Kingston Upon Hull, England, United Kingdom
I am a Doctor of Sport and Exercise Physiology (PhD). My doctoral research explored health inequalities in cardiac rehabilitation, with a particular focus on improving uptake among women and ethnic minority groups - communities that continue to face significant disparities in access and outcomes. I am passionate about advancing equity in health, especially within cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation. I bring several years of experience working with clinical populations across both primary and secondary care in the UK, including Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, and wider behaviour-change and lifestyle-health initiatives.
My PhD research examines inequities in access to cardiac rehabilitation services in the UK, with a particular focus on women and ethnic minority populations. The programme of work comprised three interconnected studies. The first was a Delphi study with healthcare professionals to explore perspectives and develop consensus on the drivers of disparities in cardiac rehabilitation uptake. The second involved in-depth qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals to further examine systemic, organisational, and practice-level barriers. The third study used focus groups with ethnically diverse women to explore lived experiences of accessing cardiac rehabilitation and wider cardiac healthcare services. All findings were analysed through an intersectional lens, considering how factors such as gender, ethnicity, language, culture, and socioeconomic status shape access to care and health outcomes. Across all three studies, the findings generated actionable insights and recommendations to inform policy and practice, with the aim of improving equity of access and reducing disparities in cardiac rehabilitation services.
Facilitated classroom and practical sessions for Level 5 undergraduate students in the Exercise for Referred Populations module, contributing to student learning, assessment, and exam marking.
Involved in facilitating practical sessions for postgraduate students on the MSc Clinical Exercise Physiology and MSc Cardiovascular Rehabilitation programmes, supporting applied learning and skill development.