Background

I am a physiotherapist by profession and the Clinical Lead for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy for Critical Care at Nottingham University Hospitals, NHS Trust. I am a part-time PhD student funded by NIHR – Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands.

Scholarship Project Idea

My PhD study will develop and test the feasibility of delivering a vocational rehabilitation intervention to support people return to work after a critical illness. 

It has 3 stages:

1. Qualitative interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders to identify the barriers and facilitators for return to work and the behaviour change the intervention needs to address

2. Co-design workshops will use the Person-Based Approach to design the intervention

3. Case series feasibility study to test if the intervention can be delivered as planned and if it is acceptable to the people who receive it

Scholarship /Impact

The CRN East Midlands scholarship has provided me with protected time from my clinical role one day a week for a year. I have used this time to further my research skills training (including a module on Mixed Methods Research, the NIHR’s Essential Guide to Grant Applications, Effective Community Engagement and Cultural Competence), networking and talking to people about my research, writing papers to submit for publication and addressing reviewer’s comments.

 2024CRN EM  Research Forum Poster presentation