Tel: 23401830 Fax: 23401211; E-mail: healthsciences@um.edu.mt; Website: http://www.um.edu.mt/healthsciences
FHS Monthly Newsletter – December 2010
PAST EVENTS
Sixteen Graduates in Community Nursing Studies Make History
The University of Malta’s graduation ceremony held for students of the Faculty of Health
Sciences saw the first graduates who successfully completed a 3-year degree programme in
community nursing/midwifery studies. The Faculty of Health Sciences opened its doors for the
first time in 2007 to nurses wishing to specialize in community nursing or midwifery. This was
part of an initiative to develop primary care services by providing professionals specialized in
this area. The aim of the course is to equip students with particular skills needed to work in
different community settings such as the home, schools and community based clinics. This
course of studies also provides opportunities for these students to work with specialized nurses in
the UK, in order to learn about advanced community nursing roles which have taken ground in
various European countries.
Community nurses in Malta presently carry out a variety of specialized work. This includes
detailed health needs assessments of individuals in their homes, during which they may identify
physical and/or psycho-social needs. Nurses then plan how these needs may be met by the
nursing team or other professionals. At health centres nurses carry out emergency care. They are
also involved in follow up care and education which they carry out with doctors in health centre
clinics, such as diabetes clinics. Community nurses also run specialized clinics independently
such as glaucoma clinics and immunization clinics. School nurses on the other hand are
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involved in developmental screening and health surveillance of school children, while
community midwives carry out post natal home visits.
The Faculty of Health Science is currently running another degree programme in community
nursing care and plans to continue providing this opportunity for study in the future.
Graduand`s address at the 2010 Graduation Ceremony by Dr Daniela Gatt,
Communication Therapy Department (24 Nov 10)
Dr Daniela Gatt delivered the graduand’s address at the ceremony marking the
conferment of Masters and PhD degrees on students from the Faculty of Health
Sciences.
Dr Gatt considered current evidence on early language development in young
Maltese children, drawing on findings from her PhD thesis. She addressed the
imminent need for further scientific enquiry in the field, highlighting the
theoretical and clinical implications that may be derived from research evidence on young
children’s emergent language skills. Given the distinctive language-learning context to which
young Maltese children are exposed, documentation of early language development may
contribute objectively towards language policy planning and implementation. In addition, further
investigation of early language development would facilitate the early identification of language
disorders in Maltese children, thus minimising the long-term consequences of such impairments.
ePsychNurse.Net Project ( Nov 10)
At the end of November 2010 Mr Martin Ward, from the Mental Health Nursing
Team at the Faculty of Health Sciences, attended the first project consortium
meeting of phase two of the EU funded ePsychNurse.Net Project at Turku
University, Finland. The eight national partners are Finland, Italy, Lithuania,
Portugal, UK, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands with the inclusion of
the European Psychiatric Nursing Association, Horatio acting as the project disseminators.
The aim of the project is to deliver a pre-piloted (undertaken in phase one) on-line study unit or
5ECTS (125 hours) which explores acute care of mentally ill patients within in-patient settings.
It is currently in five languages but will be translated to an additional three for this phase. Each
targeted group of students will have the dedicated support of an on-line teacher and the pilot
programme of 200 nurses showed where phase two supervision has to be modified. The course is
open to all professionals working in mental health care and particularly favours geographical
areas and disadvantaged professional groups who would not normally have access to either
educational programmes or e-learning opportunities. The project promotes the use of the
European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for VET (EQARF) by developing QA eSystems and integrating this as part of the continuing education cooperation between the
participating organizations. During the project, protocols for up-dating the e-course will be
developed. This will ensure continuing development, implementation and evaluation of the ecourse in future. The project will conclude in October 2012 with all milestones and work stages
identified for its duration.
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Although Malta is not yet one of the 12 sites which have elected to take the course, which will be
on-line from October 2011, it is hoped that local mental health providers will opt in, thus
offering CPD to members of staff who are not normally included in such initiatives. Martin’s
involvement in the project is part of the Horatio team with responsibility for disseminating
material throughout Europe
A Midwifery Symposium organised by Midwifery Department (25 Nov 10)
Students addressing the Symposium
A Midwifery Symposium was held on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Central Auditorium,
Mater Dei Hospital. Students, their parents, midwives and lecturers were invited to participate in
the symposium. This cohort was the first midwifery students who graduated under the newly
established Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences.
