Tagged / NIHR

Three grant applications rejected this month

international

The start of October has not been good for me in terms of grant applications.  On the first day of October the NIHR informed us that our application to the call for a research programme for social care was unsuccessful.  The reason given by the NIHR panel was that our proposal was not competitive enough, this was a BU-led proposal working with colleagues based in Dorset.

Four days later another application to the NIHR, this time to another different funding stream, was rejected by Global Health Research Programme Funding Committees. This second failed grant application was written by an international interdisciplinary team led by the Canterbury Christ Church University.  It was a follow-up of our successful study ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’, which was funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative, itself a collaboration of the MRC/FCDO/Wellcome Trust/ESRC; Grant ref. MR/T023554/1.

To rub salt in the wounds, an international funding body, a joint initiative of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR; France), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; Germany), the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC; UK) and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC; Canada). The secretariat emailed us a few days ago than our application was not short-listed in this very competitive call, where 90% of applications were rejected.

Some of these proposals can, and will be, revamped and resubmitted to other funding bodies.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

BU receives share of over £33m in funding from the NIHR to inspire health and care students and professionals into research

BU has received a share of £33.2m in funding to provide research training for health and care students and early career professionals. 

The funding, from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is part of the new INSIGHT: Inspiring Students into Research scheme, which aims to help students and those at early career stages in health and care to explore a range of research careers.

Nursing students laughing in one of the simulation wardsIn partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE) and regional organisations, we have received £1.4m to deliver the INSIGHT programme for the South West Central region.

This includes providing fully funded Master’s with Research (MRes) programmes and a range of engagement activities – such as workshops, networking opportunities and mentoring programmes to promote research careers within health and care.

Professor Carol Clark, Professor in Physiotherapy at Bournemouth University who is leading the INSIGHT programme at BU, said: “The NIHR INSIGHT programme provides an outstanding opportunity for health and care professionals to build their research skills. Embedding research into careers has the potential to improve outcomes for all the people who access health and care in England.

“We are delighted to be working alongside UWE to deliver MRes programmes for the South West Central region for the next three years, building research capacity and capability.”

Dr Adele Drew-Hill, Dean and Head of School of Health and Social Wellbeing at UWE, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Bournemouth University to deliver this innovative and engaging programme designed to enable students to explore a career in research. Our shared vision is to develop the leading regional hub for healthcare research skills development in the Southwest.”

The INSIGHT Programme funds a wide range of engagement activities and research Master’s places for current students and recent graduates within healthcare, social work and public health professions.

The £33.2m funding from the NIHR is for three years and supports institutions across 12 regions in England to deliver engagement programmes to attract people into research careers, and fully-funded Research Master’s places to train those new to research.

Professor Waljit Dhillo, Dean of NIHR Academy, said: “We know how important early exposure to research is for helping students and early career professionals develop the knowledge and skills needed to join the research workforce and build successful research careers in the future.

“I’m delighted that we can invest in our next generation of researchers in the South West Central region, and show students all of the benefits that research roles and careers have to offer.”

For more information about the opportunities available in the South West Central region, please visit https://insight-southwestcentral.net/ 

For more information about the INSIGHT programme, please visit the NIHR website.

Drowning prevention meeting for NIHR-funded study

international, PG research

This week our collaborators on the Sonamoni project traveled from Bangladesh and Uganda to Dorset for a set of research planning meetings.  The visitors represented CIPRB (The Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh) and DWB (Design without Borders).  They were hosted by colleagues from Bournemouth University, the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) and from the University of Southampton.  Since Monday we managed to have an intensive week of design workshops, reviewing and incorporating local-community prioritised interventions for child drowning prevention (aged <2years) in Bangladesh.  I say ‘we managed’, but I have been at home all week with COVID-19.  The past few days I was beginning to feel quite well again, so I was unpleasantly surprised that I was still positive when I tested yesterday, and even more so this morning.  Consequently, missing the whole week working with our visiting collaborators.

The Sonamoni project recently presented its own video recording on YouTube,which you can watch here!

Sonamoni is a public health project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website.

 

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)

NIHR INSIGHT Programme – opportunities

An invitation for those who have project ideas and or would like to supervise research projects.

