Health Technologies and Human Relations Research Programme

The Health Technologies and Human Relations Research Programme is led by Professor Carl May.

Scope

The Health Technologies and Human Relations Research programme brings together social and clinical scientists to conduct basic, applied and policy research using the methods and theoretical perspectives of the social sciences. We focus on: (i) how professionals and patients interact with each other; (ii) how these interactions are structured by different kinds of knowledge and shaped by particular techniques and technologies in practice; and (iii) how new knowledge, techniques and technologies can be made workable and integrated in clinical practice. This gives us a focus on (iv) understanding complex interventions in health care.


Interdisciplinary and collaborative research

The theoretical and methodological perspectives that inform our research are mainly drawn from sociology and psychology, but we are an interdisciplinary research programme interdisciplinary research programmeand also seek opportunities to include and develop perspectives from clinical and other disciplines.

Understanding Complex Interventions in health care

Current research includes ethnographic studies of the social shaping of health technology assessment trials funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. This work also includes studies of the design and implementation of HTA trials, and of the experiences of researchers, clinicians and patients funded as components of large trials in the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme. These studies involve major collaborations with the Clinical Trials Unit and the School of Surgical and Reproductive Sciences at Newcastle.

Understanding how people experience health, health care, and health research is important. A study funded by the Medical Research Council is exploring patient decision-making around prosthetic implants in dentistry, while an NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme funded study is exploring the experiences of people with irritable bowel syndrome. Professional patient interaction is an important focus of our research and a unique study supported by the Arthritis Research Campaign is examining both the practice and the evidence base that informs regional examinations in paediatric rheumatology.

Our unique and longstanding programme of work on telemedicine and telecare continues to have a national and international impact. Two major projects funded by the NHS Service Delivery and Organization R&D Programme and the Department of Health Policy Research Programme continue this programme of work by examining how health care professionals, service users, and others seek to make these new technologies workable in practice and integrate them, not only in clinical settings but also in everyday home life.

The range of these studies is important. In seeking to understand and evaluate particular health care settings we seek to develop a robust understanding of the processes in which complex interventions can be integrated and made workable in the NHS and other health care systems.

Collaborations

We collaborate widely. Current collaborations include the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Dundee and London in the UK. International collaborations include NUI Galway, Melbourne, Victoria and Oslo Universities.

Postgraduate research

Interdisciplinary research marks our formal collaborations, but also the postgraduate studies that we supervise. We focus on the ways that theory and methods from the social sciences can illuminate both clinical and HSR topics. These studies range from surgery, through new technology design and implementation, to the experiences of people with chronic illness. We welcome enquiries from clinicians and social scientists interested in pursuing research degrees.

Staff List

Health Technologies And Human Relations

Professor John Bond
Prof of Social Gerontology and Health Services Research

Professor Martin Eccles
The William Leech Professor of Primary Care Research and Professor of Clinical Effectiveness

Dr Janice Ellis
Clinical Senior Lecturer

Dr Catherine Exley
Senior Lecturer in Medical Sociology

Dr Tracy Finch
Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Health Care

Dr Ben Heaven
Research Associate (Social Science)

Dr Mabel Lie
Research Associate

Dr Tim Rapley
Lecturer

Dr Nicolette Rousseau
Research Facilitator

Professor James Steele CBE
Head of School and Professor of Oral Health Services Research

Professor J Mark Thomason
Professor of Prosthodontics & Oral Rehabilitation

Professor Richard Thomson
Professor of Epidemiology & Public Hlth

Dr Scott Wilkes
Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer

Professor Janet Wilson
Prof.of Otolaryngology,Head & Neck Surg.