Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group Seminar
The epidemiology and treatment of smoking in people with mental health disorders.
Dr Gemma Taylor
University of Bristol
Please join us for this lunch time seminar.Time: 12 noon, 9th August
Place: The Keats Reading Room (AVLG17), Callaghan Campus, UoN (video conferenced to Ourimbah)
Abstract: Tobacco is the world’s leading preventable cause of disease and death. In the UK and in other developed nations smoking prevalence has significantly declined in the general population, but has remained unchanged in those with mental health problems resulting in an excess burden of smoking-related mortality in this group. People with depression are twice as likely to smoke and are less responsive to standard tobacco treatments than are the general population, leading to a call for population-targeted interventions. Gemma will talk about her research to-date exploring the epidemiology and treatment of smoking in people with mental health disorders, with a focus on people with depression. Specifically, she will discuss results from a systematic review and meta-analysis that examined the impact of smoking cessation and on change in mental health, and she will introduce her fellowship research examining the parallel treatment of smoking and depression
Bio: From 2007 to 2011 Gemma studied psychology at The University of Worcester while working at a mental health recovery centre as a social support worker. After completing a MSc in clinical psychology Gemma was awarded a scholarship to complete a PhD in Epidemiology at The University of Birmingham. In 2014 she received her PhD which focused on the association between smoking cessation and mental health - and part of this work was awarded BMJ’s “Best Research Paper Award” for 2014. Gemma relocated to The University of Bristol to start a postdoc at the MRC's integrative epidemiology unit, and her research has focused on the application of causal epidemiological techniques including propensity score matching and instrumental variable analyses, during this time her research examined the effectiveness of smoking cessation medications on quitting smoking in the general population and in people with mental health disorders. In 2016 Gemma was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Cancer Research UK to develop a bespoke a smoking cessation intervention for people with depression to be delivered in community mental health settings, and to test the intervention in terms of its acceptability and feasibility. Gemma is currently a member of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, at The University of Bristol.
