- Khaled, K., Hundley, V., Bassil, M., Bazzi, M., Tsofliou, F. (2024) The Association between Psychological Stress and Dietary Quality and Patterns among Women of Childbearing Age in Lebanon. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 8(9): 8-20.
Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Congratulations to Karim Khaled on the publication in the international journal Nutrients of his latest women’s health paper [1]. The paper ‘A Structural Equation Modelling Approach to Examine the Mediating Effect of Stress on Diet in Culturally Diverse Women of Childbearing Age’ is co-authored with his PhD supervisors Dr. Fotini Tsofliou and Prof. Vanora Hundley.
This paper in Nutrients is Open Access, hence available to read to anybody across the globe with internet access.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
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Our latest CMWH newsletter (autumn 2024 edition) is out now. Click here! This edition includes news items and stories related the successes of CMWH staff and students. For example, about Drs. Dominique Mylod and Daisy Wiggins who both secured innovative NIHR funding for undergraduate student internships. Or about the recently awarded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding for ‘INSIGHT: Inspiring Students into Research’. This innovative three-year programme started this summer as part of the NIHR Academy’s portfolio of career support for health and social care professionals. The programme supports the NIHR aim to develop a highly skilled research workforce capable of advancing the best research which improves health and care, and benefits society and the economy.
There is also an item on the importance of humour to stimulate interest and engagement with taboo women’s health topics. CMWH’s Rosie Harper, a PhD researcher and pelvic floor physiotherapist at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust has led a study with comedian and women’s health physiotherapist Elaine Miller and the results were published in Health Expectations. Elaine’s Instagram campaign ran daily for 3 months @gusset_grippers. And there are many more stories and announcements. The editors would like to thank Abier Hamidi for her excellent editorial support!
Dr. Rebecca Neal in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) who has a poster accepted for presentation at the prestigious GLOW conference later this month. This poster ‘Heat resilience and midwives: Bridging the gap for women’s health in a changing global climate. The 2024 GLOW conference, supported by the Medical Research Council, will focus on the effects of the ongoing global crises of climate change, infectious diseases, mental health, and conflict and migration on women’s and newborn health.
Insights from the Nepal Family Cohort Study (NeFCoS). NeFCoS is a multidisciplinary, longitudinal family cohort study designed to be one of its kind, informative research conducted in various geographical areas of Nepal. NeFCoS, led by Dr. Om Kurmi at the University of Coventry is part large-scale epidemiological study supported by BU and several other universities in the UK and elsewhere.
With the upcoming Bournemouth University systematic review module co-ordinated lead by Prof. Vanora Hundley, the following announcement was timely today:
The systematic review course is part of the INSIGHT programme.
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Congratulations to Ph.D. student Joanne Rack on the publication today of her paper ‘Understanding perceptions and communication of risk in advanced maternal age: a scoping review (protocol) on women’s engagement with health care services’ [1]. Joanne doing a Clinical Doctorate in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) focusing on personalised care for women of advanced maternal age. Her doctoral study is matched-funded by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust and Bournemouth University [BU]. Her PhD is supervised and supported by Profs. Vanora Hundley, Ann Luce and Edwin van Teijlingen at BU and Dr. Latha Vinayakarao in Poole Maternity Hospital.
Well done!
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I am delighted to share that our most recent methods paper in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods entitled “Most Significant Change Approach: A Guide to Assess the Programmatic Effects” [1] is now published and is available online (click here!). This paper is co-authored by Mohan K. Sharma, Shanti P. Khanal and Edwin R.van Teijlingen.
The paper outlines the so-called ‘Most Significant Change’ (MSC) participatory technique to monitor and evaluate programmatic effects. MSC is a form of monitoring that can be applied throughout the programme cycle and it provides information to help manage the programme. Furthermore, MSC as an evaluation method, provides stories from which programmes’ overall impact can be assessed. However, MSC, as a participatory evaluation technique using qualitative approaches, is often neglected by many evaluators.
This is the latest in a series of papers describing the strengths and weaknesses of applying specific research approaches. Other recent methods papers included two on positionality [2-3], a paper on interview methods [4], reflections on conducting participatory policy analysis in Nepal [5], some considerations about the selection of study localities in health research [6], distinguishing between methods and methodology [7], the use of the appreciative inquiry methods [8], reflections on interdisciplinary research [9], and patient and public involvement in research in Bangladesh and Nepal [10].
