU Visiting Faculty Prof Padam Simkhada, who is Professor of International Public Health at the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University.

The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is a full Open Access journal which means anybody across the globe can access it for free. The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is part of Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) a service established by INASP in 2007, which provides online publication of Nepali journals.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Pokharel, T., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S. (2013) Research Methods Coverage in Medical & Health Science Curricula in Nepal, Nepal Journal Epidemiology 3(3): 253-258. www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/9185
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S., Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/11375

June 26, 2019

Doing research in conflict areas

conferences, international, PG research, Publishing, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Prof. Bhimsen Devkota will be presenting our paper ‘Challenges and Dilemmas in Conducting Conflict Research During Armed Violence: Lessons Learnt from Fieldwork in Nepal’ at a conference tomorrow. The two-day Nepal Research Conference on Peace, Justice and Inclusive Society will be held in Lalitpur, Nepal. Bhimsen was my PhD student at the University of Aberdeen and he is now based at the leading government university in Nepal, Tribhuvan University. He studied the role and motivations of Maoist health workers in Nepal who were part of the insurgency against the government /king (1995-2006). We published four papers on his exciting fieldwork [1-4].

During the conflict the Maoist recruited their own health workers to treat combatants (Bandage) and to provide limited services to the communities under their control. However, there was no systematic information on numbers, their abilities/ skills, experience and career motivations and their integration strategies in the subsequent peace process. During his fieldwork in rebel controlled areas Bhimsen had to use all his social and emotional skills to get the research done. He is the only PhD student I have ever supervised who was put a gun to his head during his fieldwork. Our paper is highlighting some of these real-life research issues, including gaining trust and having an identity acceptable to the research participants.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternity & Perinatal Health)

References:

Devkota, B., van Teijlingen E. (2009) Politicians in Apron: Case study of Rebel Health Services in Nepal, Asia-Pacific J Publ Health 21: 377-384.
Devkota B, van Teijlingen E. (2010) Demystifying the Maoist Barefoot Doctors of Nepal, Med Conflict Survival 26: 108-123.
Devkota B, van Teijlingen E. (2010) Understanding effects of armed conflict on health outcomes: the case of Nepal. Conflict & Health 4 (20) www.conflictandhealth.com/content/4/1/20
Sahay, G., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, ER. (2016) Rebel Health Services in South Asia: Comparing Maoist-led Conflicts in India & Nepal, Sociol Bull 65(1):19-39.

June 15, 2019

Key role of volunteers in the health system

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week saw the publication of ‘Perceived barriers to accessing Female Community Health Volunteers’ (FCHV) services among ethnic minority women in Nepal: A qualitative study’ [1]. This article in the Open Access journal PLoS ONE highlights the key role volunteers play in delivering health services to minorities/the poorest people, especially in low-income countries like Nepal.

This paper studies community health workers in Nepal, who are known as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs). To address this issue, we conducted a qualitative study to explore perceived barriers to accessing maternal and child healthcare services among ethnic minority groups in two different parts of Nepal with varying degrees of access to local healthcare centres. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty FCHVs, 26 women service users and 11 paid local health workers. In addition, 15 FCHVs participated in four focus group discussions.

A thematic analysis of the data identified five major themes underlying barriers to accessing available maternal and child healthcare services by ethnic minority groups. These themes include: a) lack of knowledge among service users; b) lack of trust in volunteers; c) traditional beliefs and healthcare practices; d) low decision-making power of women; and e) perceived indignities experienced when using health centres. The paper concluded that community health programmes should focus on increasing awareness of healthcare services among ethnic minority groups, and the programmes should involve family members (husband and mothers-in-law) and traditional health practitioners. Both the FCHVs and local healthcare providers should be trained to communicate effectively in order to deliver respectful care among ethnic minorities if we want to achieve universal healthcare coverage for maternal and child health in low- and -middle income countries.

The paper is based on the PhD research conducted by Dr. Sarita Panday in ScHARR at the University of Sheffield. Dr. Panday is currently affiliated with the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Centre (APARC) at Stanford University in the USA. Her co-authors are Prof. Paul Bissell at the University of Huddersfield, FHSS’s Visiting Prof. Padam Simkhada at the Liverpool John Moores University and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. This is the second paper from Dr. Panday’s excellent thesis, the first paper was also published in an Open Access journal BMC Health Services Research [2].

