Discrete Choice Experiments and Preference Studies

- Attribute selection, DCEs, and Qualitative assessments

DCE experiments with over 3000 responses; Qualitative studies to identify attributes; and extensive qualitative studies exploring preferences and perspectives among both patients and staff.

Preferences in health service design; innovative options/preferences in testing services (including home-testing); DCEs in behaviour-change interventions and in service preferences; qualitative studies with vulnerable populations, diagnosed patients, and terminal patients.

Ranging across observational and explorative, qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, my work in Health Service Design and Evaluation has included:

Examination of innovations in terminal care; evaluating service design; patient acceptability of service design; exploration of barriers and facilitators to vaccine access; acceptability of behavioural interventions; surveys of staff preferences; and investigation of healthcare barriers between health professionals and socially excluded patients.

Health Service Design and Evaluation

Innovations in HIV Testing Services

- incl. Home Testing

From formative work in 2009, to recent innovations in vending machine distribution of home-testing kits, my evaluative research in testing design has explored medical, institutional and social challenges to deliver practical improvements in access and delivery of testing

Click here for Reuters news coverage of qualitative work (in partnership with the Martin Fisher Foundation) on vending machine distribution of home testing kits, which won the British Medical Journal Innovation Award 2018.

Understanding and evaluating patient experience and preferences to increase service uptake, inform best practice and improve outcomes

These qualitative and mixed-method studies in primary, community and secondary care, ranged from theoretical models and health policy through to terminal cirrhosis care, vaccination programmes, behavioural risk-reduction, and HIV care.

Methods include multi-agency qualitative data collection with patients and staff, Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) to quantitatively evaluate aspects of service design, and international comparisons.

Patient Experience of Health Services

Interventional and Behaviour Change Studies

Interventions for behaviour change and risk reduction

Studies explored both the acceptability and effectiveness of different models for change, quantitatively evaluating patients’ preferences for different interventional models, and measuring outcomes of a psychological intervention.

Quantitative assessment of understanding and practice in GP surgeries supported a critique of new, centralised policy on the demographic monitoring of patients’ sexual orientation

This study explored assumptions and examined perspectives among administrative, management and clinical staff in family practices to support debate around a contentious subject in national health policy.

Critiquing Health Policy in Patient Monitoring

Project PEPSE

A three-year interventional RCT examining the impact of a psychological intervention (adapted Motivational Interviewing) to reduce risk behaviour in participants recruited from five hospital clinics

I developed a manualised intervention for repeated telephone administered interventions containing individualised persuasive communications based on specific behaviour change models.

I managed this complex longitudinal study and delivered repeated Motivational Interviewing interventions to a parallel group of 175 participants, who were followed for 18 months to assess effectiveness in risk-reduction.