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11 August 2016

THET maternal mental health training in Kathmandu

conferences, international, Public engagement, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Today we completed the second day of training of health teachers, lecturers in nursng, public health and the like in Kathmandu. We called it the National Workshop on Mental Health Education & Research and this two-day workshop was held in a hotel in Kathmandu. It was organised by Tribhuvan University in collaboration with Bournemouth University and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Mental health is high on the global agenda and want to raise the issue more in Nepal. The three universities are working together on an education intervention training Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi on mental health issues and mental health promotion. The project is funded under the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) from DfID and managed by THET (Tropical Health & Education Trust).

Key speakers on the first day of the workshop included: the VC of Tribhuvan University, Dr Gangalal Tuladhar MP and former Education Minister of Nepal, Dr Khem Karki (head of the Nepal Health Research Council), Dr Chandra Kala Sharma, Prof Shyam Krishna Maharjan and Prof Krishna Acharya.

This workshop is part of this capacity building process and the audience of largely university and college lecturers will take some of the learning back with them to improve the education of health workers in Nepal.

The second day of the workshop concentrateed on research methods for community-based projects such as this our THET funded one in the mental health field. Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen reminded the audience that it is important that novel mental health interventions like ours are properly evaluated, and that the people doing the evaluations have the appropriate research skills. The next group of UK volunteers are due to travel to Nepal in September.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

11 August 2016

Public Health in Nepal: Vitamine A

international, open access, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week we published an editorial in the Journal of Biomedical Sciences on the question: “Is early diagnose for Vitamin A deficiency better than the current supplementation programme of Nepal?”
The editorial concludes that prevention is still better than cure, but instead of a mass Vitamin A supplementation in Nepal, we need a health promotion intervention aiming to increase the intake of relatively cheap vegetables and fruit (containing β carotene). In addition we need better surveillance and help to identify children with Vitamin A Deficiency and provide them with Vitamin A supplements. The primary focus should be on adopting sustainable food based approaches to combat vitamin A deficiency. In Public Health terms: rather than a blanket coverage of Vitamin A supplementation to whole population we should consider a targeted intervention aimed at those who need it most.

Reference:
Simkhada P, Sathian B, Adhikari S, van Teijlingen E, Roy B. (2015) Is early diagnose for Vitamin A deficiency better than the current supplementation programme of Nepal?. J Biomed Sci. 2(4):28-30.
http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JBS/index

5 August 2016

Health Promotion intervention planning in rural Nepal

international, PG research, student research, Training Edwin van Teijlingen

Today and yesterday Green Tara Nepal (GTN) staff spent discussing and planning their health promotion intervention in the district of Dhading. The sessions included feedback by the GTN on progress to-date as well as a discussion of their perceptions of the various relevant health needs in the community. BU has been working with GTN for over seven years. [1] Yesterday BU professor Edwin van Teijlingen gave an interactive workshop on communication skills. This morning BU’s Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) outlined key health promotion concepts and theories to the fieldworkers.

This particular post-disaster health promotion project grew out of years of research-based interventions run by GTN and the needs seen in areas affected by last years’ serious earthquakes in Nepal. The project has received support from various funding agencies, including Green Tara Trust, a London-based Buddhist charity. The training is being held in Dhadingbesi, about four hours drive away from the capital Kathmandu. The various photos with this blog show the results of a social mapping exercise. These included some beautifully hand-drawn maps of the individual wards in the area, indicating where the health post is situated, but more importantly the house of currently pregnant women.

Several GTN project have been, or ar currently, evaluated by FHSS Ph.D. students. The GTN project in Pharping has been evaluated by Sheetal Sharma, who has published several papers from this research.[2-4] The GTN project in Nawalparasi is currently being studied by Preeti Mahato, who has also already published from her thesis research despite being less than halfway through. [5] Prof. Padam Simkhada is external supervisor for both these BU Ph.D students.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P, Stephen J, Simkhada B, Woodes Rogers S, Sharma S. (2012) Making the best use of all resources: developing a health promotion intervention in rural Nepal. Health Renaissance 10(3): 229-235. healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/7141_24852_1_PB.pdf
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Angell, C., Simkhada, P. (2016) Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 147 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0938-4
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sharma, S., Mahato, P. (2016) Sustainable Development Goals: relevance to maternal & child health in Nepal. Health Prospect 15(1):9-10. healthprospect.org/archives/15/1/3.pdf
Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C. (2016) Birthing centres in Nepal: Recent developments, obstacles and opportunities, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1): 18-30. http://ecommons.aku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=jam
Mahato, P.K., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sathian, B. (2015) Birthing centre infrastructure in Nepal post 2015 earthquake. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(4): 518-519. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14260/11579