References:

Panday S, Bissell P, van Teijlingen E, Simkhada P (2019) Perceived barriers to accessing Female Community Health Volunteers’ (FCHV) services among ethnic minority women in Nepal: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE 14(6): e0217070.
Panday S, Bissell P, van Teijlingen E, Simkhada P (2017) The contribution of female community health volunteers (FCHVs) to maternity care in Nepal: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research 17(1):623.

June 7, 2019

Latest Newsletter CMMPH online

Fusion, NHS, PG research, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The Spring newsletter of the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) is available online now, click here! Also you can read more about our Centre on our webpages. CMMPH embraces the notion of FUSION as a key Bournemouth University centre. This is illustrated in each newsletter which always has sections on the three segments of Fusion: Education, Practice and Research.

May 20, 2019

Trekking guides paper well read

open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today ResearchGate alerted us that our paper ‘Nepalese Trekking Guides: A Quantitative Study of Sexual Health Knowledge And Sexual Behaviour’ [1] has been cited 300 times. This paper links between Tourism and Public Health in the field of sexually transmitted infections in travellers and tourism workers. This article, in an Open Access journal, is co-authored by BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen with BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada and Psychology colleagues from the University of Southampton.

This study assessed sexual behaviour, knowledge and condom use among male trekking guides in Nepal. A questionnaire (n=324) was administered to Nepali men working as mountain trekking guides. Most respondents (59%) had initiated sex before the age of 18. Most (84 %) reported sexual relations with a woman other than their partner, 46% reported foreign partners, 43% had Nepalese partners, and 28% had concurrent foreign and Nepalese partners. Most (70 %) reported ever having sex with a foreign woman and two-thirds had had sexual intercourse with foreign women in the previous 12 months. Participants’ age, education status, age of first sex, smoking and drinking habits and English proficiency were significant predictors of having sex with foreign women. About 60% reported condom use during their most recent occasion of extra-marital sex. A similar proportion had used a condom during last sexual intercourse with a foreign woman.

The likelihood of condom use was associated with a guide’s age, educational level, ethnicity, age of first sex and work experience. Most trekking guides reported sexual relations with foreign women as well as irregular use of condoms. Although sexual health knowledge about among trekking guides is high, some misconceptions still result in unsafe sex. Hence there is an urgent need to revise the existing training for trekking guides and implement appropriate health promotion programmes.

Reference:

Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Bhatta, P., Ingham, R., & Stone, N. (2015). Nepalese Trekking Guides: A Quantitative Study of Sexual Health Knowledge And Sexual Behaviour. J Manmohan Memorial Inst Health Sci, 1(4), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v1i4.12000

May 7, 2019

Paper in top 30 most cited Journal Advanced Nursing articles

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU’s Dr. Bibha Simkhada’s paper ‘Factors affecting the utilisation of antenatal care in developing countries: a systematic review of the literature’ [1] is currently the 27th most cited paper in the Journal of Advanced Nursing. This is great achievement considering that the journal has published nearly ten thousand articles since its inception (to be precise 9,847). The Journal of Advanced Nursing (published by Wiley) is one of the prestigious journals in the nursing field. This extremely well-cited paper was part of Bibha’s Ph.D. study at the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Bibha Simkhada is Lecturer in Adult Nursing in the Department of Nursing and Clinical Sciences. One of her co-authors also works at BU, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and a second co-author, Prof. Padam Simkhada from Liverpool John Moores University is Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. The third co-author Dr. Maureen Porter retired a few years ago.

Reference:

Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen E., Porter, M., Simkhada, P. (2008) Factors affecting the utilisation of antenatal care in developing countries: a systematic review of the literature, Journal of Advanced Nursing 61(3): 244-260.

April 24, 2019

BU migration health stakeholders’ meetings in Malaysia

Fusion, international, Public engagement, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU’s researchers Dr. Pramod Raj Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal have recently visited Malaysia for a consultation meeting. They organised meetings with stakeholders working on migration health related and Nepali migrant workers as Public Patient Involvement (PPI ) in Malaysia. These meetings discussed risk factors for sudden nocturnal deaths and kidney disease among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia.

