Research Projects

Architecture of Pharmacies: Co-designing Pharmacy Spaces
Dr Ranjita Dhital, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice (University of Reading), Principal Investigator. Leverhulme Fellowship (2018-2021)

An interdisciplinary arts-based research which aims to understand how the physical and social spaces within community pharmacies are experienced by pharmacy service users and staff. This study will examine how the architecture of pharmacies may effect engagement with current and future pharmacy health services, and co-produce a community pharmacy design guide for evaluation in future research.

Collaborators: Professor Glenn Robert (King’s College London); Dr Jacqueline Sin (Psychology, UoR) and Dr Carolina Vasilikou (Architecture, UoR).

Practitioner Wellbeing
We are developing new research to investigate how arts interventions could support the mental wellbeing of healthcare practitioners, with the aim to co-produce a toolkit for implementation in healthcare settings such as GP practices. This research will involve  art practitioners working alongside healthcare staff to co-design arts-based interventions that will promote wellbeing, be engaging and feasible to implement within healthcare environments.

Alcohol harm reduction interventions in low resource countries
We are developing arts-based interventions to reduce alcohol harm in low resource countries. One of these studies will explore the effects on the production and consumption of unregulated alcohol, which is produced primarily by women who rely on this activity as an important source of income. This research  will use Photovoice as a means for the women to communicate their experiences. The aim is to develop effective interventions for women and their communities to reduce alcohol harm i.e consuming alcohol during pregnancy and find alternate income sources to support their families.

Collaborators: Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation – Nepal (TPO Nepal)