Five students gave a presentation of their dissertation while another two students presented a
poster on their studies. The Organizzazjoni, Studenti Qwiebel, OSQ also presented a poster
about their activities. Each presentation highlighted how midwifery as a profession is evolving
with regard to the social model of midwifery and the multicultural society that we are living in
today. One paper focused on fathers’ influence on breastfeeding. Another presentation was on
the knowledge of midwives in caring for circumcised women during labour, given that Malta is
fast becoming a multicultural society. The next presentation referred to midwives’ views and
knowledge on babies’ sleeping practices on the postnatal ward. Another interesting presentation
was on pregnant women’s awareness on folic acid supplementation while the last focused on
assessing and managing pain in the preterm in a neonatal intensive care unit setting.
All these diverse presentations and posters showed that midwives can create a better future not
only for midwifery education and practice, but also for their clients, that is, the mother, the
father, the child and the family, which is the cornerstone of our society.
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Seminar – Caring for the Unborn Child - 10th December, 2010
A seminar entitled ‘Caring for the unborn child’ was organised by the Movement of the unborn
child, the Swedish Embassy in collaboration with the Department of Midwifery, Faculty of
Health Sciences, University of Malta, was held at the Main Auditorium, Mater Dei Hospital on
the 10th December 2010. Over 120 students, health professionals and the general public attended
the seminar.
The main speaker was Ms Eva-Karin Enwall, the project Director, Swedish National Institute.
She focused her first presentation on the effects of alcohol use. She pointed to studies which
suggested that even with moderate drinking the risk of cancer increased by 20%, while
cardiovascular diseases, depression and liver cirrhosis were also linked to high alcohol
consumption. Ms Enwall spoke about the wide-spread use of alcohol in Sweden and the launch
of an education project in Sweden about alcohol prevention for primary health care and
occupational health care professionals. The main aim of the project is to train health
professionals to support and motivate individuals to a change in lifestyle with regard to alcohol
consumption. Ms Enwall pointed out that 99.9% pregnant women have regular contact with the
midwife during pregnancy at the antenatal midwifery clinics. Swedish research is showing that
while in 2003, 30% of women consumed alcohol during pregnancy; this went down to 10% in
2006. In 2008, 8% of women consumed alcohol during pregnancy. This suggests that the number
of women misusing alcohol during pregnancy has progressively diminished since the project was
launched in 2004.
Dr R. Borg Xuereb in her closing address said that caring for the unborn child gives hope to the
future of society as the fertility rate at present is 1.4, which is far below replacement levels of
2.1. She pointed to research, which suggested that maternal stress or anxiety during pregnancy is
associated with an increased risk of disturbance of the unborn child`s neurodevelopment and
behaviour. In her local study of 221 randomly chosen couples, 192 women were in employment
during pregnancy. Overseas research is indicating that high levels of job stress during pregnancy
is also associated with reduced birth weight and an increased risk of a small for-gestational-age
infant, particularly, if mothers work 32 or more hours per week. Psychological support during
pregnancy could reduce the incidence of emotional and cognitive challenges later in the child,
however further research was needed to explore the efficacy of such interventions. Dr Borg
Xuereb concluded that midwives have a responsibility for providing the best evidence based care
and information on the creating of a better future for the mother, her partner and the unborn
child.
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NEW RECRUITS
Ms Paulann Spiteri is a staff nurse by background, and until recently, a
Team Leader of a multidisciplinary psychiatric Outreach Team at Mount
Carmel Hospital. She joined the Mental Health setting six years ago and is
particularly interested in Community Mental Health services.
In 2006, she enrolled on a Master’s degree in nursing and this helped to
further her growing interest in teaching. After completing this degree, she
had the opportunity of becoming a part-timer and eventually a full-timer within the academic
setting. She is now part of the Mental Health Team within the Department of Nursing and is
finally pursuing her wish of following a doctoral program.