More than 350 Nepali migrant workers die in Malaysia every year. Nearly one-fourth of them die from cardiovascular problems often during their sleep, many without previous signs or illnesses. This also seems to be the case in South Asian workers in the Middle-East. The cause of death is hitherto unknown. During a consultation meeting on 19^th April, participants suggested several possible causes of these deaths and strongly supported the idea of carrying out verbal autopsy with close friends, employers, roommates, etc. The emerging health issue of kidney health risk among Nepali migrant workers and its risk factors were also discussed. A total of 25 participants attended the meeting. Participants from many different disciplines [1], including from migration health researchers from several universities, migrant workers’ non-governmental organizations (NGO), the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and International Organization for Migration (IOM) Malaysia. FHSS’s Drs Aryal and Regmi facilitated the consultation workshops.

On the same day, Dr. Regmi and Dr. Aryal met with the Nepali ambassador to Malaysia Mr. Udaya Raj Pandey and his team and discussed migration issues. The Nepali Embassy in Malaysia is aware of these health problems and the ambassador committed to provide any support required for further investigation in these issues.

On 20^th April, another PPI was carried out among Nepali migrant workers at their living quarters. Around 20 Nepali migrant workers participated. During this meeting, issues of sudden nocturnal deaths and acceptability and feasibility of verbal autopsy tools, problem of kidney disease and its possible triggers were discussed. The research into the usefulness of verbal autopsy tool as a good example of BU’s FUSION, since research can lead to a change in practice regarding health of migrant workers through better education of the migrant community, their left-behind families and NGOs working in the field.

These consultation meeting and PPI were intended to develop basis for further research in these area and build collaboration in Malaysia. The NGOs North-South Initiatives (Mr. Adrian Pereira and his team) and Migrant Workers’ Health Alliance (Dr. Erwin Martinez Faller and his team) have locally co-ordinated these events. These activities were conducted from the QR pump-priming fund awarded to Dr. Aryal this year in FHSS.

Finally, on 21^st April, Dr. Regmi and Dr. Aryal were invited to the Philippine Embassy to share knowledge on mental health risk among migrant workers. They have presented findings of previous BU’s research on it as well as existing evidence on mental health risk on migrant workers and their left-behinds. More than 60 Filipino migrant workers attended the event.

As Malaysia is a popular destination for migrant workers from Asia Pacific and South Asia (there are currently more than 700,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia), these consultations will play a significant role in designing and developing grant applications to promote health and wellbeing of migrant workers. This consultation meeting builds on recent work on the topic conducted at BU [2-14] as highlighted in the recent Research Brief Migration and Health (Jan. 2019).

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Mahat, P. (2019) Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: a call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal. WHO South East Asia J Public Health 8 (1): 38-41.
Adhikary P, Sheppard Z., Keen S. van Teijlingen E (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, Int J Migration, Health Social Care 14(1): 96-105
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, ER., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A study of Health Problems of Nepalese Female Migrants Workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC Int Health Human Rights 18(1):4.
Adhikary P, Sheppard Z, Keen S, van Teijlingen E (2017) Risky work: Accidents among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar & Saudi, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10
Simkhada P, Regmi, P, van Teijlingen E, Aryal N (2017) Identifying gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of literature J Travel Med 24(4): 1-9
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury & Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific J Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC J Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
Joshi, S., Prescott, G., Simkhada, P., Sharma, N., Bhurtyal, Y. (2014). Knowledge and Risk Perceptions about HIV/AIDS among Nepalese Migrants in Gulf Countries: a Cross-sectional Study. Health Sci J, 8 (3) pp 350-36
Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Sci J 8(1):57-74.
Joshi S, Simkhada, P, Prescott, G (2011) Health problems of Nepalese migrants working in three Gulf countries, BMC Int Health Human Rights, 2011, 11:3
Adhikary P, Keen S, van Teijlingen E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Sci J 5: 169-75.
van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P, Adhikary P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in UK. BMJ Rapid Response www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Raja, A. (2008). Health and Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK; BMC Int Health Human Rights, 8(6).

