Lecturer in Social Science Applied to Health
CONTACT DETAILS
Social Science Applied to Healthcare Improvement Research (SAPPHIRE) Group
Department of Health Sciences
University of Leicester
22-28 Princess Road West
Leicester, LE1 6TP
Tel: +44 (0)116 252 3197
Email: na144@le.ac.uk
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
I joined the SAPPHIRE Group in February 2008. I am a medical sociologist and have previously held research posts at the University of Warwick and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I have a BA in Politics and Sociology from the University of Warwick, an MSc in Medical Sociology from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a PhD in Medical Sociology from the University of Nottingham. I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
My research interests lie in exploring the interface between health services and the public. This interest covers several areas including:
- Lay and professional understandings and experiences of health, illness and health care;
- Interactions between lay and professional groups;
- Pathways into care;
- The development of innovative methods of health care delivery, including e-health.
My work in these areas has previously included: research on women's experiences and understandings of cervical cancer screening; young people's understandings of public health science; and internet-based self-management tools in diabetes.
My work has been funded by a range of bodies, including: MRC, ESRC, NIHR Research for Patient Benefit, NIHR Health Technology Assessment, NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation, and the Health Foundation.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
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NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement / NHS Quest, Evaluation of NHS Safety Thermometer Data Collection and Use. Principal Investigator with M Dixon-Woods and C Tarrant. Jan 2013 - March 2014.
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Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust / Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, LungPATH Qualitative Work (an exploration of the facilitators and barriers to achieving a high level histological confirmation rate). Principal Investigator with G Martin and S Wallace. Sept 2012 - Jan 2013.
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Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness, Symposium: The Sociology of Medical Screening - Critical Perspectives, New Directions. Principal Investigator with H Eborall. May - Oct 2012.
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Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes Project (ILCOP) / Royal College of Physicians, Evaluation of Participation in the Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes Project. Principal Investigator with M Dixon-Woods and G Martin. Jan - June 2012.
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NIHR Research for Patient Benefit, The Hidden Risks of Preterm Birth: How Should We Follow-up Vulnerable Babies? Co-Investigator (qualitative lead) with E Boyle, S Johnson, S Petrou, B Manktelow and D Wolke. Nov 2011 - August 2013.
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NIHR Health Technology Assessment,
INVESTIGATE - I (INVasive Evaluation before Surgical Treatment for Incontinence Gives Added Therapeutic Effect?): a pragmatic multicentre pilot study to assess the feasibility of a future randomised controlled trial. Co-Investigator (qualitative lead) with P Hilton, E McColl, D Howel, M Deverill, B Buckley, M Lucas, C Chapple and D Tincello. Jan 2011 - Sept 2013.
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Health Foundation, An Evaluation of the Health Foundation's Closing the Gap Through Clinical Communities (CTGTCC) Awards. Co-Investigator with M Dixon-Woods, G Martin and J Banerjee. June 2010 - June 2012.
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NIHR Research for Patient Benefit, High Or Low Dose Oxytocin Study (HOLDS) - a pilot. Co-Investigator (qualitative lead) with S Kenyon, D Jones, C Markham, S Petrou, S Walkinshaw and J Waugh. June 2010 - April 2012.
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NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation, Evaluation of Intermediate Care Clinics for Diabetes. Co-Investigator (qualitative lead) with A Wilson et al. April 2006 - September 2011.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Member of the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College
- Member of the East Midlands Regional Committee for the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme
- Associate Editor for the journal BMJ Quality & Safety
- Member of the NIHR Evaluation, Trials & Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC) College of Experts
- Editor (with Dr Helen Eborall) of the 18th Sociology of Health & Illness Monograph on the Sociology of Medical Screening
- Regular peer-review for a range of high profile journals including: Sociology of Health & Illness, Social Science & Medicine, Health, Family Practice, Patient Education & Counselling, Chronic Illness, BMJ, BMJ Quality & Safety, Journal of Medical Ethics
- Regular peer-review for a range of funding bodies including: ESRC, NIHR (various funding streams), British Council, Diabetes UK, Wellbeing of Women
- Past Committee Member of the Behavioural & Social Sciences Teaching in Medical Education (BeSST) Group
TEACHING AND POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION
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Module leader for Health and Disease in Society (HaDSoc), Department of Medical and Social Care Education
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Contribution to Patient Centred Clinical Pactice module, Department of Medical and Social Care Education
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Lead supervisor to Robyn Lotto. Working title: Tackling inequalities in neonatal outcomes - an investigation of variation in care pathways following antenatal diagnosis of a severe fetal anomaly.
