Medical School research

This multi-disciplinary collaborative research cluster includes a broad range of research addressing the prevention of health conditions in the wider population as well as support for people managing conditions in a range of settings.

Our research encompasses, but is not limited to, the following research areas and we welcome all other research that broadly aligns with this cluster.

Professor Vicky Karkou, Director of the Research Centre for Arts and wellbeing, leads work exploring the role of the arts and creativity in psychotherapy for people faced with depression anxiety and/or trauma. She is also engaged in research that involves the development of interventions for improving the wellbeing of service users and staff in healthcare and other work environments.  Other research topics include psychological support through the arts for people with dementia, medical conditions and those recovering from cancer.

The Respiratory Research Centre, led by Professor Sally Spencer and Dr Carol Kelly, focuses on the management of chronic respiratory conditions, such as bronchiectasis, by undertaking multi-professional, patient-centred studies, including evidence synthesis through systematic reviews.

Professor Paola Dey’s work focuses on health inequalities, delivery of public health interventions and the balance between population and individual perspectives. Dr Greg Irving’s work is aimed at preventing the growing burden of multiple chronic diseases by translating epidemiological knowledge into preventive action, and evaluating the effectiveness of different preventive approaches.

Professor Dey leads the Promoting Population Musculoskeletal Health Group in collaboration with colleagues in Sport focusing on promoting physical activity, prevention of acute injury in physical activity interventions and management of chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

This group, led by Professor Barbara Jack, Professor Simon Rogers, Dr Kate Knighting and Dr Bhuvana Krishnamoorthy, includes work on the management of life-limiting conditions and palliative care, the needs of carers, patients’ concerns about treatment of their condition and improving surgical care practice.

The Improving Professional Practice (IPP)  research cluster as several current areas of innovative research with a focus on using educational theory and principles to inform health professions training and clinical outcomes (selected outputs below):

• Use of sports psychology to improve performance under challenging situations

Current study funded by Health Education England North:

A systematic review of mental skills training in medical education

• Improving clinical team performance

Berwick, R. J., Gauntlett, W., Silverio, S. A., Wallace, H., Mercer, S., Brown, JM., Sandars, J., Morton, B. & Groom, P. (2019) A mixed-methods pilot study to evaluate a collaborative anaesthetic and surgical training package for emergency surgical cricothyroidotomy. Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. 47, 4, p. 357-367.

Groom, P., Schofield, L., Hettiarachchi, N., Pickard, S., Brown, JM., Sandars, J. & Morton, B. (2019) Performance of emergency surgical front of neck airway access by head and neck surgeons, general surgeons, or anaesthetists: an in situ simulation study: Who is best to perform a surgical cricothyroidotomy? British Journal of Anaesthesia

• Using technology to improve clinical diagnosis

Sandars J, Groom P, Brown JM, et al (2019) Understanding the potential of mixed reality simulation training for the management of ‘can’t intubate–can’t oxygenate’ emergencies. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8936539/

• Using technology to improve debrief and feedback for clinical procedures

Rakesh Patel, William Green, Muhammad Waseem Shahzad, Helen Church, John Sandars. Using a self-regulated learning-enhanced video feedback educational intervention to improve junior doctor prescribing. Medical Teacher. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1748183

• Supporting health professions trainees to achieve their potential, including trainees from diverse backgrounds

John Sandars, Jeremy Brown, Chidiebere Nwolise, Mumtaz Patel, Nisha Dogra, Axel Kaehne, Jayne Garner, Simon Watmough, Michelle Maden, Vicky Duckworth (2020) The challenge of conducting qualitative research to understand the factors that influence equity in medical education: A scoping review. MedEdPublish https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/the-challenge-of-conducting-qualitative-research-to-understand-th

We have well established national and international collaborators, and we work with colleagues across a variety of disciplines.

The Children, Young People and Families Research Theme is led by Professor Bernie Carter, Professor Lucy Bray and Dr Julie Abayomi.

Our research is multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary and focuses on understanding and improving the lives of children, young people and families. Our work explores the disruptions, relationships, connections and disconnections in their lives.  We work across various sectors including social care, health and education and we aim to influence practice, policy, and public engagement.

Our research encompasses three key domains:

• Agency
• Identity
• Participation

Our work is regional, national and international in its context and reach. We work with colleagues in the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. Our Honorary Professors include Professor Art Frank and Professor Matthew Peak and our Honorary Senior Lecturers include Dr Annette Dickinson and Dr Karen Ford.

