The Conversation

There has been a marked increase in enrolment in early childhood education globally, but access and approaches differ hugely around the world.
What impact does quality early years education have on children’s future outcomes and why is ‘playing’ so pivotal in helping them prepare for school?
Professor Nirmala Rao researches ways of measuring the impacts of early childhood development and education particularly within the Asia-Pacific context, at the University of Hong Kong. She believes that it is essential to push research to the forefront to inform social policy relevant to children and their families.
Jessica Blom is the Deputy Director of The Centre for Early Childhood Development in South Africa - a national resource which provides training, support and advice in the field of early childhood development with the aim of improving the education and care of the country’s youngest citizens from disadvantaged communities.
Produced by Hannah Dean
(Image: (L) Jessica Blom, credit Barry Christianson. (R) Prof. Nirmila Rao, WAL-PHOTO courtesy of Faculty of Education, HKU.)

Traumatic events can leave an enduring psychological impact. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two psychologists about how they help women heal from trauma.
Jane Abatoni Gatete heads the Rwanda Organization of Trauma Counsellors (ARCT- Ruhuka). She has over 25 years of expertise and practical experience in mental health support. As well as working as a psychiatrist in individual and group settings she has trained hundreds of others to support a nation recovering from the trauma of war and genocide.
Dr Adshead is one of Britain’s leading forensic psychiatrists with 30 years’ experience working in some of London's first trauma clinics and Broadmoor prison. She says that traumatic events, experiences that change your identity, can happen not only acutely and suddenly but take place slowly over time. While many people will recover naturally, some have long-term impacts that require treatment. Her latest book is called Unspeakable: Stories of Survival and Transformation After Trauma.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Gwen Adshead, credit Richard Ansett BBC. (R) Jane Abatoni Gatete, courtesy Jane Abatoni Gatete.)

Have you ever finished a book or television series and wished you could stay longer in that world? Fan fiction is a thriving art form, with millions of women writing and sharing their tributes to favourite stories, by taking famous characters and placing them in new situations. Datshiane Navanayagam meets women who take part and study this world.
Dawn Walls-Thumma in the USA is a middle-grade teacher by day, and by night runs the Silmarillion Writers Guild, a community for fan fiction set in Tolkien's universe. This has led her to become a published Tolkien expert.
Kristine Michelle Santos in the Philippines is an associate professor of Japanese and researches Boys Love, the biggest genre of fanfiction in Japan and South-East Asia, and now a multi-billion yen industry.
Producer: Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Dawn Wells-Thumma, courtesy Holly Lillis. (R) Kristine Michelle Santos, credit Aaron Vicencio)

Epilepsy is a brain condition that causes repeated episodes of sudden, brief changes in the brain's electrical activity causing seizures or convulsions. It's thought 50-million people have the condition, which can't be cured. The right treatment can alleviate symptoms but diagnosis and treatment is limited in many countries.
Consultant neurologist Sofia Eriksson is from Sweden and works in the UK at University College London Hospital where she used to be the hospital’s clinical lead for epilepsy. She's president elect of the British Association of Neurologists. Sofia says it’s important more people talk openly about the condition to help stop people who have it feeling so isolated.
Betty Barbara Nsachilwa had her first seizure when she was 13 years old. It took 18 months to find the right medication that has kept her seizures under control since. She says she's been lucky to have the support of her family and colleagues but says many others in Zambia face discrimination and stigma. Betty Barbara co-founded the Epilepsy Association of Zambia in 2001 to increase awareness and education about the condition and support others living with epilepsy.
(Image: (L) Betty Barbara Nsachilwa, courtesy Betty Barbara Nsachilwa. (R) Sofia Eriksson, credit Hannah Lovell.)

Confronting the death of a loved one – or the end of our own life – can be frightening and overwhelming. And yet it is something that will happen to all of us. So how can we open up conversations about the way we want to die? Is it possible to avoid pain and suffering? And who are the people who will care for us in our final moments?
Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women who work in palliative care.
Dr Tania Pastrana is from Colombia and is now based in Germany where she works for the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (IAHPC). And Dr Catherine Millington-Sanders is a general practitioner, and national lead in palliative care for the Royal College of GPs.
Producer: Hannah Sander