Researcher Bio Steven has a background in Sociology and has recently completed a PhD in Health Sciences at the University of York. His Doctoral Thesis is titled "Exploring Interactions Between General Practitioners and Frequently Attending Patients". This study uses Conversation Analysis to explore issues that are important for these types of interactions, and provides a comparison with consultations for 'new' or acute problems. An important theme of this work is the 'heartsink' phenomenon in General Practice i.e. the negative emotional reaction of GPs when certain patients attend.
Steven is currently working for the NHS, North Yorkshire R&D Alliance as Research Assistant on the Older Peoples Mental Health Programme. He is also Principal Investigator of a project funded by York and Selby R&D Committee: "Primary Care Partnership Programme for Dementia: a Pilot Study Adapting the 'Partnering with your Doctor' programme to enhance dementia care in the NHS" (http://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/health/dementia/research/carin g.php).