Inspiring graduates and early career professionals into research. The NIHR INSIGHT programme South West Central Collaboration  – offers opportunities for research engagement. This is a collaboration led by UWE and co-hosted by BU with collaborators and stakeholders across the region.

To find out more about the programme NIHR Insight Programme for South West Central (insight-southwestcentral.net)

Applications for a BU MRes will be through the doctoral college NIHR INSIGHT South West Central Programme | Bournemouth University

 

We are expecting applications to come in shortly for full and part time MRes students as part of the INSIGHT programme starting in September 2024.

  1. Would you like to be a supervisor for an MRes student and or would you like to be part of a supervisory team?
  2. Do you have a research idea that could be undertaken by an MRes student. This might include a literature review + either of the following -(service valuation, audit, analysis of existing data, quality improvement) + Public and Patient involvement and engagement.

 

The fully funded Mres studentships  are available to early career colleagues (within 3 years of registration/work) in health and social care settings (nursing, midwifery, AHP, Social work, public health, pharmacy, chiropractic, osteopath and health care scientists).

 

For further information please contact:

Assoc Prof  Les Gelling – Programme lead BU INSIGHT

Assoc Prof Theo Akudjedu – Innovation and Engagement lead BU INSIGHT

Prof Carol Clark – Host Lead BU INSIGHT

Funded MRes Studentships starting September 2024

Please join us online to find out more about this opportunity – (see flyer INSIGHT SWCC flyer version 1).

The NIHR INSIGHT programme for South West Central Collaboration (SWCC) provides an opportunity for new graduates in nursing, midwifery, AHP, pharmacy, health scientists, public health,  social care and chiropractic to engage in a research programme.

This will be through funded master’s in research (MRes)programmes at either UWE-Bristol or BU.

 

NIHR INSIGHT Programme for South West Central

We are delighted to be able to advertise the NIHR INSIGHT programme for South West Central Collaboration (SWCC) with our internal stakeholders – Inspiring new graduates in nursing, midwifery, AHP, pharmacy, health scientists, public health,  social care and chiropractic into research.

This will be through funded master’s in research (MRes) programmes at UWE-Bristol and BU.  Further details will be posted on our web pages shortly.

At the moment we can send this information out to our stakeholders – but not via social media. NIHR INSIGHT will have an official launch in mid June.

Find more:INSIGHT SWCC flyer version 1

Celebrating with the RNLI

Awarded & submitted bids, international, PG research, Publishing

Staff in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences at Bournemouth University (BU) would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the charity the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) on its 200th anniversary!  Some of us have personal experience of working with the RNLI.  For example, Adam Bancroft, Programme Lead in Paramedic Science and Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science, in the Department of Midwifery & Health Sciences has been a lifeboat volunteer  Adam and his wife Paula were  both volunteer crew at Tower RNLI on the banks of the river Thames, which is still the busiest RNLI station in the UK.   They would commit to at least two shifts a month where they would be at a state of readiness to launch at moments notice on the pier, ready to respond. 
The picture of Adam and Paula was taken in 2013 for the RNLI as part of a photo shoot that was published in the Lifeboat magazine featuring volunteers and the different walks of life from across the UK and Ireland and the Channel Islands.  I am not sure Adam wants me to share this, but on their wedding day the ‘car’ for Paula was the spare RNLI boat, crewed by volunteer and full-time crew who gave their time to deliver her to the party boat for the service.  Adam did say that sadly neither of them able to volunteer now.
In a very different way of working with the RNLI, BU academics currently are involved in a collaborative research project with RNLI to prevent the drowning of toddlers under the age of two in rural Bangladesh.  This project called Sonamoni.  BU is leading this interdisciplinary study of nearly £1.7 million funded by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
This interdisciplinary project is a collaboration of BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH), BU’s Department in Accounting, Finance & Economics and Department of Design & Engineering, and external partners, namely the University of the West of England, the University of Southampton, the Poole-based RNLI and in Bangladesh the research organisation CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh), and in Uganda Design Without Borders (DWB).  The Bournemouth University team comprises staff from three faculties: Dr. Mavis Bengtsson, Dr. Kyungjoo Cha, Dr. Mehdi Chowdhury, Dr. Yong Hun Lim, Mr. John Powell, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and one PhD student Mr. Md. Shafkat Hossain.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMWH

Postdoc Appreciation Week: Local Authority Adult Social Care Recruitment and Retention research project

PG research

This week is UK Postostdoc Appreciation Week and we are celebrating and showcasing the achievements of our postdoctoral researchers and their important contribution to research at BU. 