Our doctoral students include: Beth Gibson, Helen Hartley, Jennifer Kuroski, Sara Melville, Tracy Mitchell, Simon Nielson, Chris Preston, Heather Rimmer, Holly Saron, Manisha Sharma and Jill Snodin.

Our focused work on agency

Our focus within this domain is about people’s agency and their rights to be involved in choices and decisions about their lives and health and social care. In particular, our research addresses issues related to agency for children, young people and their parents/carers.

The key people working in this domain from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine are Professor Lucy Bray, Professor Bernie Carter, Dr Lucy Blake, Ed Horowicz, Hayley McKenzie, Jill Snodin and Holly Saron.

Our programmatic national and international work on clinical holding focuses on improving our understanding of why children are held during procedures and what factors influence holding, including children’s assent or dissent. We are examining clinical holding from the perspectives of the children, their parents and the professionals. Our research encompasses children and young people with acute and chronic conditions, including those with intellectual disabilities, those requiring pre-hospital care and those requiring in-patient mental healthcare.

We have been involved in work to improve children’s experiences when they come to hospital for procedures and have developed resources such as Children Coming to Hospital and Xploro app.

Our focus on agency is evident within the DETECT study where one thread of our work is exploring the factors which promote or inhibit parents’ agency in sharing concerns about their child’ possible deterioration. This is part of a major initiative to implement an electronic handheld device to enhance early detection of deterioration in children’s vital signs.

Other areas of work include our research on parent-driven campaigns (such as the #notanurse_but campaign), work by Ed Horowicz on the legal and ethical issues associated with the treatment of intersex children, Holly Saron’s work on children’s communication during X-ray procedures, and Hayley McKenzie’s work on education transitions for pre-school children.­­­­

Our focused work on identity

Our focus within this domain is on the ways in which lives, relationships and identities can be changed by difference and disruption associated with long-term conditions, complex healthcare needs, disability, trauma and estrangement.

The key people working in this domain from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine are Dr Lucy Blake, Professor Lucy Bray, Dr Ali Rouncefield-Swales and Professor Bernie Carter,

Our work on estrangement is led by Dr Lucy Blake and it challenges the assumptions about family relationships and considers the factors that influence estrangement.

Young people with Crohn’s or colitis can find their identity disrupted by their condition and worry about disclosing their diagnosis, our resource Telling My Friends aims to help them. View Telling my Friends 2019-2020.

Our work focusing on illness and disability includes Jennifer Kuroski’s study of lived experiences of aunts and uncles supporting parents of children and young adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  In addition our work focuses on children with ataxia being undertaken by Helen Hartley and Tracy Mitchell’s work on the ways in which medical technology can impact on the homes of children with complex healthcare needs.

Our focused work on participation

Our focus within this domain is on promoting participation in society with a particular interest in children, pregnant women and young people’s participation in decision-making and in promoting access to services. Our studies encompass young offenders, children with intellectual disability, families who have a child with disability and children with pain. We have also worked with pregnant women and midwives to improve understanding regarding healthy eating and weight management advice offered/received during pregnancy.

We are actively involved in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) with particular depth of interest in PPI with children, young people and pregnant women.

The key people working in this domain from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine are Professor Bernie Carter, Professor Lucy Bray, Dr Julie Abayomi,  Dr Joann Kiernan, Dr Sean Creaney, Toni Bewley and members of the Service User and Carer Council.

The ‘Fit for Birth’ study (Dr Julie Abayomi) gathered evidence to support guidelines for weight management and healthy eating during pregnancy for pregnant women with a BMI > 35kg/m².

The CASTLE study focuses on children with rolandic epilepsy and Professor Lucy Bray and Professor Bernie Carter are leading the family engagement work and the qualitative research components.

Key to our work is our commitment to advancing children’s participation in research. We are active in developing and using inclusive, arts- and technology-based approaches to promote the participation of children and young people in a wide range of studies and in using performance-based approaches to dissemination. Beth Gibson’s work with children about the acceptability of children’s medicines is highly participatory in its approach.

Our participatory work with young people with scoliosis has resulted in the development of the Coming to Spinal Clinic resource. We have also developed a resource about the assessment of pain for children with complex healthcare needs called Communicating Lily’s Pain.