Dr Kathryn Cunningham

Research Fellow in Primary Care

Research Fellow

Researcher profile

Phone

+44 (0)1334 461740

Email

kb92@st-andrews.ac.uk

Biography

I completed an M.A. (Hons.) in Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, an M.Sc. in Health Psychology at the University of Stirling, and a Ph.D. (Exploring loneliness in the context of cancer: A mixed methods study) at the University of Dundee.

I am a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Full Member of the Society?s Division of Health Psychology. I am also an Associate Member of the Society?s Faculty for Oncology and Palliative Care.

I joined the School of Medicine, Division of Population and Behavioural Sciences as a Research Fellow with the primary care and health psychology research groups in August 2017.

Before joining the University of St. Andrews I was a Research Fellow/Research Assistant at the University of Dundee in the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing and a Research Assistant at the University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre. 

Research areas

My primary research interest is loneliness, particularly in people with long-term health conditions, and in developing methods to identify, and interventions to alleviate, this widespread and distressing problem.

I am also interested in health behaviour change, and healthcare professional behaviour change, and in developing and evaluating interventions to facilitate such behaviour change.

I am experienced in several different types of research, including qualitative studies, intervention development, mixed method evaluations, Randomised Controlled Trials (feasibility and full) and evidence synthesis, and in a variety of health areas, including cancer care, cardiac rehabilitation, intensive care, alcohol, obesity, physical activity, paediatric dentistry and primary care.

Selected publications

• Children and parents? perspectives on the acceptability of three management strategies for dental caries in primary teeth within the ?Filling Children?s Teeth: Indicated or Not? (FiCTION) randomised controlled trial ? a qualitative study

  El-Yousfi, S., Innes, N. P. T., Holmes, R. D., Freeman, R., Cunningham, K. B., McColl, E., Maguire, A., Douglas, G. V. A., Clarkson, J. E. & Marshman, Z., 12 Mar 2020, In : BMC Oral Health. 20, 12 p., 69.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Connecting primary care patients to community-based physical activity: a qualitative study of health professional and patient views

  Carstairs, S. A., Rogowsky, R. H., Cunningham, K. B., Sullivan, F. & Ozakinci, G., 21 Jul 2020, In : BJGP Open. Latest Articles, 13 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Dental professionals? experiences of managing children with carious lesions in their primary teeth ? a qualitative study within the FiCTION randomised controlled trial

  Marshman, Z., Kettle, J. E., Holmes, R. D., Cunningham, K. B., Freeman, R., Gibson, B. J., McColl, E., Maguire, A., Douglas, G. V. A., Clarkson, J. E. & Innes, N. P. T., 4 Mar 2020, In : BMC Oral Health. 20, 16 p., 64.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Loneliness and quality of life after head and neck cancer

  Dahill, A., Al-Nakisbandi, H., Cunningham, K. B., Humphris, G. M., Lowe, D. & Rogers, S. N., 11 Jul 2020, In : British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. In press

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Development of the cancer-related loneliness assessment tool: using the findings of a qualitative analysis to generate questionnaire items

  Cunningham, K. B., Kroll, T. & Wells, M., Mar 2018, In : European Journal of Cancer Care. 27, 2, e12769.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Increasing physical activity levels: designing a referral pathway to a community- and volunteer-based physical activity programme

  Ozakinci, G., Carstairs, S. A., Rogowsky, R. H., Cunningham, K. B., Wilkie, L. M., Stevens, J., McTavish, M., Shield, I. & Sullivan, F., 7 Nov 2018.

  Research output: Contribution to conference ? Poster

• A systematic review of the supportive care needs of people living with and beyond cancer of the colon and/or rectum

  Kotronoulas, G., Papadopoulou, C., Cunningham, K., Simpson, M. & Maguire, R., Aug 2017, In : European Journal of Oncology Nursing. 29, p. 60-70 11 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Review article

• FiCTION Filling Children?s Teeth: Indicated or Not? Integrating qualitative research

  Rutter, J., Cunningham, K., Holmes, R., Maguire, A., Innes, N., Douglas, G., Clarkson, J., Freeman, R., McColl, E., Robertson, M. & Marshman, Z., 1 Mar 2017, In : Journal of Dental Research.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Abstract

• Modifying Alcohol Consumption to Reduce Obesity (MACRO): development and feasibility trial of a complex community-based intervention for men

  Crombie, I., Cunningham, K., Irvine, L., Williams, B., Sniehotta, F. F., Norrie, J., Melson, A., Jones, C., Briggs, A., Rice, P., Achison, M., McKenzie, A., Dimova, E. & Slane, P. W., Apr 2017, In : Health Technology Assessment. 21, 19, 149 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

• Modifying alcohol consumption to reduce obesity: a randomized controlled feasibility study of a complex community-based intervention for men

  Irvine, L., Crombie, I. K., Cunningham, K. B., Williams, B., Sniehotta, F. F., Norrie, J., Melson, A. J., Jones, C., Rice, P., Slane, P. W., Achison, M., Mckenzie, A., Dimova, E. D. & Allan, S., 1 Nov 2017, In : Alcohol and Alcoholism. 52, 6, p. 677-684 8 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article

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