Today’s post is by Dr Andy Pulman, Postdoctoral Researcher in Social Care, who shares details of his research exploring recruitment and retention in social care… 

An effective health service is reliant on an effective social care system, and it is therefore vital that we develop a robust research base for social care, to ensure that local authorities (LAs) and third sector organisations provide the most effective services within a wider integrated system of health and social care.

The National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work (NCPQSW) has been contributing to this area of national research recently by helping to generate deeper insights into the challenges of building capacity to undertake social care research across the sector and the opportunities for building research engagement and capacity across Higher Education Institutions and the social care sector in the Wessex region (Dorset, South Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight).

In 2022, Professor Lee-Ann Fenge (PI) and Dr Andy Pulman (Post Doc) completed a year-long study examining social care research enablers – which could help to build a positive research environment – and barriers – which might prevent or limit a positive research environment for practitioners. We are currently working on a follow up project – one of four in the Wessex region being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) – building on this initial scoping work.

Our study explores local recruitment (employing people as adult social care staff) and retention (providing a working environment where they want to stay) issues in adult social care from the perspective of four populations of interest:

  1. Social care practitioners currently working in two local LAs – Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) and Dorset.
  2. Social care staff with responsibility for performing exit interviews with LA staff (prior to their leaving the LA) currently working in the two local LAs.
  3. Students currently enrolled in social care undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (within the Wessex region) who might enter the adult social care workforce locally once qualified.
  4. Service users with lived experience of receiving services in BCP or Dorset/advocates drawn from Wessex Region Local Authority contracted services and the impacts of practitioner retention in relation to use of these services.

This project runs between November 2022 and April 2024 and at time of writing (11/09/23), we are currently collecting and analysing qualitative data from over n=100 participants. 

More information on our project:

Dr Andy Pulman – apulman@bournemouth.ac.uk

https://ncpqsw.com/building-research-capacity-in-social-care/

https://www.arc-wx.nihr.ac.uk/research-areas-list/social-care%3A-local-authority-adult-social-care-recruitment-and-retention-research-project

Further viewing:

Pulman, A. 2023. NIHR ARC Wessex Social Care Lunchtime Seminar #2 – Building Research Capacity in Social Care.

Further reading:

Pulman, A. and Fenge, L.-A., 2023. Building Capacity for Social Care Research—Individual-Level and Organisational Barriers Facing Practitioners. The British Journal of Social Work.

Pulman, A. and Fenge, L.-A., 2023. Building Capacity for Social Care Research – Ways of Improving Research Skills for Social Workers. Social Work Education.

If you’d like to write a blog post to share your appreciation for our postdoctoral researchers, please contact research@bournemouth.ac.uk. You can also get involved on social media during Postdoc Appreciation Week by using #LovePostdocs and #NPAW2023 on Twitter and Instagram and tagging us @BU_Research or @UK_NPAW.

Introduction to Patient and Public Involvement

Guidance, NHS, Research Ethics, Training

This half day course is an introduction to PPI and will:
1. Define PPI and why it matters
2. Explore the links between PPI and health equity
3. Explain how to deliver PPI and support those involved

It will be an interactive session, including input from someone with lived experience, talking about their involvement in research.

It will be delivered by Sue Bickler from the Involving People team at Help and Care, an organisation that ‘helps people and communities live the lives they choose’.

Sue has worked in the voluntary sector, local authorities, and health, and has substantial experience engaging with people and communities to ensure that services meet their needs.  Her current role brings together the four Healthwatch in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (HIOW), ensuring that patient voice is central to decision making in the HIOW Integrated Care System and that people are equipped to support effective Patient and Public Involvement (PPI).

