Name: Claire Carswell 

Research Theme: Supportive and Palliative Care

Research Title: Developing an arts-based intervention for patients with end-stage kidney disease whilst receiving haemodialysis.

Research Interests: Healthcare access for populations with unmet needs and the use of art to improve wellbeing.

Supervisors: Dr. Helen Noble, Dr. Joanne Reid, Dr. Ian Walsh

Email: ccarswell02@qub.ac.uk

Twitter Profile: @ClaireCarswellx

Personal Bio:

I completed my BSc in Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast in 2012 and graduated from my BSc in Mental Health Nursing in 2017. In between studying I worked as a support worker for post-release prisoners in the community, a role I continued on a relief basis during my nursing degree. I engaged in Queen’s School of Nursing and Midwifery research internship programme during the final year of my undergraduate degree, which helped develop my love for nursing research.

Project Summary:

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is the final stage of chronic kidney disease. The main treatment for ESKD is renal replacement therapy, the most common form being haemodialysis. Haemodialysis is a difficult treatment that requires patients to attend hospital three times a week for four hours each time; during this time patients are connected to a dialysing unit that drains and filters their blood, replacing the role of the damaged kidneys. Patients with ESKD also experience a symptom burden comparable to that of terminal cancer, which can impact profoundly on mental health and quality of life. Arts-based interventions have been used in clinical settings to improve these outcomes with a variety of patient groups, but there’s a lack of evidence assessing their effectiveness in patients with ESKD. Arts-based intervention research has also failed to address issues associated with the practicalities of implementing arts activities in a clinical setting. Therefore my study is focused on developing an arts-based intervention for patients with ESKD whilst receiving haemodialysis, and conducting a feasibility randomised-controlled trial and process evaluation. The hope is to develop an arts-based intervention that can be implemented in the haemodialysis setting, with the aim of improving quality of life and mental health.

My Perfect PhD Day

Any day where I feel productive.

Teaching

N/A

Other Activites

 

• Student member of the SNAM Research Ethics Committee

When I’m not PhDing…

Practicing what I preach and doing a bit of art – I’m partial to ink.

 

Conferences & Publications:

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2017) Developing an Arts-Based Intervention for Patients who have End-Stage Kidney Disease whilst receiving Haemodialysis: A study protocol, Oral presentation at the ENRICh 2: Beyond Competence, Cultivating Capability, Dublin, Ireland.

Carswell, C. Noble, H. and Farrow, D. (2017) Barriers preventing offenders from accessing primary healthcare on release from prison: A Case Study, Journal of Practice Nursing, 28 (9), 386-389.

Carswell, C., Noble H. and Farrow, D. (2017) Barriers preventing offenders from accessing primary healthcare on release from prison: A Case Study, Oral presentation at the Prison and Justice Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland.