Katrina Messiha, in her capacity as a Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge through the NIHR-funded ComPHAD project, has been involved in integrating her PhD work to contribute to the advancement of brain health research, with a focus on prioritising historically marginalised groups. Since May 2023 (and ongoing), she has actively collaborated to achieve key objectives in implementing co-creation approaches tailored to research on brain health.
In addition to providing key insights from her existing PhD work to the ComPHAD project, Katrina’s research involved extracting nuanced insights from secondary literature sources to comprehend primary care, public health and social care needs concerning dementia. She synthesized subtleties of cognitive decline from academic and grey literature, informing the development of an Assets-based Approach Framework.
Additionally, Katrina engaged in focus group discussions and co-development activities, including Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), with community organizations and stakeholders. This collaborative effort led to the creation of a detailed report. She also organized and facilitated participatory workshops, conducting subsequent data analysis based on these sessions. Also, Katrina presented some of her PhD findings within the ComPHAD group and received an invitation to present her work to the broader Cambridge Public Health network in the new year. Moreover, she recently completed a blog for the Cambridge Public Health website (here), drawing on her co-creation research and offering insights from her work in critical realism.
Beyond this six-month secondment, Katrina is co-leading two studies with the University of Cambridge. One entails a grey literature scoping review on brain health, while the other centres on a narrative synthesis conducted through participatory workshops grounded in critical realism.