Dr Sofia Vougioukalou

(she/her)

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Active studies

 Co-investigator and public involvement lead for Tailoring cultural offers with and for diverse older users of social prescribing (TOUS): A realist evaluation, a UKRI MRC-funded study lead by the University of Oxford.

Co-lead for  'Innovating Assistive Tech for Dementia: Understanding and Empowering Underrepresented Communities in Social Care' project with Dr Roser Beneito-Montagut, funded by the Wales Innovation Network.

I have also completed dissemination work for a British Academy Innovation Fellowship exploring the policy links of creative social prescribing for older people experiencing dementia and social isolation.I was previously researching the processes of embedding innovation through creativity in health and social care settings as part of the Health Arts Research People (HARP) programme.

I was the lead researcher in Y Lab's Health, Arts, Research and People (HARP) programme. In this programme, I am researching the process and impact of embedding innovation within arts and health practice in 17 teams across Wales. I also convene the Public Involvement and Patient Experience in arts and health Research (PIPER) group which provides the service user voice of expertise to our research and innovation programme.

https://ylab.wales/HARP/researchbriefings

https://ylab.wales/new-public-involvement-group-arts-and-health-research

The Dementia and Diversity project was funded by HEFCW and looked at the dementia care experiences of under-represent groups in relation to ethnicity, disability and sexuality. Three performances were developed with public involvement input to communicate the dementia care experiences of D/deaf, ethnic minority and gay communities.

https://ylab.wales/research/dementia-and-diversity

https://ylab.wales/research/dementia-and-diversity/next-kin-performance-and-discussion-about-dementia-ddeaf

https://ylab.wales/using-drama-improve-equalities-dementia-care

Teaching

I am currently in a research-only post and I deliver guest lectures on arts and health, dementia and health inequalities and social prescribing.

Biography

I have expertise in arts and health, health inequalities, chronic conditions, public involvement and co-production.  I have a particular interest in the different ways that creative social prescribing can contribute to the wellbeing of older people from under-represented groups. I use ethnographic, participatory and creative methods (such as participant observation, Experience-based Co-design, Appreciative Enquiry, Liberating Structures, photo and video elicitation, collaging) to understand older people’s experiences of illness, treatment and wellbeing, e.g. cancer, dementia, Huntingdon’s Disease. I use public involvement and engagement to identify culturally-appropriate ways to enhance the engagement of service users in research and impact activities. My goal is to contribute to the delivery of speedier inexpensive innovation in older people’s health and social care services through engaged research. 

I am currently developing new research bids in the field of adult social care with the aim to address the unmet needs of older people living with chronic conditions in the community and in care homes. 

My PhD examined lay understandings of illness and medicinal plant use amongst patients receiving medical care within a range of  cultures. I used an ethnobiological approach which is an interdisciplinary methodology combining anthropology and biology that seeks to bridge cultural and biomedical understandings of biological processes. My research programme builds on this and uses qualitative, quantitative and visual methodologies to understand how do patients, carers and healthcare professionals make sense of chronic illness and service provision in the NHS.

Honours and awards

Awards

2023: Highly Meritorious Contribution Award in Science, Healthcare and Technology, Ethnic Minority Welsh Women's Achievement Association

2022: Celebrating Excellence Award in Civic Mission, Cardiff University

2021: Public Invovement Award, Health and Care Research Wales

2021: Dementia Friendly Wales (2021) Diversity Award - Winner (individual category)

Grant funding

2023-2025:  Tailoring cultural offers with and for diverse older users of social prescribing (TOUS): A realist evaluation. UKRI, UKRI, £396,427, co-applicant

2022-2023: Creative ageing and social prescribing: bridging the gap between diverse service users and policy makers. British Academy Innovation Fellowship, £80,000, PI working with Arts Council Wales

2022-2024: Understanding the everyday use of restrictive practices in the care of people living with dementia during a hospital admission: reducing inappropriate use, identifying good practice and alternative approaches to reduce risk and improve care. NIHR, £1M, co-applicant

2019- 2021: ‘Dementia care experiences – understanding diversity, implementing equality, creating shared learning ’, HEFCW, PI

Nov 2017- 2020: Understanding how to facilitate continence for people with dementia in acute hospital settings: raising awareness and improving care, NIHR (Researcher-led),  £508,000, role: co-applicant with responsibility for patient, carer and public involvement and engagement

Dec 2016-Nov 2017: The human cost of cancer: addressing the unique physical, emotional and financial implications of facing cancer while living alone, Tenovus Cancer Care Innovation Grant, £29,700, PI

2016: Development of a self-sustaining community of Huntington’s disease walkers in Wales, Wellcome Trust ISSF – Public Engagement, £9,700, co-applicant

2012: Assessing participatory research impact and legacy, JISC, £25,000, role: CI with responsibility for health research impact analysis

Academic positions

2023- present: Research Fellow in Adult Social Care, Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE) & Centre for Trial Research, School of Medicine, Cardiff University

2022-2023: British Academy Innovation Fellow, Y Lab, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

2019-2022: Research Fellow in Arts and Health, Y Lab, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

2014- 2019: Research Associate in Health Services Research, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University

2013 - 2014: Public Engagement Associate for Health Research, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute (Wellcome Trust) & Integrative Epidemiology Unit (MRC), University of Bristol

2011- 2013: Research Associate and Research Design Service Advisor, Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King’s College London

2010- 2011: Senior Lecturer in Knowledge Transfer, Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Canterbury Christ Church University

2007-2009: Research and Evaluation Consultant, Department of Social Work, Health and Community, Canterbury Christ Church University

2008-2011: Associate Lecturer, Centre for Flexible Learning  & School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent

2004- 2010: Research and Teaching Assistant, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent

Committees and reviewing

Associate Editor for Arts and Health journal.

Manuscript reviewer for PLOS One, BMJ, Journal of Health Organisation and Management, Ethnography, European Journal of Cancer Care.

Supervisions

• Arts and health/creative methodologies
• Cross-cultural health and social care 
• Social prescribing
• Dementia

Current supervision

Sreya Chattopadhyay