Social, Economic and Health Impacts of WaveLength's Work with Loneliness and Isolation

This report presents the findings of qualitative research into the social, economic and health impacts of WaveLength’s work on loneliness and social isolation. WaveLength is a charitable organisation which provides access to media technology for people who are lonely or socially isolated and living in poverty. This research was an exploratory qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The overarching aim of the research was to understand the ways and means through which media technology (radio, TV and tablets) contributes to reducing loneliness and social isolation among vulnerable groups. The research sought to understand what difference the technologies provided by WaveLength make in different domains of people’s lives, including emotional, social, economic and health

Mental Health and Employment: context, concepts and complexity. A substantive and methodological contribution to knowledge, grounded in a common data set

This integrative chapter presents a synopsis of selected work completed during my time as a Research Fellow in the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York. The doctoral submission is formed of two linked strands of published work: a substantive strand based on commissioned research on the interplay of mental health and employment; and a methodological strand which arose from the substantive work and investigated the effects of interview mode on researcher-participant interactions in qualitative research interviews. The substantive strand of work comprises the reports of two commissioned research projects which examined employment transitions and job retention in the context of mental ill health, and a number of ensuing publications. The initial studies contributed to government understanding at a time when mental health and employment was high on the agenda, whilst the ensuing academic articles added to conceptual understandings of the complexities, contingencies and contextual dependencies surrounding how individuals and those around them manage mental ill health in the workplace. The methodological component offers one of few robust, systematic comparisons of telephone and face-to-face interview modes in qualitative social research. The study applied the method of Conversation Analysis to research interview data in a novel way and, through a varied range of publications, has informed scholarly discussions about the conduct of qualitative research interviews in academic and applied contexts. The chapter also considers policy and research implications arising from this body of work and details the associated scholarly activities undertaken which have contributed to the impact of the research. In sum, this submission aims to demonstrate how my work has made an original contribution to substantive and methodological knowledge, alongside evidence of the acquisition and application of the range of skills and attributes expected of a doctoral level candidate

Psychological correlates of quality of life in atrial fibrillation

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with significant health-related quality of life (QoL) impairments. Markers of heart disease severity have explained little variance in QoL and it is unclear what other factors will better account for the observed differences in adjustment. We examined whether specific personality traits and illness management styles would help explain the severity of QoL impairments reported in this population. Methods: Patients with AF (N = 93) completed validated questionnaires measuring disease burden (dependent variables: physical and mental QoL, symptom severity, psychological distress), personality (independent variables: anxiety sensitivity, optimism), and illness management style (mediating variable: symptom preoccupation). Hypothesized relationships were evaluated using mediation models. Results: Anxiety sensitivity was associated with poorer physical and mental QoL, greater symptom severity, and higher distress. Optimism was correlated with better mental QoL and lower distress, but unrelated to physical QoL and symptom severity. Symptom preoccupation significantly mediated the relationships between anxiety sensitivity and each of the QoL measures, as well as the relationships between optimism and mental well-being. Conclusions: Personality traits and illness management styles are important to consider when assessing the impact of AF on QoL. The data support a cognitive-behavioral model that explains the direct and indirect relationships between psychological predictors and multiple indices of QoL.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counci

Gender differences and quality of life in atrial fibrillation: The mediating role of depression

Objective This study investigated gender differences, depression, and health-related quality of life (QoL) in a cross-sectional sample of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods This cross-sectional study involved a convenience sample of AF patients from two tertiary-care clinics in Toronto, Canada. Ninety-three AF patients completed psychometrically validated measures of generic QoL and depression. Mediation analyses evaluated the relationship between gender and QoL using depression as mediating variable. Results Relative to male patients, female patients reported lower physical, but not mental, QoL. Gender was associated with both depression and physical QoL, while depression was correlated with poorer physical QoL. Path analyses demonstrated that depression significantly mediated the relationship between gender and physical QoL. Conclusion Among AF patients, female patients report lower physical QoL relative to male patients, and this relationship may be mediated by self-reported symptoms of depression. Albeit correlational, the findings underscore the need to develop a better understanding of the role of depression in physical QoL, especially when considering the burden of AF in women.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counci

Managing Mental Health in Small and Micro Businesses

In recent decades, the social and economic impact of mental health problems among working age people has risen up the agenda across the western economies. Common mental health problems, including stress, anxiety and depression, are a leading cause of workplace absence and productivity loss. To date, few empirical studies address, directly and in-depth, the first-hand experiences of small and micro employers in managing mental health problems among their staff. The vast majority of research on managing workplace mental health has been conducted within larger organisations with employer guidance arising from this research inevitably shaped around the experiences and needs of larger organisations, whose resources and capacities are likely to differ from small and micro firms. The aim of this research is to begin to address this gap in evidence. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, we explore the lived experiences of managers within small and micro businesses who had first-hand experience of supporting employees through mental health problems