- Co-supervisor to Ainsley Hardy (with Professor Andy Wilson). Working title: Developing a patient-centred intermediate care service for diabetes.
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Co-supervisor to Sarah Chew (with Professor Graham Martin). Working title: Exploring intermediary knowledge brokering roles as a knowledge translation intervention in an academic/practice partnership.
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Co-supervisor to Khalid Karim (with Dr Michelle O'Reilly). Working title: Clinical decision making in relation to autism assessments.
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Lead supervisor to Wee Liat Chong. Thesis title: Concordance in the treatment of alcohol misuse. PhD awarded May 2009, University of Warwick
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
EDITED COLLECTIONS
Armstrong N, Eborall H. (2012) The Sociology of Medical Screening: Critical Perspectives, New Directions. Wiley-Blackwell.
CHAPTERS IN EDITED COLLECTIONS
Armstrong N. (in press) Screening for disease: challenges. In WC. Cockerham, R. Dingwall, S. Quah (eds.) The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society. Wiley-Blackwell.
Armstrong N, Eborall H. (2012) The sociology of medical screening: past, present and future. In N. Armstrong and H. Eborall (eds.) The Sociology of Medical Screening: Critical Perspectives, New Directions. Wiley-Blackwell.
Powell J, Armstrong N. (2008) Involving patients and the public in e-health research. In V. Wilson (ed.) Patient-Centered E-Health. Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Kenyon S, Armstrong N, Johnston T, Walkinshaw S, Petrou S, Howman A, Cheed V, Markham C, McNicol S, Willars J, Waugh J on behalf of the HOLDS Collaborative Group (in press) Standard or high dose oxytocin for nulliparous women with confirmed delay in labour: quantitative and qualitative results from a pilot randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Chew SE, Armstrong N, Martin GP. (in press) Institutionalising knowledge brokering as a sustainable knowledge translation solution in healthcare: how can it work in practice? Evidence and Policy
Chen JY, Eborall H, Armstrong N. (in press, available online ahead of print) Stakeholders' positions in the breast screening debate, and media coverage of the debate: A qualitative study. Critical Public Health
Armstrong N, Herbert G, Aveling E-L, Dixon-Woods M, Martin G. (in press, available on Early View) Optimising patient involvement in quality improvement. Health Expectations
Armstrong N, Jackson C, McNicol S, Dixon-Woods M, Kenyon S, Tarrant C. (2013) Unblinding following trial participation: qualitative study of participants' perspectives. Clinical Trials 10(1): 97-103
Hilton P, Bryant A, Howel D, McColl E, Buckley B, Lucas M, Tincello DG, Armstrong N. (2012) Assessing professional equipoise and views about a future clinical trial of invasive urodynamics prior to surgery for stress urinary incontinence in women: a survey within a mixed methods feasibility study. Neurology and Urodynamics 31(8): 1223-1230
Armstrong N, Baines D, Baker R, Crossman R, Davies M, Hardy A, Khunti K, Kumar S, O'Hare JP, Raymond NT, Saravanan P, Stallard N, Szczepura A, Wilson A. (2012) A cluster randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Intermediate Care Clinics for Diabetes (ICCD): Study protocol for a randomised trial. Trials 13:164
Aveling E-L, Martin G, Jimenez Garcia S, Martin L, Herbert G, Armstrong N, Dixon-Woods M, Woolhouse I. (2012) Reciprocal peer review for quality improvement: An ethnographic case study of the Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes Project. BMJ Quality and Safety 21(12): 1034-1041
Armstrong N, Dixon-Woods M, Rusk G, Thomas A, Tarrant C. (2012) Do informed consent documents for cancer trials do what they should? A study of manifest and latent functions. Sociology of Health and Illness 34(8): 1230-1245
Armstrong N, James V, Dixon-Woods M. (2012) The role of primary care professionals in women's experiences of cervical cancer screening: a qualitative study. Family Practice 29(4): 462-466
Armstrong N, Koteyko N, Powell J. (2012) "Oh dear, should I really be saying that on here?" Issues of identity and authority in an online diabetes community. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 16(4): 347-365
