Tagged / public health

Global Consortium in Public Health meets in Huddersfield

international

On Monday and Tuesday 18-19 June the University of Huddersfield will organize its Global Consortium in Public Health meeting. This meeting is the brain child of Prof. Padam Simkhada, he is Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University and based at the University of Huddersfield.  The event brings together public health researchers and experts from the UK, the USA, Ghana, Nepal, India, Qatar and Brazil to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the field. The Global Consortium in Public Health is an international network of public health researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are committed to advancing the field of public health through collaborative research, education, and advocacy. The consortium provides a platform for sharing best practices and building future collaborations.

On Monday 19th June Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will be talking about the REF 2028 and the importance of strong international partnerships in the fields of research and education.  BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi was also invited to this event in Huddersfield, but he is on his way to Nepal as part of Bournemouth University’s Erasmus+ staff and student exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS).

ERASMUS+ exchange with Nepal

international, PG research

The first half of April I have been in Nepal on the ERASMUS+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences MMIHS).  Apart from teaching and running tutorial and workshops at the host institution the exchange can also include student supervision.  I had the pleasure of offering some support to one of the MMIHS Master of Public Health (MPH) students.  Ms. Binita Dawadi designed an interesting project under the title on factors associated with burnout among nurses in the district of Jhapa (Nepal). She recently complete her research project as part of her dissertation which she subsequently presented as a poster at last week’s Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal.  This annual research conference organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council)  was held in Kathmandu on 11-12 April.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Perinatal Health {CMMPH}

It is all about experience

Delicious links, international, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

This week we published a paper on the experience of conducting fieldwork in the public health field in the Journal of Health Promotion. [1] Fieldwork is usually a crucial part of PhD research, not only in the health field. However, few researchers write about this, often challenging, process. This paper highlights various occasions where fieldwork in the area of public health, health promotion or community health was more difficult than expected or did not go as planned. Our reflections on working in the field are aimed at less experienced researchers to support them in their research development. Moreover, this paper is also calling upon health researchers to share more details about the process of doing fieldwork and its trials and tribulations. Our key advice is to be inquisitive and open-minded around fieldwork, followed by: be prepared for your fieldwork, conduct a risk assessment of what might go wrong, and consider your resources and options to overcome such trials and tribulations. Fieldwork can be unpredictable.  We believe it is important to share practical lessons from the field which helps other to better understand these tribulations, and learn from them. Finally, sharing such information may guide new researchers and help them identify strategies that can address those issues and challenges in their future studies.

Dr. Preeti Mahato (at Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada (both based at the University of Huddersfield) are all BU Visiting Faculty.  Moreover, I have had the pleasure of acting as PhD supervisor for five of my co-authors.  I have included in this blog what is probably my favourite fieldwork photo taken a decade ago by former BU PhD student Dr. Sheetal Sharma.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

References:

  1. Mahato, P., Tamang, P., Simkhada, B., Wasti, S. P., Devkota, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Reflections on health promotion fieldwork in Nepal: Trials and tribulations. Journal of Health Promotion 10(1): 5–12. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v10i1.50978

NIHR Bulletin

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RDS NEWS

RDS Blog: Researcher, adviser, committee member – we’re all on the same side
The RDS blog this month looks at the many hats that our RDS advisers wear to support you develop the best application for submission to NIHR funding programmes. Find out more.

NIHR News

NIHR publishes its 2021-22 Annual Report
The NIHR has published its annual report and accounts, highlighting milestones and achievements during 2021/22. Find out more.

eBulletins and Newsletters

CRN West of England – AcoRD Specialist Update

NIHR ARCs Your Path in Research: January 2023,  New Year Special

NIHR Evidence: December 2022

NIHR News and Research: December 2022

 

Funding Opportunities

Latest NIHR funding calls

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme
22/564 Evaluating the Efficacy of Metformin in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme
22/563 Evaluating new models of care for children and young people with excess weight and related complications

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme
23/1 Health Technology Assessment Programme researcher-led (primary research)
23/2 Health Technology Assessment Programme researcher-led (evidence synthesis)
23/3 NIHR NICE rolling call (HTA Programme)
23/4 NIHR James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling call (HTA Programme)
23/6 Motor Neurone Disease (HTA Programme)

Public Health Research (PHR) Programme
Health Determinant Research Collaborations (HDRCs) – webinar on 1 February

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body or if you’re hoping to resubmit the panel can provide some excellent tips and feedback.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

New CMMPH publication

NHS, open access, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Charlotte Clayton, PhD student in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication of an article based on her PhD study.  The paper ‘The public health role of case-loading midwives in advancing health equity in childbearing women and babies living in socially deprived areas in England: The Mi-CARE Study protocol’ is co-authored with her supervisors Prof. Ann Hemingway, Dr. Mel Hughes and Dr. Stella Rawnson [1].

