Dr Katherine Easton
BSc (Hons) Psych, MRes Psych, PhD, CPsychol, AFBPsS
School of Education
Lecturer in Psychology
MA Programme Lead Critical Psychology and Education
MSc Psychology and Education Lead Social Psychology Module
Director of the MA in Psychology and Education and module coordinator for developmental psychology
+44 114 222 8176
Full contact details
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
-
Dr Easton is an applied social psychologist researching the use of technology for mental health, in particular self-management and recovery for complex comorbidities. Areas of expertise include peer support, conversational agents, artificial intelligence, student mental health, recovery approaches, co-design research methods and evaluation.
- Research interests
-
Her research interests lie in addressing health inequalities for vulnerable groups, particularly those with mental health needs, the elderly and individuals with long-term conditions, with a focus on the psychosocial barriers and benefits of innovative digital technologies. She specialises in facilitating and develop collaborations with industrial partners and research into the co-design, user testing, realistically evaluation and implementation of technology-supported health and social care services. Katherine collaborates widely across the University and with charity and NHS organisations nationally.
Examples of current and recent research projects
Internet of things for supported goal setting and recovery in mental health
Co-designing and testing the acceptability of a virtual agent to support self-management for
individuals living with physical and mental comorbidities.
Exploring adverse events and benefits of using online peer support to improve mental health in
collaboration with National Mind.
National research priority setting for digital technologies and mental health Identifying research
priorities for digital technology in mental health care: results of the James Lind Alliance Priority
Setting Partnership.
- Publications
-
Journal articles
- Digital community assets: investigating the impact of online engagement with arts and peer support groups on mental health during COVID‐19. Sociology of Health & Illness.
- Blending cognitive analytic therapy with a digital support tool: mixed methods study involving a user-centered design of a prototype app. JMIR Mental Health, 8(2). View this article in WRRO
- Evaluation of a mobile app to enhance relational awareness and change during cognitive analytic therapy: mixed methods case series. JMIR Mental Health, 7(12).
- Utility of the COM-B model in identifying facilitators and barriers to maintaining a healthy postnatal lifestyle following a diagnosis of gestational diabetes : a qualitative study. BMJ Open, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Enhancing postnatal care of women with gestational diabetes. British Medical Journal(369). View this article in WRRO
- A virtual agent to support individuals living with physical and mental comorbidities : co-design and acceptability testing. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(5). View this article in WRRO
- The meaning and value of digital technology adoption for older adults with sight loss: A mixed methods study. Technology and Disability, 30(4), 177-184.
- Identifying research priorities for digital technology in mental health care: results of the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership. Lancet Psychiatry, 5(10), 845-854. View this article in WRRO
- Reducing risk of type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes: a qualitative study to explore the potential of technology in primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 68(669), e260-e267. View this article in WRRO
- Qualitative Exploration of the Potential for Adverse Events When Using an Online Peer Support Network for Mental Health: Cross-Sectional Survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research Mental Health, 4(4). View this article in WRRO
- Reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary care after gestational diabetes: a role for mobile technology to improve current care. British Journal of General Practice, 66(653), 631-632. View this article in WRRO
- Prevalence and Measurement of Anxiety in Samples of Patients With Heart Failure: Meta-analysis. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 31(4), 367-379. View this article in WRRO
- You can’t get anything perfect: “User perspectives on the delivery of cognitive behavioural therapy by telephone”. Social Science & Medicine, 71(7), 1308-1315.
- Nurse education: factors associated with attrition. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(1), 149-160. View this article in WRRO
- Service users' experiences of 'as needed' psychotropic medications in acute mental healthcare settings. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 56(4), 354-362. View this article in WRRO
- The Regional ICT based Clusters for Healthcare Applications and R&D Integration (RICHARD) Project. International Journal of Integrated Care, 13(7).
- Correction: Evaluation of a Mobile App to Enhance Relational Awareness and Change During Cognitive Analytic Therapy: Mixed Methods Case Series. JMIR Mental Health, 8(1), e27159-e27159.
- Correction: Evaluation of a Mobile App to Enhance Relational Awareness and Change During Cognitive Analytic Therapy: Mixed Methods Case Series (Preprint).
Conference proceedings papers
- Smart Clothing for Falls Protection and Detection: User-Centred Co-Design and Feasibility Study. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, Vol. 242 (pp 152-159) View this article in WRRO
- Women’s views on the potential role of mobile technology in a primary care intervention aimed at reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes amongst women recently diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.. Society for Academic Primary Care National Conference Programme, 12 July 2017 - 14 July 2017.
- Fitness bands and Facebook TM : can we reduce incident diabetes in high risk postnatal women?. RCGP Conference Book, 5 October 2016 - 7 October 2016.
- Emotional symptoms determine patient reported health related quality of life to the same extent as physical symptoms in patients with a diagnosis of heart failure.. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Vol. 13(1) (pp p203-p203), 2013. View this article in WRRO
- RICHARD Project: Regional ICT based Clusters for Healthcare Applications and R&D Integration.. International Journal of Integrated care, Vol. 13(3rd International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare), 1 July 2013 - 3 July 2013. View this article in WRRO
Reports
Preprints
- Evaluation of a Mobile App to Enhance Relational Awareness and Change During Cognitive Analytic Therapy: Mixed Methods Case Series (Preprint), JMIR Publications Inc..
- Blending Cognitive Analytic Therapy with a digital support tool: co-design of a prototype application (Preprint).
- A Virtual Agent to Support Individuals Living With Physical and Mental Comorbidities: Co-Design and Acceptability Testing (Preprint).
- Blending Cognitive Analytic Therapy with a digital support tool: co-design of a prototype application.
- Digital community assets: investigating the impact of online engagement with arts and peer support groups on mental health during COVID‐19. Sociology of Health & Illness.
- Teaching interests
-
Katherine is the Director of the MA in Psychology and Education (EDUT181) and Module Leader for ‘Social Psychology and Practice’ and ‘Difference, disability and diversity in psychology and education’ on the MSc in Psychology and Education as well as Module Coordinator for developmental psychology EDU 6349.
She has supervised numerous masters dissertations.
Areas of teaching expertise include:- Social Psychology
- Critical psychology
- Behaviour change
- Personality theories
- Developmental psychology
- Quantitative and qualitative research design & methods
- Literature searching
- Systematic review methods
- Ethics and governance
- Technology in healthcare
- Health Psychology
She enjoys group work, blended learning and distance learning and also delivers educational sessions to lay groups, service-users and patients/public.
- Professional activities and memberships
-
Chartered member of the British Psychological Society
- Founder of the Mental Health and Technology research network at the University of Sheffield
- Honorary Researcher at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
- President of the British Lung Foundation Sheffield breathe easy support group
- Reviewer for the British Journal of Psychiatry, British Journal of Medicine, Quality of life and
- Health outcomes.