25 July 2016

New paper Dr. Pramod Regmi

Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Dr. Pramod Regmi in FHSS published his latest paper today in the South East Asia Journal of Public Health. The paper ‘Priority public health interventions and research agendas in post-earthquake Nepal’ is co-authored with researchers based in New Zealand, Nepal and the UK [1]. The authors reminds the readers that natural disasters cause huge damage to infrastructure, economies as well as population health. Nepal’s 2015 earthquake has multiple effects on population health and health services delivery. Many public health facilities, mostly health posts or sub-healthposts, were damaged or completely destroyed. Priority health services such as immunisation and antenatal care were also seriously affected.

The earthquake has prompted the need for a disaster-related population-health-research agenda as well as renewed disaster strategy in post-earthquake Nepal. Meanwhile, it also unveiled the gap in knowledge and practice regarding earthquake resilience in Nepal. The paper arues that there is an opportunity for school-based and community-based interventions in both disaster preparedness and resilience. Nepal can build on experiences from other countries as well as from its own. We have discussed possible impacts of the Nepal earthquake on population health and health system infrastructures. We have also suggested possible public health interventions bestowing active awareness among the population and a research agenda in this regard. We strongly urge for the translation of the National Health Policy (2014) into action, as it prioritizes the need of an earthquake resistant infrastructure as well as the implementation of a disaster response plan.

Reference:

Regmi, PR, Aryal, N., Pant, PR, van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. (2015) Priority public health interventions and research agendas in post-earthquake Nepal South East Asia Journal of Public Health 5(2): 7-12 (http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/SEAJPH/article/view/28307/18835 )

9 July 2016

FoL debate highlighted on USA website

Festival of Learning, international, PG research, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Last week’s Festival of Learning debate on the motion: “Advising pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy is symptom of the Nanny State and another step towards the medicalisation of childbirth” has just been hightlighted in the USA. Our work featured on Jeffery Nicholas’ thoughts on social reality, a site established by Prof. Jeff Nicholas (click here!). Prof. Nicholas is a philospher based at Providence College with an interest in midwifery in society.

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences’ Liz Norton and Edwin van Teijlingen affiliated with the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) argued in favour of the motion. Donna Wixted, Joint Bournemouth University (BU)-Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, doctoral student and Greta Westwood of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust & the University of Southampton argued strongly against the motion. The exciting debate was chaired by Prof. Vanora Hundley from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.

9 July 2016

Presentation PhD student Jib Acharya in Liverpool

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

Mr. Jib Acharya (FHSS) gave an interesting presentation yesterday about the qualitative research findings of his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University. Jib’s PhD research focused on the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of poor women in Nepal about healthy eating and the study also identifies major food barriers.

His mixed-methods approach combines a quantitative questionnaire survey with qualitative research. Jib’s research project is supervised by Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Some of the preliminary findings of this FHSS thesis have already been published in two scientific journals [1-2].

References:

Acharya, J., van Teijlingen, E., Murphy, J., Hind, M. (2015) Assessment of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards healthy diet among mothers in Kaski, Nepal, Participation 17(16): 61-72.
Acharya, J., van Teijlingen, E., Murphy, J., Hind, M. (2015) Study of nutritional problems in preschool aged children in Kaski District in Nepal, Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Healthcare 1(2): 97-118. http://dspace.chitkara.edu.in/jspui/bitstream/1/560/1/12007_JMRH_Acharya.

6 July 2016

We need your help with new research on preventing falls.

Francesco Ferraro

Did you know that falls accident is a major health problem increasing its rate worldwide?

Falls accidents among older adults are known to be the third leading cause of chronic disability with an immense impact on the National Health Service causing a cost of more than £2.3 billion per annum.

Indeed only in the UK 30% of people over 65, and 50% of individuals over 80 falls at least once per year.

