Research
Our research themes and expertise
Our themes
GPPC has two complementary and overlapping research themes:
- Multiple morbidity, complex care needs and deprivation (early years to end of life);
- The organisation and implementation of care.
Within theme one, multiple morbidity, complex care needs, and inequalities, our research focuses predominantly on studies describing the nature, extent and experience of multiple morbidity in primary care and that explore the impact of multimorbidity, deprivation and complex care needs in primary care on health outcomes over time. We also develop and evaluate interventions that help individuals and families with multiple problems. We lead the Scottish School of Primary Care’s flagship programme of multimorbidity research.
Within theme two, the organisation and implementation of care, our research focuses on health policy applicability in Scotland, the UK and internationally and the effects of health policies on patients and professionals with a particular interest in skill mix and the role of boundaries within and across professional groups. We have a particular interest in the development of anticipatory approaches to health and the implementation and integration of complex service innovations (e.g. e-Health services). Both themes use mixed methods and we lay emphasis on the use of theory, with a particular interest in Normalization Process Theory and issues of candidacy.
Our expertise
Our principal investigator experience and expertise lies in the following areas:
- David Blane Senior Clinical Research Fellow
Organisation and delivery of primary care, including access and engagement issues
Health care of marginalised patient groups
Prevention and management of long-term conditions
Mixed methods and Realist research methods
- Katie Gallacher Senior Clinical Research Fellow
Primary care management of stroke
Stroke patient experience
Minimally disruptive medicine / treatment burden /patient capacity in long term conditions, particularly stroke
Mixed methods research – qualitative and quantitative
- Bhautesh Jani Senior Clinical Lecturer
Primary care mental health
Chronic disease management
Health inequalities
- Sara Macdonald Professor
Experiences and perceptions of health and illness
Understanding of risk
Candidacy
Qualitative methods
- Frances Mair Professor of Primary Care
e-Health, particularly relating to implementation/integration and knowledge transfer opportunities as well as complex interventions (from professional, patient/carer, or public perspectives)
Heart failure, particularly relating to palliative care issues, co-morbidity (particularly depression) and complex interventions
Research using Normalisation Process Theory
Minimally disruptive medicine addressing issues of treatment burden and multiple morbidity
- Claire Niedzwiedz Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith Research Fellow
Mental health
Health inequalities
Epidemiology
Multimorbidity
Cancer (particularly psychosocial aspects)
- Barbara Nicholl Senior Lecturer
Chronic pain/musculoskeletal problems
Mental health
Long-term conditions
Multimorbidity
Epidemiological/quantitative research methods
- Kate O'Donnell Professor of Primary Care Research and Development
Organisation and delivery of primary care services
Impact of new services and policy on patients and professionals
Normalisation of new services and technologies
Care for marginalised populations, in particular migrant populations
Projects usually use mixed methods approaches and are often underpinned by Normalisation Process Theory, candidacy and the concept of treatment burden
- Andrea Williamson Professor of General Practice and Inclusion Health
Patient engagement in health care
Missingness
Health care of marginalised patient groups particularly people who experience homelessness, problem substance use
Representing medical and social complexity in health service research
Some of our studies
- Developing interventions to reduce "missingness" in healthcare
- International research community on multimorbidity
- Measuring treatment burden in stroke survivors
- Multimorbidity in Africa
- Multimorbidity in arthritis and persistent musculoskeletal pain (MAP) study
- Self-management of non-specific low back pain (selfBACK)
- Serial missed appointments in the NHS