Whilst older methods papers published Faculty of Health & Social Sciences academics include topics such as focus group discussions, working with translators, conducting pilot studies, the Delphi Method, comparative studies, and qualitative interviews [11-22].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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Our paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] reached 4,000 reads on ResearchGate today. Obviously, there is a growing interest in the use of mobile apps as well as the more general application of mHealth and eHealth in the UK and elsewhere.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
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Our paper ‘Academic authorship: who, why and in what order?‘ [1] has been cited 40 times according to ResearchGate.
We have since updated the information from this paper in our textbook Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences [2], which we published in Kathmandu, Nepal two years ago. However, there we spread the relevant information over three separate chapters [3-5], but textbook chapters usually don’t reach the same citation rates as academic papers!
Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen
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This morning ResearchGate alerted us that our paper published two decades ago ‘The Importance of Pilot Studies’ has now been cited one thousand times [1]. This methods paper in the Nursing Standard is very often used by authors quoting a paper in their research methods section when they have done pilot or feasibility study for a larger-scale study. This paper is also our second top cited paper with 1,982 citations on Google Scholar and, interestingly enough, on SCOPUS it is not listed at all.
Pilot studies are a crucial element of a good study design. Conducting a pilot study does not guarantee success in the main study, but it does increase the likelihood of success. Pilot studies fulfill a range of important functions and can provide valuable insights for other researchers. There is a need for more discussion among researchers of both the process and outcomes of pilot studies.
This paper is one of several methods paper focusing on pilot studies we have published over the past 22 years [2-8].
Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
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Earlier this week ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘The Growing Importance of Mixed-Methods Research in Health‘ has been read 900 times on that platform [1]. This methods paper focuses on the growing importance of mixed-methods research to a wide range of health disciplines ranging from nursing to epidemiology.
Mixed-methods approaches requires not only the skills of the individual quantitative and qualitative methods but also a skill set to bring two methods/datasets/findings together in the most appropriate way. Health researchers need to pay careful attention to the ‘best’ approach to designing, implementing, analysing, integrating both quantitative (number) and qualitative (word) information and writing this up in a way that enhances its applicability and broadens the evidence-based practice. This paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of mixed-methods approaches as well as some of the common mistakes made by researchers applying mixed-methods for the first time.
Our team in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) has written several other methods papers on the importance of mixed-methods research in community-based health studies [2-5]. We have, of course, conducted and published many mixed-methods studies over the past two decades [see for example 6-10].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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Today ResearchGate informed us that the academic paper `Whose Shoes?` Can an educational board game engage Ugandan men in pregnancy and childbirth? published in 2018 by former Ph.D. student Dr. Alice Ladur has been read 600 times. The paper appeared in the Open Access journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth. Alice was based in the Centre for Midwifery and Women Health (CMWH) and supervised by professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen.
Men can play a significant role in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in low-income countries such as Uganda. Maternal health programmes are increasingly looking for innovative interventions to engage men to help improve health outcomes for pregnant women. Educational board games offer a unique approach to present health information where learning is reinforced through group discussions supporting peer-to-peer interactions. Alice conducted interviews with men from Uganda currently living in the UK on their views of an educational board game. Men were asked their perceptions on whether a board game was relevant as a health promotional tool in maternal health prior to implementation in Uganda.
The results of the pilot study were promising; participants reported the use of visual aids and messages were easy to understand and enhanced change in perspective. Men in this study were receptive on the use of board games as a health promotional tool and recommended its use in rural Uganda. The paper concluded that key messages from the focus group appeared to be that the board game is more than acceptable to fathers and that it needs to be adapted to the local context to make it suitable for men in rural Uganda
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
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Profs. Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
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Now accepting research students in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
A Master’s by Research (M.Res.) is a great introduction to the research process, enabling the student to explore a specific area under the supervision of experienced researchers. It contains little or no formal taught component. This type of study gives you the chance to explore a research topic over a shorter time than a more in-depth Ph.D. M.Res. students can undertake a one year full-time or two years part-time Master’s degree. For more details see here.
