Health

Designing for public health and people-centred decisions.

I’m interested in supporting ways that people can become more involved in decisions about their own health and the services they access. I’m also interested in how we can design to support health through digital technology, creating new interactions to benefit citizens. I have a broad interest in public health and I’m particularly interested in chronic health conditions and women’s health. Linking with my interest in engagement, I’ve been involved in a range of projects to gather patient experience to inform service pathway reviews as well as activist causes within the ME/CFS community.

Past Projects

Infant Emotional Health

Spoke with parents of children under three years old who had accessed Sure Start, Health Visiting and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW) infant emotional health services. The aim was to explore parents’ experiences including access, information, outcomes and gaps in services, and to identify additional services that parents would find helpful.

Better Health at Work

I was responsible for delivering the Better Health at Work programme within my workplace, developing mental health campaigns and organising activity sessions. I provided information on health matters such as smoking cessation, healthy eating and stress, led participatory activities and developed business networking to support other organisations undertaking similar efforts.

Caring about Carers

After a co-designed conference focusing on raising awareness of the work of carers and gaining feedback to improve services that support carers, I analysed the information to produce a report with recommendations. The common themes included the importance of early identification of carers, the need for collaborative working and the need to reduce carer stigma.

Film Screening of Unrest

I organised a screening of the award-winning film ‘Unrest’, a documentary to show the hidden world of millions suffering with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. With over 120 attendees including medical students, medical staff, and those affected by ME/CFS, I organised participatory activities to gather experiences.

Diabetes Education

Conducted research with people with type 2 diabetes to explore the education provided to those newly diagnosed. The aim was to explore the awareness, uptake and experiences of current education, and identify improvements or changes that could be made. After speaking with over 80 people, recommendations were made for the education programme.

Children’s A&E

I undertook research to examine the inappropriate use of Children’s A&E to improve service pathways so children and young people receive the most appropriate advice and treatment. The aim was to identify reasons for and barriers to accessing A&E over other health services, and understanding experiences at A&E.