Conducting qualitative interviews using virtual communication tools amid the COVID-19 pandemic: A learning opportunity for future research

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the health and wellbeing of the global citizens which has led to a significant change in attitude, lifestyle and behaviour of people from diverse professions, including academics and researchers. Doctoral students and funded researchers with the time limit to their research project have experienced stress and anxiety due to the struggle of negotiating and managing timeline to complete the fieldwork for their research. In the current circumstances, increasing number of researchers are looking for alternative methods to conduct the fieldwork and complete the data collection. In this context, the aim of this viewpoint is to provide reflections on the challenges and opportunities experienced by the authors while conducting qualitative research fieldwork during the COVID-19 pandemic

“Medicine doesn’t cure my worries”: Understanding the drivers of mental distress of older Nepalese women living in the UK

The mental health of migrant communities is an important public health concern. A growing body of literature suggests that wider social determinants significantly contribute to the mental health and wellbeing of older migrants in their host countries. Despite the increasing population of Nepalese migrants in the UK, there is little research exploring the mental health needs of this community. This article explores older Nepalese women’s experiences of drivers of mental distress in London. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with 20 older Nepalese women living in the London Borough of Greenwich. Grounded thematic analysis of women’s narratives identified six overarching factors contributing to their emotional distress that pose significant risks to their mental health: absence of family, language barriers, housing problems, physical illness, lack of appropriate support, fears of death, and inadequate financial resources. In many cases, the impact of these factors was felt in combination rather than isolation, often influenced by cultural dynamics. Findings highlight that re-settlement in the absence of family is at the heart of emotional challenges for older Nepalese women. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for supporting processes of settlement to mitigate this risk among older Nepalese women in the UK

Positive sexual health: an ethnographic exploration of social and cultural factors affecting sexual lifestyles and relationships of Nepalese young people in the UK

This PhD is an interdisciplinary research project in the field of public health, youth studies, sociology and cultural studies about the sexual lives of 16 young Nepalese aged 16-24 living in London. The research uses ethnography and biography to explore social and cultural factors affecting sexual health and lifestyles of Nepalese young people in the changing world. Sexual health still remains a taboo, which brings struggle for Nepalese young people to negotiate their sexual lives within Nepalese families and community. The current study explores young people’s reflections of their sexual lifestyles and experiences, which is embedded in the sociocultural norms and patterns of the society, and their interactions with families, community and broader social structures. The findings suggest that detailed examinations of the connectedness between agency and social context provide more clear understanding of the everyday sexual lives of young people. The changing lifestyles of Nepalese young people in the western world provide accessibility to the new ways of living in experiencing sexual lives through transforming leisure activities and creating multiple opportunities for sexual intimacies and relationships. The popularity of nightclubbing and changing attitudes towards sexual lifestyles create concerns for sexual health risks and vulnerability as well as conflict within family because of sociocultural dominance towards relationships and marriage. The data suggest that young people negotiate with several challenges, such as caste issues and parental consent, while transforming love relationships into love arranged marriage. It was found that lack of communication on sexual matters within family fuel the issues of trust and promote secret relationships and females are widely discriminated at different levels within Nepalese society. These structural factors along with lack of appropriate sexual health knowledge and education limit expressions of positive sexual lifestyles and relationships among Nepalese young people. Intersectionality in this study is used to investigate key structural influences of sexual health and lifestyles at multiple levels. This research uses grounded theory to develop a tentative social ecological model, adapted from an ecological model, to understand the positive sexual health experiences of Nepalese young people

Students as partners in learning and teaching: Assessing the effectiveness of student evaluation of teaching

Students engagement in learning and teaching is necessary to enhance academic practices which provide mechanisms to support the development and enhancement of learners and teachers’ partnerships. In the rapidly changing world, Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) could provide an opportunity to co-produce and develop effective teaching and learning strategies for sustainable education in universities. Most higher education providers in the UK have adopted SET, as it measures the effectiveness of teaching and learning and provides a guide for changes in the course materials, methods of delivery and assessment procedures, to enhance students experience and engagement. However, poorly designed questionnaires and the inability to reflect students’ perceptions and expectations in the SET fail to fulfill the real purpose. This action research used a revised SET questionnaire based on the discussions with the lecturers and the students within a university setting to understand their expectations and engagement in completing the questionnaires. Although the consensus was to use SET to evaluate and improve teaching and learning to enhance the quality of the course, the students raised concerns about the feedback loop and implementation of the feedback received through SET. This was believed to be the barrier in motivating students to fully participate in the process of evaluation. The open and transparent discussions with students about the evaluation process and the importance of students as partners in learning and teaching and including SET as part of the lesson plan allowed teachers to promote engagement of students in this evaluation process

Immunization of Children in a Rural Area of North Kashmir, India: A KAP Study.

Background: Knowledge, attitude and practices about immunization among mothers of children aged 1-2 years was assessed. Method: 300 mothers were administered a semi-structured questionnaire at PHC Hajan from 1st march to 1st may 2011 to elicit the information about the knowledge, attitude and practices of the mothers regarding immunization. Results: 100% of mothers knew that vaccination is beneficial and protects their children from diseases. 39% knew OPV protects from polio while only 1% were aware of protective role of BCG. All mothers knew about immunization in pregnancy but 86% were unaware about its preventive role. 26% mothers believed that 3 doses of T.T (tetanus toxoid) are to be given during pregnancy. Whereas 98% of children were completely immunized, 93% completed on schedule. Eighty percent of mothers reported of fever following DPT. All mothers had received tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. Conclusion: Considering mothers' poor knowledge and good attitude, health education on immunization is emphasized to improve their practices

Association between knowledge of Human Immunodeficiency Virus transmission and consistent condom use among sexually active men in Nigeria: An analysis of 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey.

