About me: I’m a Neuroscience graduate with Masters degrees in Science Communication and Psychology. Prior to undertaking this research degree, I spent a few years working within the healthcare communications industry designing and creating events, campaigns and materials aimed at educating parents and healthcare professionals on disease awareness and therapies across a range of therapy areas.
The difference my research makes: My PhD project, part funded by Marie Curie, looks at emotional disclosure as a form of therapeutic intervention on health-related outcomes of people with advanced chronic diseases and their families. Emotional disclosure, in the form of expressive writing, is a low-cost intervention that has been shown to produce health benefits for clinical populations. However, no intervention has been designed to meet the specific needs of palliative care patients and their families. My research will aim to fill this gap by designing, implementing and evaluating an emotional disclosure intervention in collaboration with patients, family carers and practitioners within this setting at the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead. Hopefully, my project will lead to the development of an effective and low-cost intervention that can improve the wellbeing of patients in palliative care, and their family members.
Supervisors: Prof Paddy Stone, Dr Nuriye Kupeli and Dr Bridget Candy
Pathway: Mental Health and Mental Health Care
Location: UCL Divison of Psychiatry, Marie Curie Pallative Care Research Department
Email: uctvdem@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter: @daisymcinnerney
