Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Early next week Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) has been invited to present online at the International Evidence Synthesis Workshop on November 13th in Qatar. His presentation will focus on key aspects of writing up systematic reviews. The workshop is organised by the WHO (World Health Organization) Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia. 
The Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH) will be hosting its first virtual Research Seminar of the new academic year on Thursday 27th October at 13:00. Dr Heidi Singleton will be speaking about her systematic review of interventions for managing eczema. All are welcome to attend by clicking HERE. For more information about this meeting or for information about the CWLTH, please contact cwlth@bournemouth.ac.uk.
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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In late August Heidi Singleton led the publication of a Cochrane Systematic Review under the title ‘Educational and psychological interventions for managing atopic dermatitis (eczema)’ [1]. The team conducting this review includes BU’s Prof. Steve Ersser, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust colleagues Dr. Andrew Hodder, former BU staff Prof. Vanessa Heaslip (currently at the University of Salford), and one of my co-authors on a previous project Dr. Dwayne Boyers from the Health Economics Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen.
In their review the authors conclude that in-person, individual education, as an adjunct to conventional topical therapy, may reduce short-term eczema signs compared to standard care, but there is no information on eczema symptoms, quality of life or long-term outcomes. Group education probably reduces eczema signs and symptoms in the long term and may also improve quality of life in the short term. Favourable effects were also reported for technology-mediated education, habit reversal treatment and arousal reduction therapy. All favourable effects are of uncertain clinical significance, since they may not exceed the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the outcome measures used. Finally, they found no trials of self-help psychological interventions, psychological therapies or printed education. Future trials should include more diverse populations, address shared priorities, evaluate long-term outcomes and ensure patients are involved in trial design.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMWH
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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 is currently 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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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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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
CMWH
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The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology published today carries an article on so-called ‘living evidence’ as an on-going synthesis approach that provides up-to-date rigorous research evidence [1]. This short research methods paper argues that living evidence is particularly useful in rapidly expanding research domains, uncertain existing evidence, and incorporating new research evidence that may impact policy or practice, ensuring that health worker, managers and health-policy makers have access to the best, i.e. the most recent evidence.
The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is an Open Access journal, and hence freely available to researchers across the globe. The paper has been co-authored by researchers from the Denmark, Qatar, Mauritius and the UK.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
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The Faculty of Health & Social Sciences shall be running the two-day ONLINE Masterclass ‘Introduction to conducting a systematic literature review’. The aim is to provide participants with an understanding of how to collate and assess the best possible evidence in the form of a systematic literature review. This masterclass will examine the rationale for systematic literature reviews and take participants through the structured, rigorous, and objective approach used to provide a critical synthesis of the available evidence on a particular topic. 
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
The paper reports that of these 23 papers, 21 focused on assessing AHL measures, and 15 addressed the association between AHL and HP. Seven studies used the HL School-Aged Children instrument. The findings suggested that the methodological and conceptual underpinnings of HL measures are insufficient. Furthermore, HL acts as an independent and positive mediator for many facets of HP. Overall, this review offers a warning to practitioners and educationists interested in measuring HL as the number of measurement tools is substantial with different tools applying different scales.
Congratulations to Abier Hamidi on the acceptance of her Ph.D. paper ‘Facilitators and barriers to condom use in Middle East and North Africa: a systematic review’. [1] This review has been registered on PROSPERO. [2] The Journal of Public Health is part of BU’s publishing deal with Springer, hence it will free open access when published.
Abier is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health and the Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH). Earlier Abier published ‘HIV epidemic in Libya: Identifying gaps’ in 2021. [3]
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Last Sunday (29th May) Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) run a hugely successful introduction to research workshop in Kathmandu. Their Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funded the Systematic Review on Dementia Research Workshop on Sunday, which was very well attended. They expected (and had budgeted for) 30 people to attend and in the end the audience was closer 50 people
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The event was organised by our colleagues at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu and it was supported by the charity Green Tara Nepal. Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen are currently in Nepal as part of the BU-MMIHS ERASMUS+ exchange and added this one-day workshop to their schedule. The audience included Master students in Nursing and Public Health, MMIHS lecturers and post-doctoral researchers. This capacity-building workshop offered an introduction to all aspects of a systematic review, from formulating the systematic review research question at the start to the publication of a systematic review paper. The workshop also benefited from a short presentation by CMMPH PhD student Mrs. Sulochana Dhakal-Rai who also happened to be in Nepal as part of the BU-MMIHS student-exchange.
