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Aberdeen Centre for Women's Health Research

Dr Avril Nicoll

Dr Avril Nicoll
Dr Avril Nicoll
Dr Avril Nicoll

PhD, MRes

Research Fellow

About
Email Address
avril.nicoll@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
Aberdeen Centre for Women's Health Research (ACWHR) Royal Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
Foresterhill Campus
Foresterhill
AB25 2ZL

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School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
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Biography

I joined the Aberdeen Centre for Women’s Health Research on 1 July 2023 as a Research Fellow on the Plan-A study. This project is developing a decision aid for use in routine antenatal care to support pregnant women to choose between planning vaginal or caesarean birth.

I am a qualitative social science researcher curious about how health service staff and users bring about changes in practice. This interest comes from my clinical background in speech and language therapy, 14 years as publisher and editor of ‘Speech & Language Therapy in Practice’ magazine, and extensive experience as a user representative in maternity services. In addition to my PhD on practice change in speech and language therapy, I have been lucky to be able to develop this interest as a Research Fellow on the VOICES study, where we have produced a healthtalk.org public resource and recommendations to reduce variation in care for people with systemic vasculitis.    

Qualifications

  • PhD Practice change  
    2017 - University of Stirling 
    http://hdl.handle.net/1893/27257
  • MRes Health Research 
    2012 - University of Stirling 
  • BSc (Hons) Speech Pathology & Therapeutics 
    1988 - University of Glasgow 

Prizes and Awards

Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (2011)

Research

Research Overview

  • Qualitative inquiry
  • The work involved in practice change / implementation
  • Patient and staff experience of healthcare
  • Intervention description

 

Research Areas

Applied Health Sciences

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Research Specialisms

  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Healthcare Science
  • Social Sciences

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Current Research

I am working with Dr Aniebiet Ekong, Professor Louise Locock, Professor Vikki Entwistle and public partners on the qualitative aspect of a study led by Dr Mairead Black and funded by NIHR HSDR. Plan-A is using mixed methods to develop and test a decision tool for use in routine antenatal care to support pregnant women to choose between planning vaginal or caesarean birth. My role includes doing interviews with women, partners and maternity professionals to understand their experiences of birth planning conversations, and using knowledge from implementation science to understand what will help the tool to be used in practice.  

Past Research

  • Research Fellow, VOICES (Vasculitis Outcomes In relation to Care ExperienceS) study, University of Aberdeen
  • Researcher, PD COMM trial, Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Research Fellow, 'Frameworks to maximise effective intervention sustainability on the ward - a systematic review', University of Stirling
  • PhD on practice change in speech and language therapy, University of Stirling
  • Research Assistant, 'Challenges and opportunities for career progression of staff employed by the University of Stirling undertaking part-time research doctorates', University of Stirling
  • Research Assistant, 'Improving quality of life and swallowing function in patients with head and neck cancer. Development and feasibility of a Swallowing Intervention Package (SiP)', University of Stirling
  • Research Assistant, IPEC (Improving Patient Experience of Care) study, University of Dundee
  • Research Assistant, Process Evaluation of Alcohol Brief Interventions in Wider Settings, University of Stirling
Publications

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