This paper in the European Journal of Midwifery is Open Access, and hence freely available to everybody with an internet access.  Charlotte is doing the Clinical Academic Doctoral (CAD) programme at Bournemouth University. The CAD programme provides midwives with bespoke research training, which includes conducting a piece of independent research whilst also remaining in clinical practice. The CAD programme is part of the NIHR Wessex Integrated Academic Clinical Training Pathway and in her PhD study supported by BU and University Hospital Southampton (UHS), where Charlotte works as a midwife). Charlotte use the Twitter handle: @femmidwife.

 

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

  1. Clayton S, Hemingway A, Hughes M, Rawnson S (2022) The public health role of caseloading midwives in advancing health equity in childbearing women and babies living in socially deprived areas in England: The Mi-CARE Study protocol, Eur J Midwifery 6(April):17

Funding opportunities, NHS

RDS NEWS

From the RDS desk – navigating the innovation pathway 
The RDS blog this month provides a few tips on putting together an i4i application Read the blog here

NIHR News

NIHR awards £12 million to artificial intelligence research to help understand multiple long-term conditions

Major new funding opportunity for local government based public health research collaborations

eBulletins and Newsletters

NIHR Funding and support news: September 2021

NHS England and NHS Improvement: In Touch

Events

HEE SW NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Awards Showcase Event
Online – MS Teams: Monday 20th September 2021 1.30pm – 2.30pm.

The event is open to everyone interested in finding out more about the awards. It will include:

  • an introduction to the HEE-NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic programme and South West region awards from the HEE SW NIHR Programme Delivery Team
  • presentations from previous awardees including an intern, pre-doctoral and postdoctoral awardees in the region.
  • a Q&A session

Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting

Funding Opportunities

Latest NIHR funding calls
Transforming care and health at home and enabling independence

Public Health Research (PHR) Programme
NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRC)

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme
21/554 Health Technology Assessment Programme Researcher-led (primary research)
21/555 Health Technology Assessment Programme Researcher-led (evidence synthesis)
21/556 NIHR NICE Rolling Call – (HTA Programme)

 

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

NIHR Bulletin

Funding opportunities, Fusion, NHS

NIHR News

New vision for harnessing the full potential of data-enabled trials published

NIHR blog: Improving the uptake of research findings in global health

 

Forthcoming COVID-19 funding call: Community-based COVID-19 platform study for novel antivirals
The NIHR is intending to open a funding call on behalf of the DHSC Antivirals Taskforce, for a team to set up and run a community-based clinical trial platform for novel therapeutic candidates in the UK. The Taskforce was set up to find effective and safe treatments for COVID-19, and will identify and prioritise potential candidates for this study. The study team will be expected to quickly set up a clinical trial platform to evaluate these novel candidates, and start recruiting patients into the platform in Autumn 2021.

The likely advert date for this topic is 19 July 2021. However, please note this is an indicative date, which may change.

 

Funding Opportunities

Latest NIHR funding calls

Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme
21/529 Efficacy trials in regenerative medicine

Public Health Research (PHR) Programme
21/525 Permitted Developments Rights
21/527 Development Award – Local authority-level research priorities on climate change
21/530 Application Development Award – Healthy extended working lives

Policy Research Programme (PRP)
Mental health services funding call

 

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

NIHR Bulletin

Funding opportunities, Fusion, NHS

NIHR News

Updated guidelines for recruiting public members onto Trial and Study Steering Committees

NIHR launches Impact Toolkit
NIHR has developed an interactive dashboard that summarises, and signposts to, a range of tools to support research impact planning, delivery and/or assessment. (Will need to register for NIHR Learn if not already registered).

eBulletins and Newsletters

NIHR Funding and support round-up: July 2021

NHS England and NHS Improvement – In Touch

Events

New impact short course
NIHR has launched a new e-learning course, ‘Introduction to impact through the lens of NIHR’.
In this self-paced and short e-learning course, you will get an introduction to what impact is, what it isn’t, and why it’s important to the NIHR. Find out more.