How can you help?

According to previous findings, the actions that maintain balance in response to destabilising forces acting upon the body can be helped by respiratory muscles.

But we need to understand more about how these muscles can contribute to enhancing human balance, and for this reason, I am now recruiting participant aged 65 or over to take part in a new study that will deepen the role of inspiratory muscle in postural stability.

Do you want to know more?

Do you wish to take part?

If yes send an e-mail to fferraro@bournemouth.ac.uk

Thank you for reading and sharing.

6 July 2016

New CMMPH paper by PhD student Sheetal Sharma

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

Today saw the publication in BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth of the paper ‘Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal’ with as lead author FHSS PhD student Sheetal Sharma [1]. This paper argues that pregnancy and childbirth are very much socio-cultural events that carry varying meanings across different societies and cultures. These are often translated into social expectations of what a particular society expects women to do (or not to do) during pregnancy, birth and/or the postnatal period. The study explored beliefs around childbirth in Nepal, a low-income country with a largely Hindu population. The paper then sets these findings in the context of the wider global literature around issues such as periods where women are viewed as polluted (or dirty even) after childbirth.

Sheetal is doing very well with her PhD publications as a few weeks ago her major quantitative findings paper was published in PLOS One [2]. Both papers are published in Open Access journals and therefore easily available to researchers, health promotors, health care providers and health policy-makers in low-income countries. Sheetal evaluated a research project funded by the London-based charity Green Tara Trust. Her PhD is supervised by Dr. Catherine Angell, Prof. Vanora Hundley and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen all nbased in CMMPH with external supervision from BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (liverpool John Moores University).

References:

Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Angell, C., Simkhada, P. (2016) Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 147 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0938-4
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144

1 July 2016

Why editorials?

international, Knowledge Transfer, open access, Publishing, Research Integritiy, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

BU academics are editors on a wide range of scientific journals. As editors we often write editorials for academic journals which have a number of specific functions. It is a key means of communication between the editor(s) and the journal’s readership. It is also vehicle to highlight topical academic and political issues related to the journal and the discipline(s) it represents.

Earlier this week the latest issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives came out with an editorial which is an illustration of the first point giving information to the readers [1]. The topics addressed in this editorial included the announcement that this new journal was now indexed in the CINAHL Database, a recent major international conference in the field and a call for the forthcoming 2017 ICM (Internation Confederation of Midwives) tri-annual conference. Today saw the publication of an editorial on the Zika virus and its potential impact in Nepal in the journal Medical Science [2]. This guest editorial co-written by BU’s Visiting Faculties Dr. Brijesh Sathian and Prof. Padam Simkhada with Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health) calls for action in Nepal. A country where malaria is endemic. The Zika virus uses mosquitoes like the ones spreading Dengue fever and malaria. Zika is a virus we do not wish to see spreading in countries where malaria is already rife. The editorial warns that precautionary measures are needed to prevent a Zika outbreak as the spread of the virus to the country seems inevitable, the only uncertainty is when it will be arriving.

Both journals are Open Access which means these editorials can be read by anybody with internet access free of charge.

References:

Jan, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Editorial JAM June 2016, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1):1. http://ecommons.aku.edu/jam/vol3/iss1/1/
van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B., & Simkhada, P. (2016). Zika & Nepal: a far greater risk for its population than to individuals. Medical Science 4(2): 312-313. http://www.pubmedhouse.com/journals/ms/articles/1064/PMHID1064.pdf

19 June 2016

FoL debate pregnancy & alcohol

Delicious links, Festival of Learning, Knowledge Transfer, PG research, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

We are preparing a lively debate on the motion: “Advising pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy is symptom of the Nanny State and another step towards the medicalisation of childbirth”. The venue for this event is the Executive Business School on 89, Holdenhurst Road. Members of the public, staff and students are invited to come along on Tuesday 28th June 13.30-14.30!

The UK Government state there is no known safe level for drinking alcohol in pregnancy. Therefore, it recently changed the official recommendation to pregnant women avoid drinking any alcohol as a precaution. In doing so the UK follows countries like Canada, where a similar recommendation has been in place for over a decade. At the same time one can ask whether such approach undermines a woman’s right to make an informed choice regarding the health of her unborn child. Some would argue that is represents yet another step towards the medicalisation of childbirth.