April 13, 2019

Ten years at BU

Festival of Learning, Fusion, international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

(more…)

March 27, 2019

BU media coverage in Nepal

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The article “Why suicide rate among pregnant women in Nepal is rising” written by BU academics was published in The Conversation last year. At the time this attracted Indian newspaper attention. Clearly it is still a relevant issue as it attracted national coverage in a Nepali newspaper this week.

Dr. Bibha Simkhada & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

February 28, 2019

Dr. Aryal funded to attend international workshop on migration & health

conferences, international, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Nirmal Aryal in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has been selected to participate in an international workshop targeting early career researchers (ECRs) on ‘Engendering research and reframing policy debate on migration & health and intersectional rights’ to be held in Kathmandu (Nepal) from 25th to 28th April 2019.

This workshop is jointly organized by several universities in the UK, India as well as the International Organisation for Migration, as well as the Migration Health and Development Research Initiative(MHADRI). There will be 18 ECRs from South Asia and South East Asia and Nirmal is one for the six from the UK. The organizers will fund flight to and accommodation in Nepal.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

February 25, 2019

BU contributes to International Conference in India.

Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, Publishing, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This past weekend saw BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada, who is a Professor of International Public Health in the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), delivering the keynote speech in an International Conference on Mixed-Methods Research (ICMMR 2019). His presentation at the conference, held at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala (India), was held on Saturday. The next day (Sunday 24th February) the two Bournemouth University academics Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and facilitated a session on academic publishing under the heading “Meet the editors” via Skype. Over 200 delegates from 10 countries, mainly from India and other South Asian countries participated in the conference.

BU focuses its global collaborations on three geographical areas, one of these is the Indian sub-continent. Connect India is BU’s strategic Hub of Practice for the Indian sub-continent, bringing together a community of researchers, educators, practitioners and students to collaborate with colleagues in India and Nepal.

January 21, 2019

Reflections on doing interdisciplinary research

Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, Knowledge Transfer, open access, Public engagement, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research Integritiy, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Conducting interdisciplinary or even transdisciplinary research has become more to the fore in many academic fields. As a result of the steady rise of multidisciplinary research It has been made more explicit in REF 2021 [1]. For example, REF 2021 UoA 2 Public Health, Health Services & Primary Care “recognises the breadth and diverse range of single, multidisciplinary and/or multi-professional research across public health, health services and primary care”, whilst UoA22 Anthropology & Development Studies states that its submissions “can be multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary and may combine social science with other disciplines”.

However, doing multidisciplinary research is not without its problems (and barriers). In a paper accepted today we reflect on some of these issues [2]. The co-authors are Bournemouth University’s Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Nirmal Ayral and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada (Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University) and BU graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary (Green Tara Nepal). We all are Public Health researchers, with very different educational backgrounds and training, reflecting the diversity of and interdisciplinarity in the field. Several of us have a first degree in Education or Health Education, but one has a first degree in Sociology. Whilst four of the five authors have Master degree in Public Health and/or Health Promotion, two have a Master in Education. Most of us have a Ph.D. in Public Health, but again one of us has a Ph.D. in Sociology. Our paper ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward’ has been accepted by the journal Health Prospect [2]. The advantage of this journal, which is part of the NepJOL family is that it is Open Access and hence freely available for anybody working in Public Health across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

Reference:

REF 2021 (2018) Consultation on the draft panel criteria and working methods https://www.ref.ac.uk/media/1013/consultation-on-the-draft-panel-criteria-and-working-methods-ref-2018_02.pdf
van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P.R., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019) Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward, Health Prospect (forthcoming)

January 20, 2019

Migrant workers & mental health in Nepal

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Nirmal Aryal and Dr. Pramod Regmi in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences on the acceptance of their latest paper ‘Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: Call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal’ [1]. This paper has just been accepted by WHO South East Asia Journal of Public Health. This academic journal is Open Access and published by the Regional Office for South-East Asia of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Delhi, India. Co-authors of this scientific paper are: Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH); BU Visiting Prof. Padam Simkhada (based at Liverpool John Moores University);and Dr. Pashupati Mahat from CMC-Nepal (Center for Mental Health & Counselling- Nepal).