Paulann lives at Bugibba and enjoys a variety of activities such as reading, writing, socialising,
and listening to music.
Dr. Michael Galea received his doctorate in Psychology in 2003 from the
Loyola University Maryland, USA. Before that, Michael graduated at the
University of London (M.Th.) in 1996 in Pastoral Theology. Later, he
graduated from the Loyola University of Maryland (M.Sc.) in 2000 in
Pastoral Psychology, with an intensive supervisory experience. He is
certified by the U.S. National Board for Certified Counsellors, Inc.
(NBCC), and is a licensed psychologist (APA - MD).
Between 1999 and 2003 Michael worked at Taylor Manor Psychiatric Hospital in Maryland,
USA, and provided supervised psychological services at Lighthouse Inc. (for families and
children after trauma), and at Frederick Ozanam Shelter for the Homeless, both in Baltimore,
MD, United States of America. Michael has also worked in Kenya, East Africa, London, UK,
and in Ventnor City, NJ, USA. A deep, albeit short encounter, was his counselling experience to
some refugees fleeing the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 into Kenya.
Michael has worked with the Education Department from 2004 until recently. Moreover, he has
been a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta with the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of
Education, covering psychology-related modules, and adult education. Dr. Galea has also given
psychological services to Kana Movement, Sedqa (addiction counselling), Appogg agency (at
CCF), and to M.E.G. movement, for needy causes.
His doctoral research focused on the reality of child abuse in Malta, a study done among
university students, in which around 11% of participants qualified as severely abused on the key
domains of childhood maltreatment. He has participated in various conferences in Malta,
including Anger Management Skills (Victoria – 2003), The Enneagram: knowing yourself
(Mellieha - 2003), Youth Leadership Skills (Victoria – 2004), Healing the Healers: Nurses’
National Conference (Qawra – 2007). In 2009, he conducted Competence Based Learning as part
of the Gozo College secondary school development plan. During the same year, he also
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participated in the Experiential Learning Conference in Bergamo, Italy. He contributes regularly
to the mass media, including local print, radio and television programs.
Dr. Galea is a certified Clinical Psychologist and Family Therapist. He lectures at the Faculty of
Health Science, University of Malta.
RESEARCH, PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Clinical Assessment of Ankle Joint Dorsiflexion: A Review of Measurement
Techniques - paper prepared by Mr Alfred Gatt, FHS Podiatry Department, which will be
published in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association in the
January/February 2011 issue.
Abstract: Ankle dorsiflexion measurement is important for clinical and research use. With so
much evidence on the unreliability of goniometric measurements, a systematic review was
performed to investigate various alternative techniques of measuring ankle dorsiflexion in the
non-neurological patient. All major databases were queried electronically in order to identify
studies that utilized any method of ankle dorsiflexion measurement in the non-neurological
subject. Keywords included ankle dorsiflexion NOT cerebral palsy NOT stroke, the latter to
exclude neurological conditions. Out of 755 studies that utilized some form of ankle joint
dorsiflexion measurement, 10 different techniques were identified, which included various
apparatus designed specifically for this purpose. Reliability testing of these techniques involved
test-retest trials with small student populations as subjects, which returned high ICC scores.
However, their methodological quality would have benefitted from the use of an actual patient
population and the comparison to a reference standard. When validating ankle dorsiflexion
measurement techniques, actual patient populations should be used, otherwise papers would
score poorly on methodological quality assessment. Standardizing patient position, foot posture,
amount of moment applied and reference landmarks ensure that various trial results can be
compared directly. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 101 (1), 2011)
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Reminder - Research Seminars for Faculty lecturing staff and students undertaking a
doctoral degree
Please find an updated schedule of the Research Seminar to be held in the Staff room between 1
and 2 pm.