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences’ staff Liz Norton and Edwin van Teijlingen affiliated with the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health and will argue in favour of the motion. Donna Wixted, Joint Bournemouth University (BU)-Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, doctoral student and Greta Westwood of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust & the University of Southampton will argue against the motion.

The audience will be asked to vote for or against the motion, both before and after the debate, to see if the debate has helped anybody in making up their mind. Our debate will be chaired by Prof. Vanora Hundley from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. In previous Festival of Learning events she has been involved in various debates around childbirth, such as The media is responsible for creating fear in childbirth and the year before that on Caesarean Section on demand under the title Intervention in childbirth: What’s wrong with letting women choose?

The debate is part of BU’s annual Festival of Learning which this year for the first time has satellite events in China and Malaysia.

If you are interested to come along please book your free ticket here! The Executive Business School is easy to find on 89, Holdenhurst Road near Bournemouth Railway Station.

Donna Wixted, Liz Norton, Greta Westwood, Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

17 June 2016

New collaborative Nepal paper

international, open access, Publishing, student research Edwin van Teijlingen

Today BU staff and post-graduate students published our latest diabetes paper. In the International Journal of Food, Nutrition and Public Health (IJFNPH) publish by the World Association for Sustainable Development (WASD) you’ll find ‘Diabetes prevention and management in South Asia: a call for action‘.

The lead BU author is Dr. Pramod Regmi. he is joint by Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) PhD student Ms. Folashade Alloh as well as Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen of the Centre for Midwfiery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH). Further national and international co-authors are: Dr. Om Kurmi based at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford; Dr. Nirmal Aryal, from the Department of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand; Dr.Puspa Raj Pant based at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of the West of England; and Amrit Banstola based in the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, also at the University of the West of England.

The paper can be found here! Please note, you need to be a WASD member to login and download this paper. Once you are logged in you will see a ‘Download’ button in the box above. If you do not have a login, you can register to join WASD free of charge.

16 June 2016

Students Who Bounce Back Project

Centre for Excellence in Learning Jacqueline Priego

Credit: Gareth Williams(CC BY 2.0)

Are you a student carer? Do you know a BU student who has caring responsibilities?

BU student carers – those students who provide unpaid support to someone who could not manage without your help – are invited to take part in a photo-diary research project entitled ‘Students who bounce back’, led by Dr Jacqueline Priego, from BU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning.

The project seeks to explore the life experience of student carers at BU and the impact of caring in their learning experiences.
By taking part, student carers will help us to enhance the academic and pastoral support for student carers at BU in the future.
The Student Carer bursary was funded through a pilot scheme in 2015/2016. This research will evaluate the effectiveness of the bursary and inform whether to continue with the bursary in future years. We would like to hear from students who were and were not successful in securing the bursary, and also from those student carers who were not aware of the bursary.

For details about the project, including its reimbursement scheme (up to £50 Amazon voucher + travel expenses), please email jpriego@bournemouth.ac.uk.

A carer is defined as anyone who cares, unpaid, for a family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.

Featured Image Credit: Gareth Williams (CC BY 2.0)

14 June 2016

Centre for Qualitative Research Summer Surgery Sessions

Kip Jones

CQR is pleased to announce a series of appointments available to postgrad (Masters or PhD) and academic researchers considering using qualitative methods for their projects.

The half-hour sessions with Centre for Qualitative Research Director, Dr. Kip Jones, will take place over the summer at Royal London House, Lansdowne. Anyone who is thinking of using qualitative methods and would like more information, support from CQR members, or links to resources, are welcome to book a half-hour session to discuss their project and get feedback.
Too often research projects jump into using qualitative methods of research such as interviewing, observing, etc. without really having any background in the method or training for it. When it comes time for Vivas or publications, often these projects do not then meet expectations. What CQR hopes to do is ensure that qualitative projects of any kind carried out at BU are vigorous. This is the reason behind the surgeries (as well as plans for future Centre for Qualitative Research seminars and masterclasses).
It is easy to book a slot for a session. Simply email Kip (kipworld@gmail.com) stating the date of either a Tuesday (10-12 noon) or a Wednesday (1-3 pm) over the summer when you can be available. You will get an email back with your timeslot for the particular date.

