Pre-doctoral fellow
Public mental health programme, Health inequalities theme
University College London (UCL)
joanna.dawes@ucl.ac.uk
Jo's reflections on a NIHR SPHR pre-doctoral fellowship
My NIHR SPHR (pre-doc) fellowship felt like a bit if a leap of faith. Prior to the fellowship, I had a permanent academic teaching position, but for some time had been unable to secure sufficient time for the research I wanted to pursue, due to a high teaching and administration commitment. So, I took up the fellowship, with the intentions of developing my research skills, working on increasing my publication output, dedicating time to funding applications and aiming to secure doctoral research funding.
I started the fellowship as the UK was heading into COVID-19 lockdown one and just as my partner had been discharged from hospital after a serious health event. The early months of navigating an unwell partner, the home schooling of two young children and working remotely in my new job was far from easy. However, after a few months, I got into my stride, and got involved in some large scale COVID-19 research, as well as designing smaller projects of my own. I undertook research training online, contributed to several different research and teaching and got started on my NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship application. I also found some great online academic communities at UCL and more widely in the NIHR SPHR network that helped me navigate research whilst working remotely. My senior colleagues and the academic community at UCL were extremely supportive, flexible, and encouraging.
Now that I have reached the end of my fellowship, I am delighted that I have been successful in securing Doctoral Research funding from the NIHR and am excited to be entering the next chapter of my research journey. I am in no doubt that although leaving my secure teaching position felt like a risk, having done so, I have directed my work towards the research I always wanted to do. I am certain I would not be where I am now, if I had not taken that leap of faith to take on the temporary NIHR SPHR (pre-doc) fellowship two years ago.
Research Interests
Jo is interested in physical health problems amongst people experiencing homelessness and their access to and need for health services like physiotherapy. Jo is also interested in physical activity for health gain, in particular the value of physical activity for excluded and marginalised populations. Jo has experience in qualitative methods and intends to develop her skills in quantitative approaches and mixed methods research. Jo is very keen to ensue excluded groups are reached in patient and public involvement activities to inform research.
Practice Engagement
Jo is well connected to health service providers in the field of homelessness via many years of involvement with homelessness charities Pathway and Crisis. Jo intends to work with colleagues at Pathway to plan and carry out future research. Also, from working as a physiotherapy clinician and academic Jo has good relationships with physiotherapy practice and education.
Public Involvement & Engagement
Joe has carried out public and patient involvement work with “Experts by Experience”, a group of people experiencing homelessness. This session provided extremely useful insights into need for and access to physiotherapy amongst people experiencing homelessness.
Hear more about Jo's work
Jo's Q&A
Publications
Papers published
Dawes J, Rogans-Watson R, Broderick J. ‘You can change your life through sports’—physical activity interventions to improve the health and well-being of adults experiencing homelessness: a mixed-methods systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine Published Online First: 27 February 2024. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2023-107562
Dawes J, McKinlay A, May T, Fancourt D, Alexandra Burton. (2021) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of parents with young children: a qualitative interview study. BMC Psychol 9(194). doi:10.1186/s40359-021-00701-8
Dawes J, Barron DS, Lee LE. (2021) Capturing learning from public involvement with people experiencing homelessness to help shape new physiotherapy research: utilizing a reflective model with an under-served, vulnerable population. Health Expect; 1- 10. doi:10.1111/hex.13397
McKinlay AR, May T, Dawes J, et al. ‘You’re just there, alone in your room with your thoughts’: a qualitative study about the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among young people living in the UK. BMJ Open 2022;12:e053676. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053676
Pre-prints, under review
Burton, A., McKinlay, A., Dawes, J., Roberts, A., Fynn, W., May, T., & Fancourt, D. (2021, August 10). Understanding barriers and facilitators to compliance with UK social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative interview study. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/k4wqh
Tom May, Jo Dawes, Daisy Fancourt, Alexandra Burton A qualitative study exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) and drug service provision in the UK: PWID and service provider perspectives doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.24.22269530
Conferences
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and social isolation on parents of young children in the UK: a qualitative study. Dawes J, McKinlay A, May T, Fancourt D, Burton A. In: PHE Public Health Research and Science Conference 2021 [online]
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people experiencing homelessness (PEH): a qualitative interview study with PEH and service providers in the UK, Dawes J, May T, Burton A. In Pathways from Homelessness 2022 [in person and on line]
Additional funding and grants
Public Involvement Funding from London RDS (£350).
UCL COVID-19 Career Support Equity Bridging Funding (£10,000)
