Dr Abi Woodward, PhD, MRes

Profile

I am a qualitative health researcher with a PhD in Sociology, based within the  Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health. My work focuses on understanding and addressing health inequalities at the intersection of socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity, and access to care, with a particular emphasis on community-based and culturally relevant interventions.

Drawing on my background in Sociology, I apply a social and structural lens to primary care and health services research to better understand how inequalities are produced, and how they might be reduced in practice. I have a strong track record of leading and collaborating across multiple NIHR-funded studies, and I have been awarded research grants as both a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator. In 2024, I was awarded a prestigious NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

Prior to joining Queen Mary University of London, I was a Research Fellow in the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health at University College London (UCL).

Current Project

• Pre-hospital care for older adults – An evaluation of the Remote Emergency Access Coordination Hub (REACH): Qualitative research lead. REACH is a pre-hospital support scheme in which emergency physicians support London Ambulance Service (LAS) with their clinical decision making relating to care of patients, including older people. The purpose of the qualitative study is to understand how REACH is working for its patients aged 65 years and over, their family carers and staff.

Recently completed projects:

• Co-production of guidelines to support culturally relevant social prescribing opportunities for South Asian carers: Principal Investigator, funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research.
• Support for Pakistani carers through social prescribing: Principal Investigator, funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research.

Research

Research Interests:

My research has a strong applied focus, spanning the following core areas:

• Social prescribing & community-based approaches to support: Investigating the implementation and impact of non-clinical, community-based health interventions.
• Culturally appropriate support: Enhancing access to care and tailoring community assets specifically for South Asian family carers.
• Health equity & structural factors: Examining how area-based deprivation, socioeconomic exclusion, and intersectional identity impact how individuals navigate healthcare systems.
• Co-production & participatory methods: Utilising qualitative methods to engage underserved populations.

Publications

Please click through to view a full list of Abi's publications

1. Accessibility and use of social prescribing interventions by minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom: A scoping review, https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/bmjph/4/2/e003363.full.pdf
2. A qualitative exploration of the potential for culturally relevant and adapted social prescribing to assist with the health and wellbeing of Pakistani carers living in the UK, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/hex.70099
3. Experiencing Socioeconomic Deprivation as a Carer in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/hex.70502
4. A qualitative exploration of the barriers and facilitators to self‐managing multiple long‐term conditions amongst people experiencing socioeconomic deprivation, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/hex.14046

Supervision

Currently involved in supervision of the following PhD students:

Jessica Kay - Improving the management of dementia for people living in underserved areas