CQR members have expertise in a wide range of methods. We hope through this surgery process to connect you up with a particular resourceful person.
Research as Film/Film as Research
Photo-elicitation
Grounded Theory
Performance Poetry
Ethics
Interviewing
Focus Groups
Ethnography
Participatory Action Research
Autobiography
Auto-ethnography
Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method
Appreciative Inquiry
Arts-based methods
Telephone interviews
Questionnaire design
NVIVO
Performance Poetry
Reflexivity
Performative Social Science

9 June 2016

BU-Nepal link highlighted

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week BU’s work in Nepal was highlighted in several ways. Most publicly on the wonderful new mural at Talbot Campus. Secondly, BU currently displays some of the entries of images to the past two years of its research photo competition. The photos show the creativity of BU’s academics and students as well as the fascinating range of research taking place at the university. One of these pictures was taken by FHSS Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada during fieldwork in Dhading, Nepal. The selected photos are on display in the Atrium Art Gallery until the 13th of June.

Last, but not least, another FHSS Visiting Faculty, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust midwife Jillian Ireland published a blog on her involvement in the THET-funded project in Nepal. She reflects on her time as UK volunteer in Nepal. Jilly wrote: ” Three volunteers Andrea Lawrie, David Havelock and I are keen to share what we experienced in a paper sometime soon and today I will condense some of my own reflections. I wrote ‘letters’ (via email) to my Head of Midwifery, Sandra Chitty and to Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at Bournemouth University Dr. Jen Leamon while I was away, using different styles of expression to ‘get at’ my reflections from more than one angle. It helped me to separate out elements of the whole experience.”

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

2 June 2016

Announcement BU Humanisation Conference 2016

Research Integritiy Edwin van Teijlingen

BU Humanisation Conference 21^st June 2016

Venue: Room EB708, Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, BH8 8EB

Please find the Programme for the Humanisation conference on the 21^st June 2016 attached.

Please feel free to pass the information on to others internal and external to the university (academic and practice) who you feel may be interested

The conference is being run at no cost and so you need to make your own arrangements for lunch. Let Dr. Caroline Ellis-Hill ( cehill@bournemouth.ac.uk ) know by the 15^th June if you wish to attend .

If you only want to attend for part of the day, please state which part of the day you’d like to attend.

9.30	Registration
10.00	Dr Caroline Ellis-Hill	Welcome
10.10	Anne Quinney	Humanisation of the BU Generic Student Assessment Criteria.
10.30	Dr Sean Beer	Perceptions of the authenticity of food: a study of residents in Dorset (UK)
10.50	Prof Ann Hemingway	Innovative routes to Wellbeing: Equine Assisted interventions
11.10	Coffee
11.30	Jane Fry	Sharing human concerns: utilising an embodied interpretative approach to convey findings from a descriptive phenomenological study
11.50	Dr Carole Pound	Humanising care: translating theory into practice in stroke care
12.10	Rutherford and Dr. Emer Forde	The Rutherford Introspective Photography: Promoting self-reflection and wellbeing of GP trainees through photography.
12.30	Free time Please see information about local venues for lunch
2.00	Dr Vanessa Heaslip	How phenomenology enables insight into the Human lives of Gypsy Roma Travellers’
2.20	Mevalyn Cross	Experiencing the Humanisation Framework together
2.40	Dr Jan Mosja	Chaplaincy at the bedside. Learning from Buddhist chaplains and their contributions to the humanisation of health care.
3.00	Sally Lee	Humanising and the Care Act well-being principle
3.20	Dr Mary Grant and Dr Catherine Lamont Robinson	HeART of Stroke: feasibility study of an Art & Health intervention following a stroke
3.40	Thanks, Tea and Close

30 May 2016

New paper BU PhD student Sheetal Sharma

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

Congratulations to FHSS PhD student Sheetal Sharma on her latest paper [1]. The paper ‘Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal’ appeared this week in the journal PLOS One. Sheetal’s innovative mixed-methods approach was applied to a long-running maternity intervention in rural Nepal. The paper concludes that community-based health promotion in Sheetal’s study had a greater affect on the uptake of antenatal care and less so on delivery care. Other factors not easily resolved through health promotion interventions may influence these outcomes, such as costs or geographical constraints. The evaluation has implications for policy and practice in public health, especially maternal health promotion.

