Dr Amanda Bates

About

I am Patient Experience and Public Involvement Lead for the Centre for Health Services Studies. I joined CHSS in 2009 and since then have held a variety of public involvement roles, with my current role beginning in 2018.

As a service user researcher, I have a personal and professional interest in promoting engagement and involvement in research. I work with service users and community groups to promote their interest and involvement in research. I also provide tailored advice and guidance to CHSS researchers and students about the various ways of engaging and involving service users in research, from reviewing recruitment strategies to the dissemination of results.

I initiated and now manage the CHSS Opening Doors to Research Group (ODRG) which comprises 20+ members of the public. They advise CHSS researchers and students on aspects of their research to ensure that it is both useful and relevant to end users.

I am a Chartered Psychologist. I have a BA (Hons) in Psychology, an MSc in Health Psychology and completed a PhD in Applied Psychology in 2017.  My PhD focused on children and young people with learning disabilities, and clefts, and qualitatively explored their appearance self-perceptions, social experiences, and whether or not they felt involved in decisions about their NHS care.

I am part of the Lived Experience Advisory Group for AboutFace – which is a UKRI funded interdisciplinary research project exploring the emotional and cultural histories of facial difference, surgery and transplantation.

I am currently supporting the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) element in an NIHR HS&DR project about the impact of the GP workforce (team structure and functioning) on quality of care, effectiveness and costs and will also be involved in the design and delivery of the qualitative aspect of the project.

I am also supporting the PPI in the Kent Research Partnership which is a four year programme of work, funded by NIHR Research Services and Delivery, to build capacity in adult social care research. This partnership will support the social care sector in our region by conducting high quality research relating to local social care priorities and finding out what works best and for whom to improve the outcomes for service users and their carers. PPI is naturally a fundamental part of this important process.

My service user and research experiences have resulted in a number of invitations to speak at various national and European conferences such as The European Cleft and Craniofacial Initiative for Equality in Care, The Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Appearance Collective.

I am also the Co-Chair of the University’s Disability Staff Network.

Research interests

Appearance and body image concerns
Visible difference/disfigurement
Healthcare experiences
Disability issues
Public engagement
Public involvement

Teaching

Alongside service users, I teach PPI/E on the Integrated Clinical Academic Programme (ICAP), the Research Champions programme and on the MSc Collaborative Practices in Healthcare Management. I also teach PPI in the School of Psychology.

Professional

Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society.