The session is funded by Clinical Research Network Wessex and is open to all health and care researchers working in Wessex including public contributors and community organisations.

Book your place here.  A link to the online training will then be sent to you.

NIHR Be Part of Research platform

Guidance, NHS, Research Ethics

The NIHR Be Part of Research platform is an online service that makes it easy for research participants to find and take part in health and social care research. Participants may search for trials and studies taking place looking at certain health conditions and in locations accessible to them.

Clinical researchers may also make use of the service to extend their recruitment and widen their recruitment methods, as the platform has been designed to make it easier for researchers and potential study participants to find each other.

Using Be Part of Research to recruit participants

To use the service for your recruitment, the study must meet the following requirements:

  • Be funded or supported by the NIHR. This includes studies on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio.
  • Have Research Ethics Committee approval to use the service as a recruitment tool.
  • Have a dedicated point of contact such as a pre-screener or website for interested volunteers to engage with your research team.

Getting your study onto the Be Part of Research platform

Once your study has been registered on either ISRCTN, ClinicalTrials.gov, or on the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS), your project will then appear on Be Part of Research. Given those visiting the site are mostly patients and members of the public, medical and scientific terminology should be omitted when writing your study summary, with plain English used to ensure the information is accessible to a broad audience. In order to do this, you should:
  • Keep it short – but don’t oversimplify it. The reader must understand what the study is trying to achieve.
  • Imagine you are talking to the reader.
  • Take out any jargon.
  • Make sure you cover the what, why, when, where and how so they have the basics of your study.

Additionally, to make sure that participants contact the appropriate person, the contact details provided on ISRCTN or ClinicalTrials.gov should be up to date and accurate. In general, the registry record should be monitored continuously so that any changes are reflected on Be Part of Research as soon as possible.

Further support/contact

If you have any questions regarding the platform or regarding clinical research in general, please email Suzy Wignall, Clinical Governance Advisor: swignall@bournemouth.ac.uk or clinicalresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU’s ECR- Dr Rejoice Chipuriro awarded NIHR Clinical Research Network Wessex grant to work with underserved communities in health and social care

Awarded & submitted bids, NHS

Dr Rejoice Chipuriro a Post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Social Science and Social Work has been awarded a grant from the NIHR Clinical Research Network Wessex. The grant is aimed at generating new insights into asylums seekers’ lived experiences with community based mental health care support services. This study involves partnership between Bournemouth University and Vita Nova- a community arts organisation that supports people in recovery from addiction. Vita Nova works in a holistic way to support members with their ongoing recovery programs which helps to avoid relapse back into treatment centres, mental health institutions or prison.

In recent years Vita Nova has worked with other underserved communities including asylum seekers, for example the Refugee Nativity last Christmas with local asylum seekers which brought communities together and raised awareness of the current refugee crisis. Vita Nova uses creativity to process trauma as a form of art therapy. Asylum seekers will be supported by Vita Nova to co-produce drama and photography for public exhibition to connect with mental health service in community, as well as the public, to dispel stigma around mental health and marginalisation of asylum seekers. The photo exhibition will also be co-designed with asylum seekers as a way for participants to share about their lived experiences, and break taboos about mental health.

 

Talking about this new research Dr Rejoice Chipuriro shared the following, ‘Mental health is a priority area for the NHS. Asylum seekers are listed by the NIHR as an underserved group in health research which is why this research seeks to generate new knowledge about mental health which is co-produced with asylum seekers.’

Michael Armstrong the Creative Producer at Vita Nova had this to share , ‘ As we step into a new chapter, we’re reflecting on the journey that brought us here. Rooted in the centre of Boscombe, our charity has dedicated itself to empowering community members and artists alike for almost 25 years. Through a rich tapestry of events and projects, we’ve woven connections, shared stories, and nurtured creativity. The partnership with Bournemouth University advances our approach to evaluation and how we can capture the voices of some of the most vulnerable people in our wonderful community.’

Sharon Coyne, Artistic Director at Vita Nova says ‘our partnership with Bournemouth University really helps us think differently about how we communicate the experience of our wonderful members and engage new partners and (hopefully) new funders’.

Congratulations Rejoice!