Reference:

Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144

25 May 2016

New nutrition paper FHSS

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

Today saw the publication of a paper analysing the long-term development of Nepal [1]. It offers insight into Nepal’s position in the country’s demographic transition in relation to its nutrition transition. In traditional societies both fertility and mortality are high and in modern post-industrial society both are low.

The lead author Yagya Prasad Subedi is a Ph.D. student at the University of Aberdeen and his co-authors are based at Liverpool John Moores University (Prof. Padam Simkhada, who is also BU Visiting Faculty) and in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinal Health (CMMPH) in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen).

Reference:

Subedi, Y.P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Where is Nepal in the Demographic Transition within the wider context of the Nutrition transition? Open Journal of Social Sciences, 4: 155-166. The paper is freely available, click here!

10 May 2016

Social justice, engaged ethnography and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia

conferences, Fusion Investment Fund, Women's Academic Network Jonathan Parker

Professor Jonathan Parker and Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree were honoured to be invited to the Universidad de Málaga to present their work with the Orang Asli (first peoples) of West Malaysia, undertaken in 2014 with the assistance of a Fusion Investment Fund grant from BU and honorarium from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

The honour was manifold, not only because of our on-going partnership in research, scholarship and education with colleagues in Málaga, in particular Prof Mária Luisa Gomez Jimenez, but also because it expressly allowed us to tell the story of the systemic disadvantages experienced by and deliberate marginalisation of the Orang Asli living in the Tasik (lake) Chini region in the state of Pahang, Malaysia.

When undertaking our ethnography, a study that sought to capture the culture, thoughts, feelings and anger of the people, we were struck by our seeming voyeuristic impotence as researchers, especially as researchers from a high income Western country. We questioned what we could do to assist the people in challenging their disadvantage and marginalisation and being engaged with the communities we asked them, explaining clearly that we could not directly change government policy, the social stigma resulting from commonly assumed myths and perceptions of the Orang Asli. The people, with one voice, entreated us to tell their stories across the world.

We have attempted to stay true to this request since our research ended. Alongside various blogs and academic papers, our book The Death of the Dragon God Lake is now with the printers. Academic outputs can often, however, gather dust and remain unread outside academia. However, having signed with an activist publisher in Malaysia and secured distribution rights for Europe and the US through a British publishing house it is more likely that this will promoted as a social critique.

The best way, having said this, to ensure the socio-economic and environmental plight of the Orang Asli is to speak with faculty, students and members of the general public around the world, to raise awareness, to discuss power relations and to offer critique of global neoliberalism, acknowledging, of course, our own positions in respect of our work. The invitation to Málaga, with a specific request to talk about social justice, allowed us to promote the cause of the Orang Asli, to fulfil our promise and to bring these often hidden issues into the open. We were fortunate in this open lecture in Málaga to be speaking to a broad international audience including Spanish, German, Costa Rican, Canadian and Romanian participants, ensuring the messages would be spread wide.

Ethnographic research can no longer simply illuminate some perceived exotic ‘other’ but must engage directly with the life-worlds of disadvantaged and marginalised peoples, telling their stories and challenging oppressive socio-political and economic structures through research and scholarship.

Jonathan Parker and Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Tagged / social sciences

Did you know that falls accident is a major health problem increasing its rate worldwide?

Falls accidents among older adults are known to be the third leading cause of chronic disability with an immense impact on the National Health Service causing a cost of more than £2.3 billion per annum.

Indeed only in the UK 30% of people over 65, and 50% of individuals over 80 falls at least once per year.

How can you help?

According to previous findings, the actions that maintain balance in response to destabilising forces acting upon the body can be helped by respiratory muscles.

But we need to understand more about how these muscles can contribute to enhancing human balance, and for this reason, I am now recruiting participant aged 65 or over to take part in a new study that will deepen the role of inspiratory muscle in postural stability.

Do you want to know more?

Do you wish to take part?

If yes send an e-mail to fferraro@bournemouth.ac.uk

Thank you for reading and sharing.

Featured Image Credit: Gareth Williams (CC BY 2.0)

CQR is pleased to announce a series of appointments available to postgrad (Masters or PhD) and academic researchers considering using qualitative methods for their projects.

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