I am a Lecturer in Psychology. I have a variety of teaching experience through online and face-to-face platforms. My most recent job was at the University of Derby where I worked as a lecturer in Psychology on their online programmes. Within this role I developed and led different modules to ensure interactive and engaging content which promoted deep learning.
During my PhD at Keele University, I worked as a teaching fellow for 4 years and taught on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate taught modules, including core modules, research methods and health related modules. During this time, I led, supported and taught modules at Keele’s international collaborating University in China.
In between my teaching fellow position and lectureship at Derby, I worked as a research assistant where I led process evaluations on several healthcare interventions including: 1) Increasing Physical Activity in Older People with Joint Pain (iPOPP). 2) INtegrating and improving Care for patients with infLammatory rheUmatological DisordErs in the community (INCLUDE) review. 3) PROvision of braces for Patients with knee OsteoArthritis (PROP OA): a randomised controlled trial.
I have also worked closely with self-advocacy organisations to develop dementia resources for people with a learning disability, carers and healthcare professionals.
Professional memberships and activities
Academic qualifications
- BSc Hons Psychology and Criminology (Keele University)
- MSc Clinical Psychological Research (Keele University)
- TLHEP (Keele University)
- PhD in Psychology (Keele University)
Expertise
Experiences of supporting and/or living with long term health conditions
Dementia, and learning difficulties and dementia
Qualitative research methods, including different forms of data collection and analysis, and inclusive research practices
Research interests
My interests lie in qualitative and inclusive approaches, aiming to understand and collaboratively improve the lives of people with physical and/or mental health problems. Some examples of these include:
Inclusive research methods.
Better understanding, through a positive psychology perspective, experiences of dementia, including from the perspective of the individual with dementia, their family, friends, and carers (informal and formal).
The care practices of carers and healthcare professionals of people with dementia, and people with a learning difficulty and dementia, including improving person-centred practices through dementia training.
Understanding and optimising the supportive role of Dementia care pathways.
Social interventions to improve/and or maintain the well-being of carers of people with dementia.
Impact of stigma and marginalisation in healthcare encounters on illness burden in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
Understanding, empowering and improving the lives of carers, family, and friends of people with mental or physical health conditions.
Teaching
I teach on a variety of modules across our undergraduate and post-graduate courses, including core and special option modules.
Publications
Papers
Supporting people with an intellectual disability and dementia: a constructivist grounded theory study exploring care providers’ views and experiences in the UK (In preparation)
Acceptability of a nurse-led integrated primary care review for people with inflammatory rheumatological conditions: a qualitative evaluation (In preparation)
Herron, D., Priest, H., & Read, R. (2015). Working alongside older people with a learning disability: informing and shaping research design. British Journal of Learning Disability, 43(7), 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12147
Herron, D., & Priest, H. (2013). Support Workers’ Knowledge of Dementia: A Vignette Study. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities. 7(1), 27-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/20441281311294675
Presentations
Acceptability of a nurse-led integrated primary care review for people with inflammatory rheumatological conditions: a qualitative evaluation (3-5/07/19). Oral presentation to SAPC Annual Conference, University of Exeter.
The effectiveness of nurse training to deliver an integrated care review for patients with inflammatory rheumaticological conditions: a mixed methods evaluation (19/03/19). Poster presentation to a person-centred approach to physical-mental multimorbidity, Keele University. (Poster Prize Winner).
Exploring the experiences of dementia in people with an intellectual disability (21-23/09/17). Oral presentation to EAMHID, Luxembourg.
Experiences of dementia in people with a learning disability: relationships, loss and resilience (7-9/10/17). Invited speaker to UK Dementia Congress.
Exploring dementia and people with intellectual disabilities (18/08/16). Oral presentation to IASSID World Conference, Melbourne.
Exploring dementia and people with an intellectual disability: A PhD study engaging people with an intellectual disability (15/07/15). Oral presentation to IALMH Congress, Vienna.