Funding Opportunities

Latest NIHR funding calls

Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award (AI Award)
Competition 3

NIHR Senior Investigators
Call 15

Programme Development Grants
Mental health call

Public Health Research (PHR) Programme
21/523 Image and performance enhancing drugs
21/524 Health impacts of housing-led interventions for homeless people

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

Still time to register… NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE – 6th July 2021

Funding opportunities, NHS

  

Last chance to register:

Dear colleagues

– Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

Our popular seminar continues online and will take place on Tuesday 6th July 2021 from 10.00am – 12.30pm.

The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes. We will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.

We also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser.

Find out more and book a place.

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE – 6th July 2021

Funding opportunities, innovation, NHS

  

Dear colleagues

– Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

Our popular seminar continues online and will take place on Tuesday 6th July 2021 from 10.00am – 12.30pm.

The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes. We will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.

We also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser.

Find out more and book a place.

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

Some thoughts about PhD supervision in Public Health

international, PG research, Publishing, Training

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:

  1. 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

BU research explores the use of comic artistry and storytelling in public health information

Research at Bournemouth University is looking at the effectiveness of comic artistry and storytelling in the sharing of public health messaging.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) the project will catalogue and analyse comic-style public health graphics, specifically those created during the Covid-19 pandemic, and seek to make recommendations on how the comic medium can be effective at delivering public health messaging to help drive behaviour change.

The idea for the research began as Dr Anna Feigenbaum, the lead researcher, and her colleagues Alexandra Alberda and William Proctor shared clever comic-style graphics with one another that had been created and shared on social media about Covid-19. These single, sharable, comic-style graphics blend the artistry and storytelling of comics with the Covid-19 messaging we have seen throughout the pandemic.

Dr Feigenbaum, an Associate Professor within the Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, said, “What we saw from these comic graphics was the way that the artistry and storytelling combined to share messages in a more emotive and interesting way. This built on work we were already doing on how public health messaging could utilise this medium to make their own messaging more engaging and even lead to better behavioural outcomes.”

José Blàzquez, the project’s postdoctoral researcher, has started work in collating over 1200 examples of comic-style Covid-19 messaging with the aim of understanding what makes them so compelling, and how this genre of communication could be further used to create what the project’s research illustrator, Alexandra Alberda, calls an “accessible, approachable and relatable” style of messaging when communicating important public health messages. The team aims to build a database that archives these comics, including information about their artistic and storytelling techniques, audience engagement, circulation, and what implications they may have for the sharing of health messaging in the future.

The final outcomes will be shared as a report and an illustrated set of good practice guidelines. Results will also be shared in the team’s edited collection Comics in the Time of COVID-19 and a special journal issue for Comics Grid. It is hoped these guidelines will inform public health communicators, as well as graphic designers and educators.

The team has even created their own Covid-19 web-comics, published by Nightingale on Medium. https://medium.com/nightingale/covid-19-data-literacy-is-for-everyone-46120b58cec9

Dr Feigenbaum continued, “Data comics are on a real upsurge as people look to make sense of the world through data visualisation, and there are some wonderful examples from amateur artists who have been incredibly clever and creative in taking what are, essentially, public health messages, and turning them into emotive comic-style stories.

“These sharable comic graphics are engaging and informed – there is a lot to learn here about the way we make sense of the world and how this genre could help us to see the communication of important messages in a whole new light. What we’re researching now could be seen as best practice in years to come.”

In addition to the main team of Dr. Feigenbaum, Dr. Blàzquez and Alexandra Alberda, this research will be conducted with Co-investigators Dr. Billy Proctor, Dr. Sam Goodman and Professor Julian McDougall, along with advisory partners Public Health Dorset, the Graphic Medicine Collective, Information Literacy Group and Comics Grid.

More information about the project will soon be available at www.covidcomics.org.