This post is written by Sadie Lawes-Wickwar (Lecturer in Medical Education), Sara Garfield (Lecturer in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Practice & Policy), Margaret Ogden (Public contributor), Ishveer Sanghera (Medical Student), Cate Whittlesea  (Divisional Director UCL School of Pharmacy), Sophie Park (Professor of Primary Care and Medical Education), and Afia Ali  (Professor of Neuroscience Pharmacology). The importance of person-centred communication Person-centred communication demonstrates good clinical practice and is central to personalised and person-centred care as ..read more

This post is written by Alice Burnand (Research Assistant, Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences) Self-management approaches have been developed and tested to give insight into their effectiveness and which population group may benefit. So far, research has received mixed results on the impact that self-management can have on complex health conditions outcome measures, such as wellbeing, function, quality of life, and caregiver wellbeing. Further high-quality research needs to be conducted. The PD-Care randomised control trial (RCT) is currently testing a self-management toolkit wh ..read more

Written by Dr Abi Woodward (Research Fellow), Dr Megan Armstrong (Senior Research Fellow), Swettha Mahesarajah and Rasha Meah. Swettha joined PCPH as a temporary Research Assistant to support a UCL Research Culture Awards project. Rasha was a student researcher on placement through the In2Research programme. Voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs) are often a lifeline for local communities. Working alongside organisations that are trusted by underserved groups is vital for addressing inequalities, as well as for improving representation in research. In June 2022, eight representat ..read more

Written by Abi Woodward (Research Fellow), Megan Armstrong (Senior Research Fellow) and Rasha Meah (Student Researcher, In2Research Programme). Despite having worse health outcomes, individuals experiencing socioeconomic deprivation are less frequently included in research. Through a Beacon Bursary funded project, we explored the barriers to research participation among underserved groups. This project is linked to a larger study exploring the self-management of multiple long-term conditions in people experiencing socioeconomic deprivation. We held two public engagement workshops (online and f ..read more

This blog is written by Rasha Meah (Student Researcher, In2Research Placement) and Dr Abi Woodward (Research Fellow, Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health).  For the first time, the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH) has hosted an In2Research placement. In2Research aims to improve access to postgraduate research degrees and careers for people from ethnic minority and/or low socioeconomic backgrounds. By providing a placement, hosts play a vital role in supporting and empowering people to pursue a career in research. In June 2022, Rasha Mea ..read more

This post is written by Sophie Park (Professor of Primary Care and Medical Education)  and Dr Emily Owen (Research Assistant, Community Pharmacy and General Practice)  The Society of Academic Primary Care (SAPC) in its 50th year, have collaborated with the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) to host a joint conference event. Our SAPC Education Research Special Interest Group (SIG) met on Tuesday 5th July 2022 to discuss spaces for practitioner-informed research and enquiry. It is sometimes hard to know where to start. You are a practitioner and have an area of keen ..read more

This post is written by Dr Patricia Schartau (GP at Hampstead Group Practice; Academic Clinical Lecturer in Primary Care at the UCL Department of Primary Care and Population Health) and Dr Ruth Plackett (NIHR Three schools’ Mental Health Programme Fellow at the UCL Department of Primary Care and Population Health) On 16th May 2022 we conducted a workshop about social media use and young adult mental health funded by the NIHR Three Schools Programme. We focused on young adults aged 16-25 years. The online workshop was hosted by the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health (PCP ..read more

This post is written by Greta Rait (Clinical Professor of Primary Care and Health Services Research) and Jane Wilcock (Senior Research Fellow) who have played a lead role in an international collaboration aimed at supporting people after a diagnosis of dementia. By 2050, the World Health Organisation has estimated that 139 million people world-wide will have dementia. There is currently no treatment for the disease and no cure. We know that people living with dementia and those who care for them often have negative experiences of the dementia diagnostic process. People tell us that they receiv ..read more

This blog is written by Shoba Poduval (Clinical lecturer) & Chandrika Kaviraj (Expert by Experience). Shoba Poduval (project lead): We have known for some time that people from ethnic minority backgrounds suffer from poorer health outcomes, but are less likely to be included in health and social care research studies (1). The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and multiple studies have shown that people from ethnic minority backgrounds have an increased risk of infection, Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) admission, and death (2-4). These data plus the fact that two thirds of my NHS ..read more

Tasmin Rookes This blog is written by Tasmin Rookes, Research Assistant for the PD-Care programme. Tasmin also runs a Research Assistant group – if you’d like more information about this group please email Tasmin here: t.rookes@ucl.ac.uk Since the COVID-19 pandemic research activity, such as identifying, consenting, and assessing participants has been conducted online and remotely. With many clinical populations being older adults, without consistent levels of technology knowledge, this has introduced some challenges. Reflecting on the PD-Care feasibility study, I share our experience and le ..read more