The planning nearly went wrong as two days before the workshop Prof. van Teijlingen tested positive for COVID-19 on a lateral flow test which was later confirmed by a PCR test. The fact that the event went ahead despite my quarantine in a nearby hotel room was only possible because of Prof. Vanora Hundley hard work on the day. Vanora led the workshop on the whole day whilst Edwin appeared in several sessions via ZOOM. Ironically, sitting only 200 meters away from the university venue in his hotel room. The connection was not always great, it broke up several times during the day, but it worked well enough. The MMIHS colleagues were very thoughtful when it came to the group photo at the end as they included the laptop with his ‘live’ presence on Zoom.
The scientific journal Nepal Journal of Epidemiology published its fourth and final issue of 2021 on December 31. This issue included our systematic review ‘Epidemiologic characteristics, clinical management and Public Health Implications of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and meta-analysis’. 
This review covered the published literature on the epidemiology, clinical management and public health prevention aspects of pregnancy and childbirth and coronavirus (COVID-19) up until December 2020. We worked hard and fast to submit the paper as soon as possible after the end of 2020 to be able to publish up-to-date findings. We managed this and submitted the paper on March 5th, the peer-review took some months and so did the making of the revisions. As a result we resubmitted the manuscript of 29 September and we got the acceptance email within a week. We made it into the next issue of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology which published exactly one year after the data collection period had ended for our systematic review.
There are two lessons here, first even when submitting to an online journal one will experience a delay in publishing. Secondly, the 36 papers we had appraised and included were published in 2020, meaning these scientific papers were submitted in mid-2020 at the latest in order to make it through the peer-review process, get accepted and formatted for online publication.
In the resubmitted version we had to add as a weakness of this review that: “It is worth noting that this extensive systematic review only cover papers published in 2020, and hence studies conducted in or before 2020. This was before the emergence of variants of COVID-19, especially the delta and omicron variants.”
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health).
Congratulations to Dr. Pramod Regmi (Lecturer in International Health) in the Department of Nursing Sciences on today’s publication of ‘The unmet needs for modern family planning methods among postpartum women in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the literature’ [1]. The paper in the international peer-reviewed journal Reproductive Health is co-produced with BU MSc Public Health graduate Jumaine Gahungu and Dr. Mariam Vahdaninia who left the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences in mid-2020.
Well done.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
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In the last week of May the Journal of Advanced Internal Medicine published our paper: ‘Impact of COVID-19 on community health: A systematic review of a population of 82 million‘ [1]. As we know relatively little about the COVID-19 we conducted a review of the literature on the impact of COVID-19 on community health. The review found limited evidence in support of quarantine to prevent COVID‐19, most studies considered quarantine as an essential public health measure to minimize rate of infection and mortality. Under these circumstances, people should focus on maintaining personal hygiene, proper nutrition, and extreme social distancing to reduce the risk of COVID-19. Besides, that there is a need to provide professional psychological support to reduce mental ill-health. In addition we have highlighted two different public health approaches in South Asia, namely Nepal and India. 
This is not the first Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) health science publication on COVID-19, earlier this year saw the publication of a blog for the Healthy Newborn Network [2], a letter on the increased risk of COVID-19 to BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities in the BMJ [3], and a paper on the public health implications of COVID-19 [4].
The Journal of Advanced Internal Medicine is Open Access and hence freely available to anyone with an internet access and it is part of Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) which provides online publication of Nepalese journals.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)
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Congratulations to Orlanda Harvey, PhD student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences on her PhD publication “Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Scoping Review into what they want and what they access” in the Open Access journal BMC Public Health [1]. Since there is a paucity of research on support for people using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS), this article searched and synthesised the available evidence in this field. Gaining an understanding of the support both accessed and wanted by recreational AAS users will be of use to professionals who provide services to intravenous substance users and also to those working in the fields of public health and social care, with the aim to increase engagement of those using AAS.
