The Ebola outbreak that began in 2014 confronted scientists and doctors trying to stop the virus from spreading with an unexpected challenge: When they instructed grieving family members to no longer wash and bury their deceased in the traditional way as this would increase chances of them catching the disease themselves, people did not follow their advice but continued their religious practices even when they saw others getting sick as a result. For many helpers, this was a complete puzzle. Why, given the evidence, would people take such risks? Why would they not do the rational thing? And how could they be convinced to follow the medical advice?
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Researchers often view the production of P-values as an essential component of statistical analysis. But in recent years many statisticians and epidemiologists have become increasingly disillusioned with P-values. Wrong beliefs about P-values, and wrong interpretations of P-values, are encountered on a daily basis. Mis-interpretation of P-values is contributing to the reporting of non-reproducible research results. P-values were the subject of a recent debate at a School of Population Health and Environmental Sciences seminar. Abdel Douiri and I spoke about P-values. There was also a lively exchange of views among those present.
Today, 830 women will die as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth (1). This figure is symptomatic of global inequalities with 99% of all maternal deaths occurring in low resource settings. The lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 36 in Sub-Saharan Africa, a stark contrast to the 1 in 5800 lifetime risk in the UK (2). Global health inequalities is one of the central themes covered in the Public Health MSc, particularly in the Global Health module.
I am currently working as a consultant at the World Health Organization in the Blindness and Deafness Prevention, Disability and Rehabilitation Unit. Even though I work in the field of disability and rehabilitation now, my background and training were in psychology. I completed my PhD in the Department of Psychiatry at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, and before that completed my first Master’s in Work and Organizational Psychology at Sofia University, Bulgaria, and second research Master’s in Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology at the VU Amsterdam.
Ever since I was a medical student, I have been passionate about making a difference and admired the faculty members who were researchers and teachers in my medical school. As a child, I wanted to become a doctor in order to make the world a better place, through healing the sick and helping the needy. Lofty ideals indeed! As I have grown up and matured as a doctor and, in parallel, as an academic, I have come to realise that my passion lies in improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the community.
The rise in rough sleeping in the UK is shaped by policies of austerity and exclusion. Yet, increasingly, public policy responses frame homelessness as an individual problem. This is a problem for us to think about in our teaching and research on public health: this disconnect between the social determinants of health and then an individual focused response. How can we refocus this debate?
Dr Maria Kordowicz is an experienced lecturer in health and social care management and delivery. She is Course Lead on the Public Health MSc, responsible for student’s academic experience and support. Maria is multi-talented (she is a Chartered Psychologist, Principal Practitioner of the Association for Business Psychology, Full Member of the British Psychological Society’s Division for Teachers and Researchers in Psychology, Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a member of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services Research Network… to name just a few!) and has spent over a decade managing NHS programmes, projects and services. She also leads an advanced module on the MSc, Leadership and Management in Organisations.
Colleague and Course Administrator Benjamin Buckley sat down to interview her for the launch of her module…
