Claire Reidy

I am a Research Fellow focusing on Implementation Science and Health Psychology, especially in terms of understanding and supporting self-management strategies, and the role of social networks and social support in relation to living with a long-term condition such as diabetes or Parkinson's, or supporting people to taper off of anti-depressants. This work is largely in terms of intervention development in collaboration with people living with diabetes, Parkinson's or using anti-depressants, and testing the value, impact and feasibility of developed interventions, and the human factors associated with integrating or accessing new technologies and interventions.
Current projects include being responsible for undertaking qualitative and quantitative research for the REDUCE study - which aims to identify feasible, safe, reliable and cost-effective ways of helping patients withdraw from long-term antidepressants using a web-based intervention and telephone psychological support. I am also working on the international Optimization of community resources and systems of support to enhance the process of living with Parkinson’s Disease: a multisectoral intervention (OPTIM-PARK).

I have completed a PhD Fellowship in Improvement Science through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) in Wessex, which was funded through The Health Foundation. My PhD comprised of a mixed-method approach to determine the factors which enable someone with Type 1 diabetes to incorporate a new technology, such as an insulin pump, into their everyday lives, and implementing a social support networking tool named GENIE (www.genie.soton.ac.uk). My research has also focused on the transition from childhood to adulthood, and young adults living with Type 1 diabetes, as well as the use of new technologies in Type 1 diabetes, the social support networks and resources of people living with Type 2 diabetes on an island population in the UK, and also on those at risk of Type 2 diabetes.