Medical Sociology & Health Experiences Research Group

The Medical Sociology and Health Experiences Research Group (MS&HERG), is a centre of excellence in qualitative research methods and conducts studies of experiences of health and illness, digital health, and organisation and delivery of care.

We study experiences of health and illness, interviewing people about what it’s like to live with conditions such as dementia, cancer or COVID-19. We have a particular interest in the experiences of neglected and/or minoritised groups – conducting, for example, studies of the experiences of care leavers, of people with HIV and of disparities in pain relief in childbirth. We highlight how personal narratives can inform policy, improve services and support implementation - our material is used in over 80% of medical schools in the UK for training health professionals, as well as by policy-makers, academics, clinicians and patients and the public. Many such studies are disseminated on HEXI - Health Experience Insights (over 124 different health conditions have been published so far). The website is being emulated around the world with similar sites in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Slovakia, and Spain.

We conduct studies on why people use information and communication technologies in relation to health, and how services can harness digital tools to deliver benefit. We also conduct research about the organisation and delivery of care, especially primary and urgent health services, and social care. A key strand of this work includes projects examining the use of digital health technologies in the delivery of care services.

Group members also have expertise in conversation analysis, ethnography and qualitative evidence synthesis. We collaborate with others to undertake case studies, process evaluations and implementation science embedded in randomised controlled trials, and qualitative evidence reviews. Findings from our studies are published in social science and clinical journals and on HEXI - Health Experience Insights HEXI.ox.ac.uk.

In addition to our research, the group has an international reputation as a centre of excellence in qualitative research methods. Our short courses on qualitative research methods are internationally renowned. Members of the group lead and teach on the new MSc in Applied Digital Health and MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership courses, teach on other MSc courses in the University of Oxford, including Translational Health Sciences and CEBM courses, and supervise doctoral students. 

“I started the course as a novice in qualitative research methods but I now understand the core methods used in qualitative health research and methods for qualitative analysis”
- OQC attendee 2022

We collaborate with numerous universities including Aberdeen, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Imperial, Lancaster, LSHTM, Southampton, Stirling, The Open University College London, Warwick, York and with research centres, including the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and institutes such as The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute (THIS) in Cambridge, the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust in Kenya and The Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI). Our project partners include general practices (in the UK and Denmark), ambulance services, NHS hospitals, government bodies such as NHS England and NHS Digital and a range of third sector organisations such as the Nuffield Trust and the Point of Care Foundation. 

Information on our Health Experiences (Interview) Data Archive.