About
39
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Introduction
I am a Senior Research Fellow within the ActEarly City Collaboratory, which aims to co-produce, implement and evaluate multiple novel early life interventions to prevent disease and reduce inequalities. I am part of the Evaluation Theme and use qualitative methods to map and understand overall system change in Bradford and Tower Hamlets.
Between 2020-21 I was part of Bradford's Covid-19 Scientific Advisory Group, contributing research to support the local response to and recovery from Covid-19.
Current institution
Publications
Publications (39)
Background
Addressing the upstream social determinants of health (e.g. built environment, education) can reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. To do so effectively often requires system-wide collaboration. However, collaborating across multiple sectors, organizations and disciplines within a complex system can be challenging. ActEarly was...
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions caused major disruption globally, shedding light on the unprecedented strain upon the mental health and wellbeing of individuals around the world. Poor mental health in the pandemic is reported to be greater in women, with mothers being at increased risk. It is unclear whether there are d...
Introduction
Living in an area with high levels of child poverty predisposes children to poorer mental and physical health. ActEarly is a 5-year research programme that comprises a large number of interventions (>20) with citizen science and co-production embedded. It aims to improve the health and well-being of children and families living in two...
Background
Involving communities in research priority setting can increase the relevance and efficiency of research, leading to better health outcomes. However these exercises often lack clarity in how communities are involved and the extent to which priorities are acted upon is unclear. Seldom-heard groups, for example ethnic minorities may experi...
Introduction
Whole-systems approaches are being adopted to tackle physical inactivity. The mechanisms contributing to changes resulting from whole-systems approaches are not fully understood. The voices of children and families that these approaches are designed for need to be heard to understand what is working, for whom, where and in what context...
Introduction
Living in an area with high levels of child poverty predisposes children to poorer mental and physical health. ActEarly is a 5-year research programme that comprises a large number of interventions (>20) with citizen science and co-production embedded. It aims to improve the health and well-being of children and families living in two...
Background
COVID‐19 vaccines have been the central pillar of the public health response to the pandemic, intended to enable us to ‘live with Covid’. It is important to understand change and complexity of COVID‐19 vaccines attitudes and decisions to maximize uptake through an empathetic lens.
Objective
To explore the factors that influenced people'...
Introduction: Whole systems approaches are being adopted to tackle physical inactivity. The mechanisms contributing to changes resulting from whole system approaches are not fully understood. The voices of children and families that these approaches are designed for need to be heard to understand what is working, for whom, where, and in what contex...
We aimed to develop a core outcome set (COS) for systems-wide public health interventions seeking to promote early life health and wellbeing. Research was embedded within the existing systems-based intervention research programme ‘ActEarly’, located in two different areas with high rates of child poverty, Bradford (West Yorkshire) and the Borough o...
Background
COVID-19 vaccines have been the central pillar of the public health response to the pandemic, intended to enable us to ‘live with Covid’. It is important to understand COVID-19 vaccines attitudes and decisions in order to maximise uptake through an empathetic lens.
Objective
To explore the factors that influenced people’s COVID-19 vacci...
Objective
Food insecurity is linked to poor health and well-being in children and rising prevalence rates have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Free school meals (FSM) are considered a critical tool for reducing the adverse effects of poverty but apply a highly restrictive eligibility criteria. This study examined levels of food security and FSM statu...
Background
Whilst children and young people have not often been at forefront of the immediate Covid-19 pandemic health response there has been concern about the indirect consequences of Covid-19 on children’s physical and mental health and what the effect of the pandemic will be throughout their lifetimes. Early adolescence is a time of transition...
Background: Involving communities in research priority setting can increase the relevance and efficiency of research, leading to better health outcomes. However these exercises often lack clarity in how communities are involved and the extent to which priorities are acted upon is unclear. Seldom-heard groups, for example ethnic minorities may exper...
Background
Whilst children and young people have not often been at forefront of the immediate Covid-19 pandemic health response there has been concern about the indirect consequences of Covid-19 on children’s physical and mental health and what the effect of the pandemic will be throughout their lifetimes. Early adolescence is a time of transition...
