Petra Boynton

The Research Companion

Exploring the impact bullying has within universities and considering pathways and prevention plans.

Join us behind the scenes, where you’ll learn what happens to your manuscript from submission to publication. We will provide you with insights pertaining to what to include in your letter to the editor, how the reviewer selection process takes place, how to respond to reviewer comments, and of course how to become a more effective reviewer yoursel...

Bullying is a major problem within academia. Recognising bullying, knowing how to stay safe, report abuse, or be an active bystander may feel overwhelming. This session explores how to understand and respond to bullying.

We often don’t think of peer reviewing as something that can be enjoyable, uplifting or helpful to our own career as much as other people’s. The effects of the pandemic particularly have made reviewing seem a lot more complicated and fraught. Experienced reviewers may be too busy or burnt out to take on more work, while novice reviewers might be un...

Exploring the practicalities of designing, developing and using questionnaires in social and healthcare research. Presentation is available to watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSDldtoxwvY

Are you studying or working in academia and in need of support? Perhaps you’re finding your work, study or personal life challenging or overwhelming; are experiencing bullying, harassment or abuse; or find your progress is being blocked by unfair, exploitative or precarious systems? Or perhaps you want to support a friend or colleague who’s struggl...

Baby Loss Awareness Week is a start, but more must be done to help those who, like me, have lost a pregnancy, says Petra Boynton

Pregnancy loss can leave us with many unanswered questions, and knowing where to find answers is not always clear. This book is for you if, like me, you've been affected by any kind of pregnancy loss - currently or in the past. It provides practical advice and self-care strategies to help you cope during or after loss, alongside ideas that will ena...

Within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), researchers have become more aware of the interplay between the work they are doing and their own health and wellbeing. These issues have been discussed mostly in the context of HCI research around sensitive issues (Sensitive HCI). We argue that researcher wellbeing needs to be considered in all eHealth and...

Anti LGBTQ laws in Nigeria makes it difficult for LGBTQ people to live openly, access healthcare, and exercise their civil rights. This research - a survey of over 400 LGBTQ Nigerians assessed people's mental and physical health, experiences of discrimination, and the impact of Homo, Bi and Transphobia on their lives. A copy of the report can be fo...

Recent changes in the classification of female sexual dysfunction in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the US Food and Drug Administration?s (FDA) approval of the first drug to treat low sexual desire in women (flibanserin) have highlighted the intense focus on sexual desire problems in women....

Have you ever wanted to know an effective and ethical way to: Design a study? Recruit participants? Report findings? And improve the quality and output of your research? The Research Companion focuses on the practical skills needed to complete research in the social or health sciences and development. It covers the behind-the-scenes essentials...

The media are widely acknowledged as important in sex and relationship education, but they are usually associated with ‘bad’ effects on young people in contrast to the ‘good’ knowledge represented by more informational and educational formats. In this paper we look at sex advice giving in newspapers, magazines and television in the UK, in sex advic...

The health seeking behaviour of a community determines how they use health services. Utilisation of health facilities can be influenced by the cost of services, distance to health facilities, cultural beliefs, level of education and health facility inadequacies such as stock-out of drugs. To assess the health seeking practices and challenges in uti...

An information leaflet/report created with the Miscarriage Association explaining the impact of babyloss on partners.

Published in Times Higher Education.

This poster was based on the research of Anna Storrs who interviewed women about the breastfeeding support they received. Work was latterly used to improve breastfeeding services in the area.

Africa faces an urgent but 'neglected epidemic' of chronic disease. In some countries stroke, hypertension, diabetes and cancers cause a greater number of adult medical admissions and deaths compared to communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis. Experts propose a three-pronged solution consisting of epidemiological surveillance, primar...

A former BMJ columnist and his co-author deal with the power of social networking in a compelling new book, finds Petra Boynton Do you think everything you do is determined by you and you alone? What influence might those around you have on your mental wellbeing? Can a friend of a friend have an effect on your physical health? These are some of the...

Based on a project undertaken by S Kharia and co-supervised by T Greenhalgh this research involved interviewing women on the care they had received and whether it matched their emotional needs.

Objectives To test the feasibility of professional patients as a tool for sexual health service evaluation. Professional patients are paid to use services specifically for audit or evaluation purposes without disclosing their identity as evaluators. Methods Professional patients visited five large sexual health departments used by 3000 clients per...

The story of this researchAnalysis of postingsSelf-injury - a review of previous literatureConclusions and recommendationsAcknowledgements

The media have been intrigued by a new service that offers to help the millions of unattached Britons infected by “dating toxins.” Petra Boynton reports

Can health promotion messages be pushed withlearn from the same techniques that Tesco and McDonald's use? Petra Boynton examines a new book on the subject

Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a common sexually transmitted infection with serious sequelae. Excellent access to testing, treatment and contact tracing are an essential part of strategies to control it. With traditional sexual health services over-stretched, community pharmacies are well placed to provide this service. They have the potential...

The medical profession has traditionally been dominated by middle-class white males in the UK, but it is a political priority to widen access to all socio-economic and ethnic groups. This paper describes an empirical study based on biographical life narrative interviews with 45 16-year olds from inner London who were considering applying to medical...

Education programmes for sex and relationships are greatly needed globally. One way such information can be delivered is via the media. Sex and relationship advice has long been a popular media component, but the quality, accuracy and effectiveness of such advice—particularly from the sex ‘expert’ or ‘agony aunt’—has not been adequately addressed....

In Thailand, rapid increases in economic prosperity have been accompanied by erosion of traditional cultural and religious values and by negative effects on sexual health of young people. We investigated knowledge, attitudes, norms, and values of teenagers, parents, teachers, and policymakers in relation to sex and sex education in Chiang Mai, Thai...

Although the public uses the media for sex advice, information and validation, much media coverage of sex contains inconsistent, outdated, or incorrect messages. There is little encouragement for those working in sex therapy, research, education or healthcare to engage with the media. The standard of media training and availability for these profes...