Carrie PurcellThe Open University (UK) · Faculty of Wellbeing Education and Langauge Studies
Carrie Purcell
PhD in Sociology
About
45
Publications
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Introduction
Carrie Purcell is a Research Fellow at the Open University, in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. Carrie is a qualitative sociologist working in an interdisciplinary social science and health context. Her main interests include reproductive health, self-management of care, health service accessibility, and evaluation methodologies.
Additional affiliations
March 2015 - December 2022
October 2013 - February 2015
October 2012 - October 2013
University of Glasgow
Position
- Investigator Scientist
Publications
Publications (45)
Objective:
To explore the experiences of women in Scotland who return home to complete medical termination of pregnancy (TOP) ≤63 days of gestation, after being administered with mifepristone and misoprostol at an NHS TOP clinic.
Design:
Qualitative interview study.
Setting:
One National Health Service health board (administrative) area in Sco...
In most settings worldwide, abortion continues to be highly stigmatised. Whilst a considerable body of literature has addressed abortion stigma, what is less commonly examined are the ways in which those with experience of abortion describe it in non-negative terms which may resist or reject stigma. Drawing on qualitative secondary analysis of five...
Background
Despite being a common gynaecological procedure, abortion continues to be widely stigmatised. The research and medical communities are increasingly considering ways of reducing stigma, and health professionals have a role to play in normalising abortion as part of routine sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH). We sought to investigate...
Objective
To explore experiences of pain in the context of early medical abortion (EMA) in the UK and to guide best practice around anticipatory guidance on pain.
Methods
From late 2020 to early 2021, we recruited individuals from across the UK who had undergone abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic to participate in in-depth, semi-structured tele...
Medication abortion has been established globally as safe and effective. This modality has increased accessibility and the opportunity to centre individual autonomy at the heart of abortion care, by facilitating self-managed abortion. Previous research has shown how self-managed abortion is beneficial in myriad settings ranging from problematic to...
Background:
Globally, cardiovascular diseases (CVD, that is, coronary heart (CHD) and circulatory diseases combined) contribute to 31% of all deaths, more than any other cause. In line with guidance in the UK and globally, cardiac rehabilitation programmes are widely offered to people with heart disease, and include psychosocial, educational, heal...
Background
The quality of school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) is variable in the UK. Digitally-based interventions can usefully supplement teacher-delivered lessons and positively impact sexual health knowledge. Designed to address gaps in core SRE knowledge, STASH (Sexually Transmitted infections And Sexual Health) is a peer-led soc...
Aims
Alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) are required to improve CR access and uptake. Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) is a comprehensive home-based rehabilitation and self-management programme, facilitated by trained health professionals, for people with heart failure (HF) and their caregivers. REACH-HF...
Background
Despite robust evidence and national guidance recommending cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for heart failure (HF), access remains poor, a situation magnified by COVID-19. The Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) randomised controlled trial demonstrated the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a novel home-based CR self...
Background: The traditional focus of adolescent sexual behaviour research is on risk and adverse outcomes and on first vaginal intercourse as a portent of risk. This preoccupation with first sex limits research on social processes of sexual development and is out of step with the contemporary reality of young people’s early sexual experiences in wh...
Introduction
Despite evidence that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and self-care are essential in managing heart failure, and strong national and international guidelines recommending their provision, referral and uptake remains low. Centre-based provision is a known barrier, and the need for flexible models of CR has become more pronounced in the rece...
Background
Effective sex education is the key to good sexual health. Peer-led approaches can augment teacher-delivered sex education, but many fail to capitalise on mechanisms of social influence. We assessed the feasibility of a novel intervention (STASH) in which students (aged 14–16) nominated as influential by their peers were recruited and tra...
This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effectiveness of social network and social support interventions to support cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention in the management of people with heart disease. As a secondary output of this review, and to assist in conceptualising futur...
Introduction
Despite evidence that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an essential component of care for people with heart failure, uptake is low. A centre-based format is a known barrier, suggesting that home-based programmes might improve accessibility. The aim of SCOT: Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) is to assess the im...
Background
Young people report higher levels of unsafe sex and have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections than any other age group. Schools are well placed to facilitate early intervention, but more effective approaches are required. Peer-led approaches can augment school-based education, but often fail to capitalise on mechanisms of soci...
BACKGROUND
There is strong interest in the use of social media to spread positive sexual health messages through young people’s social networks. However, research suggests this potential may be limited by a reluctance to be visibly associated with sexual health content online, and by a lack of trust in the veracity of peer sources.
OBJECTIVE
To in...
Background:
There is a strong interest in the use of social media to spread positive sexual health messages through social networks of young people. However, research suggests that this potential may be limited by a reluctance to be visibly associated with sexual health content on the web or social media and by the lack of trust in the veracity of...
