Penny Wright

Senior Research Fellow

 Penny's first degree was in psychology followed by a postgraduate qualification in social work. She worked as a social worker for seventeen years the last seven of these being based at a cancer hospital in Leeds. While working as an oncology social worker, Penny undertook a part-time Masters degree in Psychosocial Palliative Care. Penny moved to psychosocial oncology research in 1996 and was awarded a PhD in 2002.

Penny manages the Psychosocial and Clinical Practice Research Group on a day-to-day basis in addition to running her own research projects.

Penny's area of interest is in assessment of social difficulties in routine oncology practice. The importance of assessment of social care needs of cancer patients was highlighted in the NICE guidance 'Improving supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer'. Penny and the Group have planned a programme of work to develop and evaluate assessment of social difficulties, as part of patient centred care in routine oncology practice. This programme comprises a number of stages that map on to the MRC framework for development and evaluation of complex interventions to improve health. To date in we have:
  • Examined the social impact of cancer on a diverse group of oncology patients
  • Developed a questionnaire, the Social Difficulties Inventory (SDI), to assess social difficulties experienced by cancer patients in oncology practice based on what the patients have described as being relevant to them and undertaken psychometric testing which has demonstrated good reliability and validity.
  • Undertaken Rasch analysis of the SDI
  • Undertaken a number of studies to investigate the clinical meaning and utility of the SDI. This has provided information for developing guidance for clinic staff on score interpretation.

Ongoing studies concern who has responsibility for providing support to patients identified as experiencing social difficulties with the aim of developing and evaluating training for staff and information for patients.

  +44 (0)113 2068488

 
Back



Our hosts and sponsors