Our work in this area addresses the key concepts, approaches, challenges and opportunities in negotiating the relationship between health and social care as it is provided, and as it is experienced by people, patients and communities.
Governments in many countries are encouraging greater involvement of patients and the public in health care decision-making in the belief that services will be more accessible, acceptable and effective if the people who use them are involved in their planning, design and delivery.
Moreover, the experience of people using a service is increasingly recognised as a critical dimension of health care quality, and efforts to understand and improve that experience are longstanding within the NHS and many other health systems internationally.
Contact: Hilary Brown or Karen Newbigging
Our research
Current and recent research projects focusing on the experiences of patients and members of the public include:
- The contribution of the voluntary sector to mental health crisis care in England (2016 - present)
- Decision-making for the treatment of cancer in older people across the UK (February 2016-September 2016)
- Decommissioning in health care: The view of patients, service users, carers and the public (2015-2017)
- Who knows best? Older people's contribution to understanding and preventing avoidable hospital admissions (2014-2016)
- Does Smaller Mean Better? Evaluating micro-enterprises in adult social care (2013-2015)
We involve patients and members of the public in our research as co-researchers, as advisors, as representatives, as participants, and as a key audience for our findings.
Members of the people, patients and communities theme
.jpg?quality=80&height=230)
Deputy Head of the School of Social Policy and Society
Kerry Allen is a Professor of Health and Care services, based at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. With a disciplinary background in medical sociology, she is interested in applied research that improves health and care services, especially for people with complex needs or long term conditions.
Her core research areas are:
- How people experience ...
Head of the School of Social Policy and Society
Professor of Health Policy and Sociology, Health Services Management Centre
Nicola Gale, MA, PhD, is a health sociologist and interdisciplinary health researcher, working in the fields of health services research, public health, primary care, community-led and complementary health care. She specialises in qualitative and mixed methods research.
Professor Gale is committed to theoretically-informed empirical work that involves, aids better understanding of, and meets the ...
Lecturer in Health Technology and Governance
Amarpreet joined the HSMC in September 2021 as a new Lecturer. She is the Department’s Co-Head of Education and contributes to the Centre’s expanding portfolio on health technologies and genomics through her research and teaching. Amarpreet is passionate about Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion activity, and Widening Participation in Higher Education. She serves on the Researching, ...
Honorary Reader (Associate Professor)
Karen joined HSMC as a Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Policy and Management in November 2013. Originally qualifying as a clinical psychologist, Karen has over thirty years’ experience in the health and social care sector, including direct service provision and commissioning. For the past fifteen years Karen has been involved in research, consultancy and system development for a broad range ...
.jpg?quality=80&height=230)
Professor of Health Policy and Management
Iestyn is a Professor of Health Policy and Management in the School of Social Policy and Society. He is involved in a range of research, teaching and knowledge transfer work and has a broad methodological experience and expertise. He specialises in social science approaches to Health Services Research, employing mixed methods study designs. He has specific expertise in: priority setting, ...
Also in 'Schools and Departments'