Armstrong N, Murphy E. (2012) Conceptualising resistance. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 16(3): 311-323
Aveling EL, Martin GP, Armstrong N, Banerjee J, Dixon-Woods M. (2012) Quality improvement through clinical communities: eight lessons for practice. Journal of Health Organization and Management 26(2): 158-174
Armstrong N, Eborall H (2012) The sociology of medical screening: past, present and future. Sociology of Health and Illness 34(2): 161-176
Murdoch M, McColl E, Howel D, Deverill M, Buckley BS, Lucas M, Chapple CR, Tincello DG, Armstrong N, Brennand C, Shen J, Vale L, Hilton P. (2011) INVESTIGATE-I (INVasive Evaluation before Surgical Treatment of Incontinence Gives Added Therapeutic Effect?): study protocol for a mixed methods study to assess the feasibility of a future randomised controlled trial of the clinical utility of invasive urodynamic testing. Trials 12:169
O’Reilly M, Armstrong N, Dixon-Woods M. (2009) Subject positions in Research Ethics Committee letters: a discursive analysis. Clinical Ethics 4(4): 187-194
Armstrong N, Powell J. (2009) Patient perspectives on health advice posted on Internet discussion boards: a qualitative study. Health Expectations 12(3): 313-320
Jennings A, Powell J, Armstrong N, Sturt J, Dale J. (2009) A Virtual Clinic for diabetes self-management: pilot study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 11(1):e10
Powell J, Jennings A, Armstrong N, Sturt J, Dale J. (2009) Pilot study of a virtual diabetes clinic: satisfaction and usability. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 15(3): 150-152
Tinker C, Armstrong N. (2008) From the outside looking in: how an awareness of difference can benefit the qualitative research process. The Qualitative Report Vol.13 No.1 pp.53-60
Armstrong N, Powell J. (2008) Preliminary test of an Internet-based diabetes self-management tool. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 14(3): 114-116
Armstrong N. Murphy E. (2008) Weaving meaning? An exploration of the interplay between lay and professional understandings of cervical cancer risk. Social Science and Medicine Vol.67 No.7 pp. 1074-1082
Armstrong N. (2007) Discourse and the individual in cervical cancer screening. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine Vol.11 No.1 pp.69-85
Armstrong N, Hearnshaw H, Powell J, Dale J. (2007) Stakeholder perspectives on the development of a Virtual Clinic for diabetes care: qualitative study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 9(3):e23
Armstrong N, Powell J, Hearnshaw H, Dale J. (2007) Design of a trial of Internet-based self-management for diabetes. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare Vol.13 Suppl.1 pp.1-2
Armstrong N. (2005) Resistance through risk: women and cervical cancer screening. Health, Risk and Society Vol.7 No.2 pp.161-176
RESEARCH REPORTS
Wilson A, Hardy A, Armstrong N, Baines D, Baker R, Crossman R, Davies M, Khunti K, Kumar S, O'Hare P, Raymond N, Saravanan P, Stallard N, Szczepura A, on behalf of the ICCD trial group. (2013) A cluster randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of Intermediate Care Clinics for Diabetes (ICCD) Final Report. NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation Programme.
Armstrong N, McNicol S, Willars J, Markham C, Kenyon S. (2012) Recruitment to clinical trials in labour: HOLDS experience. Fetal and Neonatal 97(S1) (Published abstract)
Armstrong N, McNicol S, Willars J, Markham C, Kenyon S. (2012) Women's experiences of delay in labour: the HOLDS pilot. Fetal and Neonatal 97(S1) (Published abstract)
Armstrong N, Dixon-Woods M, Murphy E. (2010) Age criteria for cervical screening in England: qualitative study of women's views. Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester Working Papers Series No.10:01
Virtual Clinic Research Team (N. Armstrong as lead author) 'Exploring new care roles for IT: how can IT improve the care of young people with diabetes?' Published in Diabetes UK's Diabetes Update, Autumn 2006.
Armstrong N, Hearnshaw H, Powell J, Dale J. (2006) Stakeholder perspectives on the development of a Virtual Clinic for Diabetes Care. Published as electronic peer-reviewed conference proceedings for 11th World Congress on the Internet in Medicine, Toronto, October 2006.