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No
Date
Presenter
Study
Department
1
12th Jan 2011
Dr Michelle Camilleri
PhD
Nursing
2
26th Jan 2011
Mr Frank Zarb
Radiography
3
2nd Feb 2011
Dr Daniela Gatt
PhD
(in progress)
PhD
4
9th Feb 2011
Dr Roberta Sammut
PhD
Nursing
5
23rd Feb 2011
Dr Cynthia Formosa
PhD
Podiatry
6
9th Mar 2011
Dr Anna McElhatton
PhD
Food Stud. & Env. Health
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23rd Mar 2011
Mr Tonio Agius
Physiotherapy
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6th Apr 2011
Ms Josephine Attard
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4th May 2011
10
18th May 2011
Ms Claire Sillato
Copperstone
Mr Anthony Scerri
PhD
(in progress)
PhD
(in progress)
PhD
(in progress)
MSc
Communication Therapy
Midwifery
Food Stud. & Env. Health
Nursing/ Health Services Mgt
Rosienne and Joseph gave excellent presentations on the 1st and 15th December, 2010
respectively.
Talks by FHS Academic Staff at Junior College, Msida – 19 & 26 January 2011
The Faculty of Health Sciences has been invited by the Counselling Service Department of the
Junior College, Msida to give presentation to the college students on the 19th and 26th January,
2011 between 14:00 and 15:00. The above is being coordinated by Ms Pauline Bartolo, BA
(Hon), Dip.Sch. Counselling, MA Educ (Guidance Studies) (Derby).
FHS Staff taking part:

Dr Cynthia Formosa, Podiatry

Dr Anna Mc Elhatton, Food Studies and Environmental Health

Ms Joanna Bellia, Occupational Therapy





Dr Daniela Gatt, Communication Therapy
Dr Josianne Scerri , Mental Health
Dr Michelle Camilleri, Nursing
Mr Gerbert Van Dijk, Radiography
Ms Sue Mercieca, Radiography
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Medical Databases Training Workshops : 27-28 Jan 2011
The University Library Services will be organising two training workshops for the academics at
the Faculty of Health Sciences that will cover the use of the library`s subscribed online medical
databases. The venue of the workshops will be at the Faculty of Health Sciences I.T. Lab and
will be held on the following days:


Thursday, 27 January, 2011 from 15:00 to 16:00 hours
Friday, 28 January, 2011 from 15:00 to 16:00 hours
Those of you who would like to participate are kindly requested to send an email asap to Mr
Silvio Cortis (silvio.cortis@um.edu.mt), Head of Reader Services, University Library Services,
by not later than Friday, 7th January, 2011.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Forthcoming Faculty Board Meeting: 20th January, 2011
Booking of Premises, Labs, Quotations and Invoicing at FHS – Contact persons
Board Room: Ms Moira Spiteri, Tel: 23401908
Auditorium, Seminar and Lecture rooms: Ms Joanne Xuereb Tel: 23401835
Quotations and Invoicing: Mr Patrick Chircop Tel: 23401572
Laboratories: Mr Joe Mark Gatt, Tel: 23401856/23401202
IT Services @FHS
All staff members at IHC are kindly reminded to use the email address below for all their IT
support requests. Requests should include a brief description of the IT problem, contact details
and time/s when the staff member is available so that one of the IT Officers will contact him/her.
All requests sent on the below email address are automatically logged on a computerized system
and assigned a ticket number. This service is fully supported by the University IT Services team.
IT Officers at FHS can be contacted as follows: E-mail: support.itservices@um.edu.mt; Tel:
2340 1884.
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Planned Preventative Maintenance for Laboratory Equipment
Equipment`s reliability is sometimes taken for granted, in certain circumstances we use
equipment until it breaks down after which we choose to, either repair or replace it. This
approach cannot be used when the equipment is being relied upon to provide accuracy, safety or
treatment.
It is for this reason that Mr Joseph-Mark Gatt, Lab Officer, FHS (Tel: 23401856) is going to
meet with the Heads of Department, to discuss which medical equipment qualify to be inserted
into a planned preventive maintenance scheme. At present Joe Mark is in the process of
gathering details regarding all the laboratory equipment. This data will not only be used to
formulate reports for the above-mentioned maintenance scheme but also to catalogue any
upgrades or repairs required. It is hoped that by introducing this maintenance scheme, equipment
reliability, will be increased where it is most needed.
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