This letter seeks to synthesise methodological challenges encountered in a cohort of Wellcome Trust-funded research projects focusing on sexualities and health. The ten Wellcome Trust projects span a diversity of gender and sexual orientations and identities, settings; institutional and non-institutional contexts, lifecourse stages, and explore a r...
Background
Young people in the UK are at highest risk of sexually transmitted infections and report higher levels of unsafe sex than any other age group. Involving peer supporters in intervention delivery is acceptable to students and effective in reducing risk behaviours via ‘diffusion of innovation’, particularly where peer supporters are influen...
In August 2018, Scotland made history as the country leading a global movement to end period poverty. The government pledged to invest £5.2m to provide free menstrual products in schools, colleges and universities across the country. Period supplies will be available in toilets, just as paper and soap are already provided. The scheme’s objective is...
Background
The Social and Emotional Education and Development programme (SEED) aims to improve the social and emotional wellbeing (SEW) of primary school pupils. It is based on a cycle of collecting school specific data on pupil and staff SEW, providing benchmarked feedback and facilitating the adoption of evidence-based initiatives to address need...
Symposium on the SASS project
Objective:
To examine the experiences of women seeking more than one termination of pregnancy (TOP) within two years.
Design:
Mixed methods study.
Setting:
Six TOP services across Scotland.
Sample:
Women presenting for TOP between July and December 2015.
Methods:
Descriptive and inferential analysis of quantitative survey data, thematic an...
Abortions in general, and second trimester abortions in particular, are experiences which in many contexts have limited sociocultural visibility. Research on second trimester abortion worldwide has focused on a range of associated factors including risks and acceptability of abortion methods, and characteristics and decision-making of women seeking...
Body work’ has emerged at the nexus of sociologies of work and bodies as a means of conceptualising work focusing on the bodies of others. This article utilises this analytical tool in the context of contemporary abortion work. Abortion provision in Britain has seen significant change in the last 25 years, paralleling developments in medical method...
Objective:
To explore the experiences of women from a remote and rural setting who had a termination of pregnancy (TOP), in relation to any barriers they may have experienced trying to access TOP.
Design:
Qualitative interview study.
Setting:
Scottish Highlands and Western Isles.
Population:
Women who had undergone TOP in the Scottish Highla...
Objective:
To examine experiences of contraceptive care from the perspective of health professionals and women seeking abortion, in the contexts of hospital gynecology departments and a specialist sexual and reproductive health centre (SRHC).
Materials and methods:
We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 46 women who had received c...
KEY POINTS
There are significant gaps in young people’s knowledge about abortion relating to basic information on the where, when and how abortions are provided in Scotland.
Most of the young people we spoke to were not straightforwardly for or against abortion but presented a range of views which depended upon the circumstances of the pregnancy an...
Abortion is considered to be an appropriate time to offer contraceptive advice to women although it is recognised that there are challenges in doing so. This research offers an insight into the perspectives of women receiving and professionals providing contraceptive care at the time of abortion.
Abortion is a common and essential reproductive healthcare procedure experienced by approximately one third of women at some time in their life. Abortion is also commonly politicised and presented in public discourse as inherently contentious or controversial. However, recent sociological research on women's experiences of abortion is relatively th...
Aim: In-depth interviews were conducted with women who had recently received abortion care, and with healthcare professionals providing that care in order to: 1) explore experiences of care from patient and provider perspectives; and 2) compare experiences in a community sexual and reproductive health centre (SRHC) and hospital setting. Project Out...
Introduction The legal limit for termination of pregnancy (TOP)
in Great Britain is 24 weeks (except for significant fetal or
maternal medical indications). However, the provision of later
TOP varies between NHS health board areas in Scotland and
most do not provide TOP after 18/20 weeks of gestation (unless
for the above exceptions). Currently wom...
The media play a significant part in shaping public perceptions of health issues, and abortion attracts continued media interest. Detailed examination of media constructions of abortion may help to identify emerging public discourse. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine if and how the print media in contributes to the stigmatisation of...
ContextExcept in the presence of significant medical indications, the legal limit for abortion in Great Britain is 24 weeks’ gestation. Nevertheless, abortion for nonmedical reasons is not usually provided in Scotland after 18–20 weeks, meaning women have to travel to England for the procedure.Methods
In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 wome...
This thesis comprises an exploration of the practice of Holistic Massage, working
across the sociological areas of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM),
body work, emotional labour, sociological phenomenology and narrative inquiry.
Holistic Massage is one of a plethora of practices encompassed by the field of CAM.
While there has been stea...
progress ii. contributions to conceptual or theoretical debate within sociology iii. contributions to public debate about social issues. A full list of working papers and an order form can be found at the back of this paper.