PhD Students
Please see information below regarding the Centre's PhD students.
Uke Agwu
Improving Public Health through residents' involvement in regeneration
There is increasing interest in the role that people living in particular communities, or structures within these communities, play in promoting health and well-being among residents. These structures may involve local services; the presence of affordable housing, healthy food and public transportation; community activities that support quality of life; or the sense of social cohesion that exists among community members.
Attention is being paid to how political decision making can potentially support or hinder the establishment and maintenance of these supposedly health enhancing community structures.
The central concern of this thesis is with the concept of community participation - community involvement and engagement. The primary focus of this research is an examination of residents' of deprived neighbourhoods' perceptions of themselves as regeneration partners, service users and evaluators of area based initiatives, particularly in the delivery of Neighbourhood Renewal strategy.
The broad aims of this research are: to examine the extent to which local residents are aware of and knowledgeable about neighbourhood renewal and regeneration initiatives in the locality; to examine the extent to which they are involved in the delivery of neighbourhood renewal initiatives as service users and beneficiaries (directly or indirectly); and to examine their perception of the effectiveness of their involvement in local regeneration partnership, as panel members.
Patrician Ronan
Acupuncture in the Treatment of Psychosis
Schizophrenia is a severe and enduring mental illness for which there is no known cure. Treatment is mainly with the use of antipsychotic medicines, which give people side effects that are difficult to tolerate. It is common for people to stop taking antipsychotics because of these effects. Acupuncture is often used in China in the treatment of schizophrenia, but rarely in the UK or other Western countries. Research has shown it to be effective in up to 80% of cases on its own or with antipsychotic medicines.
This project is utilising a case study approach examining the effect of acupuncture on 15 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia. Different methods are being used to collect and examine in-depth information on a small, specific population, and the effect of using acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks on an individual basis over a specified period of time. These include interviewing, examination of case notes, questionnaires and observation of acupuncture treatments. The study will be measuring the changes in symptoms of schizophrenia and side effects of antipsychotic medication. It will also examine the quality of life and treatment issues for this cohort of patients. It is anticipated that the findings will enable better quality research in the future, helping our understanding of whether acupuncture is useful in schizophrenia, how it might best be used and how it might best be researched in the future.
H. Richrath
An exploratory study into the impact of the assessment and treatment of sensory modulation difficulties identified in adults with anxiety disorders
Sensory modulation can be defined as a persons' ability to regulate their reactions to sensory stimuli in a graded and adaptive way for what the situation requires. People can experience sensory modulation difficulties when they over respond or under respond to sensory stimuli, e.g. sound, touch, movement. This becomes a problem if it influences a persons' life to the extent that they are unable to or struggle to manage everyday tasks.
Limited literature exists on sensory modulation in adult mental health, particularly with reference to anxiety disorders. The literature that does exist reports benefits from using sensory modulations strategies that includes a reduction in anxiety and an improvement in self-esteem.
This study explores the relationship between sensory modulation and anxiety disorders. A mixed methods approach utilising qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis is being employed. The study aims to determine whether treating sensory modulation difficulties in participants with anxiety disorders will decrease their anxiety levels. Fifty participants, recruited from two Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) are partaking in screening assessments (part one of the study). From participants that score 11 or higher on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale 12 are to be randomly selected to partake in a treatment process (part two of the study). The treatment will consist of six sessions that will include feedback from the assessments, education regarding sensory modulation, the development of a self-treatment plan and participation in activities based on sensory integration. Participants are to be invited to attend a follow up session two weeks after the treatment sessions end for post-intervention assessments.
Gillian Wells
Quality of life in old age
Gillian started a Phd in October 2009 to identify older people's perceptions and experiences of factors that influence their quality of life in old age and how these factors can be addressed. Her particular interest in this subject stems from work over the past 15 years developing emergency, rehabilitation and longer term development projects with older people both in the developing world and the UK. At a time when UK agencies are struggling to come up with effective solutions to not only add years to life but also 'life to years' quality of life for older people is an important goal. The research will compare community and health and social care support across three different cultures and identify older peoples' perceptions as to how different methods of support affect their quality of life.