CMWH is currently accepting MRes (and PhD) applications in the following areas:
Early / latent phase labour (Prof. Vanora Hundley)
Infant feeding (Asso. Prof. Catherine Angell)
Pain management, pain education, musculoskeletal and pelvic pain, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, women’s health (Prof. Carol Clark)
Women’s health in a changing global climate (Dr. Becky Neall)
Drowning prevention in low-and-middle-income countries (Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen)
Cardiometabolic health during pre-conception and pregnancy (Dr. Sumanto Haldar)
Exercise and pregnancy (Dr. Malika Felton)
Chronic musculoskeletal pain, lifestyle factors, human metabolism, and the use of data science in the pain field (Dr. Omer Elma)
Women’s alcohol consumption and nutritional status (Dr. Chloe Casey)
Nutrition in women’s health (including LGBT+ populations) (Dr. Sarah Hillier)
The same team wrote a separate paper the following year on ‘Antenatal care trial interventions: a systematic scoping review and taxonomy development of care models’ [2]. Interestingly, ResearchGate tells us this paper has been read fewer times and cited ‘only’ 21 times to date.
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Congratulations to Mr. Musa Lewis Nhlabatsi whose paper ‘Clinicians’ barriers to screening and diagnosing diabetes distress in patients with type 1 and 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a systematic review’ has just been accepted by the African Journal of Health Sciences [1].This systematic review’s initial search identified 1,579 studies, but only four primary studies from three countries met the inclusion criteria. The studies reported five barriers: (1) lack of knowledge, (2) lack of time, (3) lack of accessibility to mental health services, (4) lack of motivation and (5) patients’ denial of their diabetes distress. The two most reported barriers were lack of knowledge and time. In conclusion this review identifies critical barriers to the underdiagnosis of diabetes distress by clinicians and highlights the need for policymakers and organisations to conduct pragmatic research to understand clinicians’ experiences in assessing diabetes distress in various healthcare settings to improve diabetes management.
The paper developed from his work on the Systematic Review Module for Masters student. Earlier Musa won The Department of Medical Science and Public Health Award in July 2023 and he graduated in November 2023.
Congratulations!
Profs. Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen
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The Masterclass is facilitated by (1) Vanora Hundley, Professor in Midwifery with experience of conducting systematic reviews of health care interventions in both low-and-high-income countries; (2) Edwin van Teijlingen, a medical sociologist with extensive experience in conducting systematic reviews. He has run similar workshops reviews internationally and has published on the importance of systematic reviews; and (3) Caspian Dugdale is Research Librarian with considerable experience in running health information literacy workshops for students, academics and postgraduate researchers.
The masterclass is suitable for anyone who wishes to explore the basic principles involved in conducting a systematic literature review. No previous knowledge is required. Attendees include health and social care practitioners, postgraduate students, and academics. There will be two online days – 8th and 15th November – which will focus on:
Booking Information:
The fee of £400 includes two full days with the course facilitators. We are happy to announce that NHS partner organisations are eligible for a reduced fee £200.
You are now able to book on line for our masterclass: https://www.applycpd.com/BU/courses/116678
The application deadline is 11th October 2023.
For more information contact:
Tel: 01202 962184 or email HSSRKEAdministrator@bournemouth.ac.uk
Late last week my colleague Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health, returned home from his Erasmus+ exchange to Nepal. He brought home for me a copy of the MMIHS (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences) Souvenir 2023, this outliens key events at the institution of the past year. One of the write ups in the Souvenir is from the seven MMIHS M.Sc. students in Public Health who visited Bournemouth University in late 2022-early 2023 for three months. The students have since all completed their M.Sc. in Public Health at MMIHS. Their story highlights some of the British features of student life which were new to them. These included the support they received from our SUBU (=students’ union), or registering with the NHS, and the UNIBUS app, as well as cultural celebrations during their time in Dorset, such Halloween, Christmas and New Year. They rave about the module Public Involvement in Research and specifically thank Dr. Mel Hughes and BU’s PIER (Public Involvement in Education & Research) team. Their second module at BU focused on Systematic Reviewing, they particularly mention the guidance and support received from Prof. Vanora Hundley in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) and our Faculty of Health & Social Sciences librarian Mr. Caspian Dugdale.
Unfortunately, the Erasmus+ scheme has come to an end, but Bournemouth University has just been awarded funding for a serious number of Turing Scheme exchanges. The latter is for BU students to go aboard, and this funding supports study exchanges, work placements, voluntary traineeships and other international extra-curricular or curricular activities worldwide for a minimum of 28 days and maximum of 12 months.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMWH