Dr Rachael Kelley

Profile

Background:

I am currently a visiting lecturer in the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS), having previously worked in the Institute as a member of staff for 14 years. My research interests focus around mental health, in particular the care of people living with dementia and their families and hospital services for people who self-harm. I sit on a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit funding panel and I have held several NIHR research grants. I was awarded two NIHR Fellowships at LIHS; a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship and a NIHR Clinical Trials Fellowship. I have a clinical background as a mental health nurse.

I have expertise in a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods ranging from large epidemiological studies to in-depth ethnographic research. I undertake applied mental health research; my specific areas of interest include care and support for people living with dementia and their families, services for people who self-harm, and the management of dementia and mental health problems in general hospital and emergency care settings. 

I have worked at LIHS from 2004-2017 and retain a visiting role at LIHS as a Lecturer in Health Research. I also work as a Reader in Dementia Research at the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University where I continue to work on research to improve the care and support offered to people with dementia and their families.

Leeds Beckett Academic Profile

Academic Services

I have sat on several NIHR funding panels. Current funding panel roles include membership of the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Funding Panel (Yorkshire and North East) since 2020 and membership of the advisory group for the NIHR Mental Health Research Incubator. I take an active role in supporting applicants within the School of Medicine to NIHR fellowship schemes, including the provision of support to many successful applicants.

I am a member of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust Dementia Steering Group.

From 2011-2017 I was a member of the LIHS and School of Medicine Athena Swan Committees. I took an active role in co-leading work around improving the support offered to postgraduate and medical students and to staff who are parents within the School. 

Responsibilities

• Lecturer in Applied Health Research
• Reader in Dementia Research
• DClin Research Supervisor

Research interests

Research Interests:

I have worked at LIHS from 2004 to 2017 on various quantitative and qualitative research projects. My research has focused mainly on two research areas; improving care and support for people living with dementia and their families and hospital services for people who self-harm. My research work at LIHS included coordinating all local aspects of a large multi-centre epidemiological research project into self-harm which was part of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England. My NIHR-funded Doctoral Fellowship used ethnographic methods to explore the impacts of family involvement on general hospital care for people with dementia.

Subsequent research includes work on several large clinical trials of complex interventions to improve health care for older people, including the DCM-EPIC Trial; a HTA-funded multi-centre randomised clinical trial to establish the effectiveness of a care improvement tool called Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) in care homes, a systematic review of the implementation of DCM in care homes, and a mixed methods study of care experiences, treatments and outcomes for people with co-morbid dementia and cancer (the CanDem Study) – a collaborative project between the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University and the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research. I am currently working on three NIHR funded studies:

• A mixed methods research study exploring treatment decision making in Memory Assessment Services for people living with dementia and their families
• An ethnographic study exploring experiences of restrictive practices during routine hospital care for people living with dementia
• A qualitative study exploring and identifying ways to optimise community-based cancer care for people living with dementia

Research Funding:

• 2023-24 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (£153,461) – Understanding and identifying ways to optimise cancer recognition, referral, and management for people with dementia in primary and community care.
• 2022-24 NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research (£1,053,221) – Understanding the everday use of restrictive pracvtices in the care of people living with dementia during a hospital admission.
• 2021-22 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (£149,169) – Effective communication of pharmaceutical treatment uncertainty in Memory Assessment Services
• 2019-21 Leeds University Business School Challenge Fund (£26,000) - Applying computer modelling, simulation and socio-technical systems analysis to improve NHS dementia care outcomes
• 2018-19 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (£155,116) Effective clinical cancer treatment, care and management for people with comorbid cancer and dementia
• 2015-16 NIHR Clinical Trials Fellowship (£41,620) Complex Interventions Division, Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds
• 2010-11 West Yorkshire Research and Development Consortium Funding (£43,740) Mortality follow up of people attending hospital following self-harm
• 2009-15 NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship (£223,434) Involving families of people with dementia in general hospital care

My doctoral thesis can be accessed here and a summary of my thesis can be found here. 

More details of the DCM-EPIC Trial can be found here.

Qualifications

• PhD (2017) School of Medicine, University of Leeds
• MSc (2008) School of Medicine, University of Leeds (Distinction)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Health Research (2006) School of Medicine, University of Leeds (Distinction)
• BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing (2002), Leeds Beckett University (Distinction)

Professional memberships

• Registered Mental Health Nurse with the NMC

Student education

I deliver teaching on topics including statistics, qualitative research methods, ethics and research dissemination as well as marking student assignments. I have previously taught on the mental health component of the MBChB (Medical Degree).

Supervision:

• DClin Psychology Doctoral Thesis: Jenkins, E. Comparing conveyance and non-conveyance to the Emergency Department for self-harm. (2015-2017)
• Dclin Psychology Doctoral Thesis: Crane, R. Understanding nursing staff responses to distressed behaviours in people with dementia in a general hospital setting. (2018-2019)
• DClin Psychology Doctoral Thesis: Higgins, E. Disclosing Self-Harm to Non-Professionals in an Adult Sample. (2018-2019)
• DClin Psychology Doctoral Thesis: Own, H. Service users and families’ experiences of culturally adapted dementia assessments. (2022-present)

I have experience of supervising students at both PhD and DClin levels.

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
• Psychological and Social Medicine