The paper argues that there exists an increased risk of mental health problems in Nepali adolescents, especially those left-behind by migrant workers. There is a paucity of research on mental health intervention among adolescents in low and middle income countries (LMICs) such as Nepal. The paper calls for more and better community-based mental health intervention in Nepali adolescents including the special group of left-behind adolescents. Doing this work in Nepal, a country with a very high proportion of its population working abroad will have a broader implication for a other low-and middle-income countries. This article is a welcome addition to BU’s growing publications on migrant workers and health in Nepal [2-11].

References:

Aryal, N., Regmi, P. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P & Mahat, P. (2019) Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: Call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal, WHO South East Asia J Public Health (forthcoming).
Adhikary P, Sheppard Z., Keen S. van Teijlingen E (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, Int J Migration, Health Social Care 14(1): 96-105
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A study of Health Problems of Nepalese Female Migrants Workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(1):4.
Adhikary, P., Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: Accidents among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10
Simkhada, P, Regmi, P., van Teijlingen E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of literature J Travel Med 24(4): 1-9
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury & Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Sci J 8(1):57-74.
Adhikary P, Keen S, van Teijlingen E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Sci J 5: 169-75.
van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P, Adhikary P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in UK. BMJ Rapid Response www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Raja, A. (2008). Health and Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK; BMC International Health & Human Rights, 8(6).

January 12, 2019

Migration research dissemination in Kathmandu

conferences, international, PG research Edwin van Teijlingen

Last week we presented key findings from our various research projects on health and migration in Nepal. The research meeting was held in a hotel in central Kathmandu. More than seventy people turned up, in fact more people than had registered so the kitchen had to add to the lunch buffet at short notice. The chief guest was the Deputy Speaker of the Nepal’s Federal Parliament, Shivamaya Tumbahangphe. Dr. Tumbahangphe was the first female MP in Nepal with a PhD (in Political Sciences). She is speaking on the photo right, standing next to BU’s Dr. Bibha Simkhada.
The event was organised jointly with Liverpool John Moores University, Green Tara Nepal, and POURAKHI Nepal. the latter is an organisation of women migrant workers established in 2003. It aims to ensure the rights of women migrant workers and their families in the entire process of migration. The organisation focuses its work on women migrant worker’s concerns regarding issues that arise at the different stages of migration, namely pre-employment, pre-departure, employment and post-arrival periods through support programmes.

Nearly one-seventh of the world’s population is now living in a location different from the one in which they were born. Some 3.5 million Nepali are working as migrant workers in the Gulf countries, Malaysia, and India, contributing nearly one-third of the Nepal’s gross domestic product. Despite Nepal’s long history of work-related migration, the national dialogue has only recently become more prominent. Migration has become a political as well as a social issues, for example, we see migration mentioned in the national media on a daily basis. Our meeting was reported on TV and in an English-language newspaper The Himalayan Times on January 6th (to read article click here!).

The BU team comprises: Dr Pramod Regmi (FHSS Lecturer in International Health), Dr. Nirmal Aryal (Post-doctoral Research Fellow), Dr. Bibha Simkhada (FHSS Lecturer in Nursing), and in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Dr. Catherine Angell and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. The team is complemented by Liverpool John Moores University’s Prof. Padam Simkhada (who is also Visiting Professor at BU), Dr. Pratik Adhikary (BU graduate based at Green Tara Nepal) and colleagues at Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, India.

January 12, 2019

Developing our partnership in Nepal

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Fusion, international, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Student Engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Last year BU signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal. This week Dr. Bibha Simkhada, Lecturer in Nursing, Dr. Shanti Shanker, Lecturer (Academic) in Psychology, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) delivered one-day workshop on qualitative and mixed-methods research approaches. The workshop was very well attended by MSc students, not just from MMIHS, but also those from several other colleges and universities.