Objectives
To explore clinically important increases in depression/anxiety from before to during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown and factors related to this change, with a particular focus on ethnic differences.
Design
Pre-COVID-19 and lockdown surveys nested within two longitudinal Born in Bradford cohort studies.
Participants
1860 mothers with a...
This study aims to understand the experience and impact of the initial COVID-19 lockdown in young families with children aged below 4 years. Free text questions were administered to participants in the ORIGINS (Australia) and Born in Bradford (UK) cohort studies to collect qualitative information on worries, concerns and enjoyable experiences durin...
Background : The roll out of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are underway in the UK, and ensuring good uptake in vulnerable communities will be critical to reducing hospital admissions and deaths. There is emerging evidence that vaccine hesitancy is higher in ethnic minorities and deprived areas, and that this may be caused by distrust...
Background
COVID‐19 vaccines can offer a route out of the pandemic, yet initial research suggests that many are unwilling to be vaccinated. A rise in the spread of misinformation is thought to have played a significant role in vaccine hesitancy. To maximize uptake, it is important to understand why misinformation has been able to take hold at this...
Background : Lockdown measures implemented to contain the Covid-19 virus have increased health inequalities, with families from deprived and ethnically diverse backgrounds most likely to be adversely affected. This paper describes the experiences of families living in the multi-ethnic and deprived city of Bradford, England.
Methods : A wave of surv...
Background : The roll out of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are now underway in the UK, and ensuring good uptake in vulnerable communities will be critical to reducing hospital admissions and deaths. There is emerging evidence that vaccine hesitancy is higher in ethnic minorities and deprived areas, and that this may be caused by misi...
Background
Covid-19 vaccines can offer a route out of the pandemic, yet initial research suggests that many are unwilling to be vaccinated. A rise in the spread of misinformation is thought to have played a significant role in this vaccine hesitancy. In order to maximise vaccine uptake it is important to understand why misinformation has been able...
Objectives
To determine clinically important change in anxiety and depression from before to during the first UK Covid-19 lockdown and factors related to this change, including ethnic differences.
Design
Pre-Covid and lockdown surveys nested within two longitudinal Born in Bradford cohort studies.
Participants
1,860 mothers with a child aged 0-4...
Background:
Lockdown measures implemented to contain the Covid-19 virus may be increasing health inequalities, with families from deprived and ethnically diverse backgrounds most likely to be adversely affected. This paper presents findings of the experiences of the Covid-19 lockdown on families living in the multi-ethnic and deprived city of Bradf...
The UK COVID-19 lockdown has included restricting social movement and interaction to slow the spread of disease and reduce demand on NHS acute services. It is likely that the impacts of restrictions will hit the least advantaged disproportionately and will worsen existing structural inequalities amongst deprived and ethnic minority groups.
The aim...
Aims:
To assess psychological wellbeing in a novel social prescription intervention for older adults called Museums on Prescription and to explore the extent of change over time in six self-rated emotions ('absorbed', 'active', 'cheerful', 'encouraged', 'enlightened' and 'inspired').
Methods:
Participants ( n = 115) aged 65-94 years were referre...
This paper presents research findings that help to understand how museum programs created opportunities to enhance wellbeing and health, and changed experiences of social isolation in older adults. The research conceptualized how program elements enabled both individual experiences and relational processes to occur. These components operated within...
Background: This review focused on evaluation of United Kingdom social prescribing schemes published in peer-reviewed journals and reports. Schemes, including arts, books, education and exercise “on prescription” refer patients to community sources of non-clinical intervention.
Method: A systematised review protocol appraised primary research mater...
This study reflects on the range of collaborations in two distinct but thematically linked UCL research projects which consider the role of culture in health promotion: Museums on Prescription (2014–2017), in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University, explores the value of heritage encounters in social prescribing for lonely older adults...
This article is based on a small oral history project which collected interviews with women who had participated in the women's liberation movement (WLM) in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Britain. Using these oral testimonies, it explores the history of the WLM in Bradford and considers how involvement within this movement impacted upon women's lives. I...
