Stephanie Tierney

I am a health services researcher with an interest in long-term conditions, delivery of services and patients' experiences of care. I have completed work (reviews, qualitative research and mixed methods studies) on a range of health-related topics, including: understanding compassionate care, living with cystic fibrosis, working with patients who have diabetes, interventions for children with a cleft lip/palate, experiencing anorexia nervosa, managing heart failure, improving hospital discharge, supporting people caring for someone with dementia. 

My current research focuses on social prescribing and how it can help to address consequences stemming from the wider determinants of health. I have conducted projects on the link worker role (who connect people to community assets and services), and on the contribution of the cultural sector to social prescribing (funded by NIHR and UKRI respectively).

I am co-applicant on a number of studies related to social prescribing, including studies on dance for adults with autism, supported volunteering in cultural organisations, identifying social determinants of health in primary care, social prescribing for people with severe mental illness, social prescribing for young parents. I am workstream lead for a qualitative study that is part of a bigger European project comparing social prescribing across European countries - it is called SP-EU. 

I currently lead the Oxford Social Prescribing Research Network. Research I lead on the link worker role is part of a broader interest I have in skills mix within primary care and service redesign.