MMIHS is part of BU’s latest bids for ERASMUS Higher Education Student & Staff Mobility between Programme and Partner Countries (Key Action 107) – International Credit Mobility. Bournemouth University’s strategic plan known as BU2015 has as one of its pillars our desire to “enrich society by having a significant impact on challenges world-wide“. Through Fusion BU aims to (a) have a positive impact world-wide on the challenges facing society; (b) ensure staff, students and graduates enrich society as active citizens in their communities; and (c) strengthen our shared impact through worldwide partnerships. Expanding and developing the existing BU-MMIHS partnership is a excellent stepping stone for the ERASMUS application.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

January 2, 2019

The perils of academic travel

Edwin van Teijlingen

Traveling long distances for work is key to many academic jobs. However, traveling during the Festive Season has its challenges. Getting your tickets in time from the university-appointed travel agency is one of them. Getting tickets to go to Heathrow took me a week, due to range of minor human errors and my family forbidding me to work on Christmas Day and Boxing. Having received the bus tickets on the day of travel, the coach to Heathrow broke down half way, raising my anxiety level.

In Nepal, travel issues are usually traffic issues. In the dry season Kathmandu is dusty and polluted (one of my colleagues said it is the fifth most polluted city in terms of air quality in the world). Outside Kathmandu on the Highway to India the scary bits are the narrow winding roads with little opportunity to overtake slow moving lorries going up the mountains, but people still do. The pictures show the equivalent of the M1 or M6 in the UK. Not quite what one would expect a Highway to look like. And it really does not that we recently submitted a paper about road traffic injuries in Nepal. Sometimes know less is better!

December 21, 2018

Congratulations to FHSS student Raksha Thapa

international, open access, PG research, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

On the last working day of 2018 at Bournemouth University we congratulate FHSS student Raksha Thapa on the publication of her first PhD paper in her first PhD year. The paper Uptake of Health Services by People from the Dalit Community was published today in the Journal of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences [1]. Raksha is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Vanessa Heaslip and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

The paper discusses a variety of studies and reports on the uptake of health services in Nepal and other low-income countries by socio-economic cultural status in South Asia. These reports often focus on limitations due to physical factors, such as travel distance to health facility, or lack of medical facilities or electricity at the health care centre or focus on resources, such as lack of service providers, or lack of appropriately trained staff. Therefore, this article highlights the importance of discrimination as a reason for people not seeking available health care. Discrimination is particularly a barrier to service usage among the most deprived people in society, such as the Dalit community in Nepal and South Asia more generally. The authors discuss the caste-based discrimination in Nepal and its effects on health outcomes of those groups who experience such discrimination.

Reference:

Thapa, R., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P. , Heaslip, V. (2018) Uptake of Health Services by People from the Dalit Community, Journal of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences 1(2): 1-6.

December 19, 2018

Successful Away Day for the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health

Fusion, HSS Our 9 Research Entities, international, NHS sueway

CMMPH held its annual away day on the 12^th December and was led by the Centre leads, Professors Edwin van Teijlingen and Susan Way. It is an opportunity for BU staff, PGR students and Visiting Faculty to come together and share their research development and impact over the previous year. Time is also given to thinking ahead to ensure the Centre is meeting its aims of promoting the health and wellbeing of women, babies and their families by enhancing practice through education, research and scholarship.

The morning started with an update about EDGE, an NHS IT platform that provides a governance framework for tracking NHS research studies. Doctoral students whose studies require NHS ethics approval will have their research tracked through this system. Other discussions included an update on REF and BU2025, developing a publications strategy and match-funded PhD studentships.

Luisa Cescutti-Butler Malika Felton

Several PGR students presented their work to date, ranging from rising caesarean section rates in hospitals in Nepal (Sulochana Dhakal working towards Probationary Review); acute and chronic effects of slow and deep breathing upon women who have pregnancy-induced hypertension (Malika Felton working towards Major Review); updating the understanding perineal practice at the time of birth by midwives (Sara Stride working towards Probationary Review) and women’s experiences of caring for their late preterm babies (Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler recently awarded doctorate). The presentations were all excellent and produced a lot of questions and discussion. Well done to all those who presented.

Sulochana Dhakal Sara Stride

The afternoon was used as an opportunity to think ahead about future collaborative research, how this fits in with the Centre aims and objectives as well as meeting the university’s ambitions to be a world class organisation.

The day was really enjoyable with a lot of positive feedback.

Edwin and Sue

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