This systematic scoping review identified 23 papers and one report for review, which indicated that AAS users access a range of sources of information on: how to inject, substance effectiveness, dosages and side effects, suggesting this is the type of information users want. AAS users sought support from a range of sources including medical professionals, needle and syringe programmes, friends, dealers, and via the internet, suggesting that, different sources were used dependent on the information or support sought.
The authors argue that AAS users tended to prefer peer advice and support over that of professionals , and access information online/specialist fora, reflecting the stigma that is experienced by AAS users. These tendencies can act as barriers to accessing services provided by professionals. The paper concludes that support needs to be specific and targeted towards AAS users. Sensitivity to their perceptions of their drug-use and the associated stigma of being classified in the same sub-set as other illicit drug users is relevant to facilitating successful engagement.
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Looking forward to our annual Systematic Review Masterclass at Bournemouth University which will be starting tomorrow February 14th. This year for the first time we have renamed it a ‘Systematic Review to Inform Clinical Practice’ as it is not only a free-standing masterclass but also a level 7 unit of Continuing Professional Development and Training . This year we aim to provide students with the opportunity to choose an area of interest and undertake an in-depth, independent study in the form of a systematic review, focusing on a negotiated aspect of clinical practice. Prof. Vanora Hundley and I had published over twenty systematic reviews (or papers about systematic reviewing) over the past two decades. [1-21] The unit will have input from BU’s Academic Liaison Librarian, Caspian Dugdale, and BU academics such as Dr. Bibha Simkhada, Lecturer in Nursing.
Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
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Earlier this month the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences published a paper co-authored by Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) staff. The paper ‘Health consequences of sex trafficking: A systematic review’ [1]. The Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences is part of the Open Access publishing of Nepal Journals OnLine (NepJOL) supported by INASP.
The review reminds us that sex trafficking is one of the most common forms of human trafficking globally. It is associated with health, emotional, social, moral and legal problems. The victims of sex trafficking when returned home are often ignored. This review explored the health consequences of sex trafficking among women and children. A total of 15 articles were included covering health risks and well-being related to sex trafficking. Sexual and physical violence among victims such as rape and repetitive stress and physical injuries were common. The prevalence of STI (sexually transmitted infections) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) was also reported as high. Being trafficked at a young age, having been in brothels for a longer period and sexual violence and forced prostitution were linked with a higher risk for HIV infection. Physical health problems reported included headaches, fatigue, dizziness, back pain, memory problem, stomach pain, pelvic pain, gynaecological infections, weight loss, lesions or warts, unwanted pregnancies and abortions. The studies on mental health reported that depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were commonly reported health consequences among sex trafficking victims.
The authors of the review concluded that there is a compelling need for interventions raising awareness about sex trafficking among young girls and women most at risk of being trafficked. Most studies in this review have focussed on the physical health problems of the trafficked victims although there is also remarkable mental burden amongst those victims. Key policy makers, government officials, public health officials, health care providers, legal authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should be made aware about the health risks and consequences of trafficking. Trafficking consequences should be recognised as a health issue and all the sectors involved including regulating bodies should collaborate to fight against sex trafficking
Related research in this field at Bournemouth University include the Sexual Spaces Project by Prof. Mike Silk and Dr. Amanda De Lisio on ‘Rio’s sex workers after the Olympics’ and the The Gay and Grey Project, funded through a Big Lottery Grant and led by Prof. Lee Ann Fenge.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
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MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 Call – internal deadline
BU Professor has been invited to a series of plenary and invited lectures.
An Interview of BU-lead EU H2020 FIRST project published in “Horizon”, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine
Update on Horizon Europe Guarantee Horizon Europe Update – January 2023
Research Information Network
Two new BU midwifery publications
New publications Dr. Pramod Regmi
The Year in Research 2024
First publication FHSS postgraduate student Anjana Paudyal