An estimated 1.7 million people were living with HIV in Nigeria in 2020, with over 86,000 people newly infected. Although the global rates of HIV have remained consistent over time, Nigeria has the second-highest number of people living with HIV and contributes to 9% of the global burden of HIV/AIDS. This is due to several structural and individual-level factors that limit knowledge of HIV and condom utilization. In this context, this study examines the association between knowledge about HIV transmission and consistent condom use among sexually active men in Nigeria. The data utilised in this study was sourced from the latest Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2018. The sample included a total of 9,346 men between the ages of 15-59 years who were sexually active at the time of data collection. Frequency distribution, univariate and multivariable analyses were performed at 95% confidence interval and p-value less than 0.05 to determine the association between the key independent variables and covariates. The results showed that 85.03% of sexually active men who had no knowledge of HIV engaged in inconsistent condom use. The key independent variable showed that sexually active men who had knowledge of HIV had higher odds [AOR = 1.37; 95%(CI = 1.10-1.72)] of consistent condom use compared to those without knowledge of HIV. However, sexually active men who were previously married [AOR = 0.38; 95%(CI = 0.24-0.61)], and those residing in the South Eastern region of Nigeria [AOR = 0.62; 95%(CI = 0.44-0.96)] had lower odds of consistent condom use. This study established the association between HIV knowledge and consistent condom use among sexually active males in Nigeria even after controlling for confounders. Educational level, wealth index, and ethnicity are also associated with condom use. This calls for the consideration of social determinants of health, localised and cultural health promotion and targeted public health strategies at all governmental levels to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. [Abstract copyright: Copyright: © 2022 Bolarinwa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Interaction of nitrogen doses and establishment methods in lowland rice at Parwanipur, Bara, Nepal

The experiment was laid out in split plot design: three establishment methods were designed (Puddled transplanted rice, Non- puddled transplanted rice, Conventional dry tillage +DSR) as a main plot and four levels of nitrogen rate (0, 60, 120, 180) as sub plot and replicated three times during summer season of 2015 and 2016 at RARS, Parwanipur. Grain yield and other yield attributes like plant height, penicle length and number of tiller per m2 of rice was observed significantly differed (p<0.05) between different establishment methods and nitrogen levels. In 2015 there was not significant effect of establishment practices on grain yield but significantly highest grain yield (4603 kg/ha) was obtained from application of nitrogen@120 kg/ha and grain yield decreased with increased of nitrogen application @ 180 kg/ha (4365 kg/ha). Results reveled that significantly higher grain yield was obtained under non puddled transplanted rice (3314 kg/ha) than puddle transplanted rice (3280 kg/ha) which were at par with conventional tillage plus DSR (2123 kg/ha) and significantly highest grain yield (3424 kg/ha) was obtained from application of nitrogen@180 kg/ha during 2016. In both years the highest grain yield was obtained from puddled transplanted rice with the nitrogen application @ 120 kg/ha. Based on two years results, it can be concluded that N is limiting factor for the productivity of rice in Parwanipur. Therefore 120 kg/ha nitrogen could be optimum dose for puddled transplanting and direct seeded rice at Parwanipur condition

Experiences of refugees and asylum seekers towards access and utilisation of sexual health services: A systematic review

A systematic review protocol for exploring the experiences and utilisation of sexually transmitted infections and HIV testing and treatments among refugees and asylum seekers in both overdeveloped and underdeveloped countries are the contexts of this review. Issues facing refugees and displaced people are some of the most complicated humanitarian concerns globally. The UN Refugee Agency, UK reports that at least 89.3 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes (UNHCR UK, 2021). Among them, nearly 27.1million are refugees and 4.6 million are asylum seekers (UNHCR, 2021). Evidence shows the access and utilisation of sexual health services among these populations are comparatively limited

Food insecurity during COVID-19 pandemic: A genuine concern for people from disadvantaged community and low-income families in Province 2 of Nepal.

Background: Food insecurity is a serious social and public health problem which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic especially in resource-poor countries such as Nepal. However, there is a paucity of evidence at local levels. This study aims to explore food insecurity among people from the disadvantaged community and low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Province-2 of Nepal. Methods: The semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted virtually among purposively selected participants (n = 41) from both urban and rural areas in eight districts of Province 2 in Nepal. All the interviews were conducted in the local language between July and August 2020. The data analysis was performed using thematic network analysis in Nvivo 12 Pro software.ResultsThe results of this study are grouped into four global themes: i) Impact of COVID-19 on food security; ii) Food insecurity and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, iii) Food relief and emergency support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and iv) Impact of COVID-19 and food insecurity on health and wellbeing. Most participants in the study expressed that families from low socioeconomic backgrounds and disadvantaged communities such as those working on daily wages and who rely on remittance had experienced increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants used different forms of coping strategies to meet their food requirements during the pandemic. Community members experienced favouritism, nepotism, and partiality from local politicians and authorities during the distribution of food relief. The food insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families has affected their health and wellbeing making them increasingly vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection.ConclusionFood insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families was found to be a serious problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study suggests that the relief support plan and policies should be focused on the implementation of immediate sustainable food security strategies to prevent hunger, malnutrition, and mental health problems among the most vulnerable groups in the community