Dr Rachel Adams

Health Services Management Centre
Research Fellow

Contact details

Email: r.l.adams@bham.ac.uk

Address: Park House
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2RT

Rachel Adams is a qualitative researcher, currently working for Professor Nicola Gale on her portfolio of research. This includes qualitative sub-studies running alongside respiratory trials and public health ethnographic research in the area of public health – aimed at reducing diarrhoea and malnutrition in young children.

She is passionate about enabling people’s voices to be heard, whether they are patients, NHS staff, or members of the public. She is also passionate about representation and matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusion issues.

Qualifications

PhD - University of Birmingham (2013)
BSc - University of Durham (2000)

Biography

Rachel joined the Institute for Applied Health Research (IAHR) in 2006 as a PhD student looking at relational work and power around shared decision-making in primary care consultations. Her thesis used linguistic theory and qualitative methods. During this time she was employed as a casual worker on a number of primary care trials (particularly smoking cessation) and also took maternity leave. Since graduation she has worked on a number of projects within IAHR – including various smoking cessation studies, e-cigarette use, NHS staff health and the impact of COVID, child and maternal health, and healthy eating in children. Her work has included the management of both qualitative and trials’ research.

In 2019 her interest in smoking cessation led her to work on a large international programme concerned with building research capacity in the areas of respiratory health and smoking cessation in 4 middle income countries (China, Brazil, North Macedonia & Georgia). With Professor Gale as qualitative lead, she provided training and day to day support for the programme’s qualitative research, and also trials’ management support.

Rachel began working directly with Professor Gale in Feb 2022 on qualitative sub-studies for trials based in IAHR. During this time the number of projects she was working on expanded and I officially joined HSMC in Aug 2022.

Prior to moving to the University of Birmingham, she spent 5 years working in similar roles at the Universities of Warwick, Newcastle and Durham. Her first degree is in medical anthropology from the University of Durham. She studied at the Stockton Campus.

With regards EDI interests, she is a single parent & a carer of older relatives. She used to co-chair the University’s Parents and Carers’ staff support network and she is still an active committee member, in addition she is a member of the College of MDS’s menopause support group at the University of Birmingam. As a bi-person she is also an active member of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community.

Research

Rachel's work is largely qualitative (however, she also has experience of trials’ management).

Methodologically: She has extensive experience of interviews, thematic & Framework analysis; politeness/relational theory; process evaluation; medical trials & clinical research generally.
Areas of interest: Respiratory disease; doctor-patient communication; smoking cessation; e-cigs; user satisfaction; antibiotic use; NHS staff health.
In addition: she has experience of focus groups; conversation analysis; linguistic theory; COM-B model of behaviour change (capability, opportunity & motivation); co-analysis; photo-voice; systematic reviews; healthy eating.
She also have knowledge of: ethnography; linguistic analysis using concordancing software; discourse analysis; Delphi rounds.
Areas she would like to develop: action/participatory research; placebo effect; Medically unexplained symptoms; NHS workplace culture.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Davies, L, de Wildt, G, Benyamini, Y, Ramkumar, A & Adams, R 2024, 'Exploring the experiences of English-speaking women who have moved to Israel and subsequently used Israeli fertility treatment services: A qualitative study', PLoS ONE, vol. 19, no. 8, e0309265. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309265

Adams, R, Jordan, R, Maher, A, Adab, P, Barrett, T, Bevan, S, Cooper, L, DuRand, I, Edwards, F, Hardy, P, Harris, C, Heneghan, NR, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Marshall, T, O'Hara, M, Poyner, C, Rai, K, Rickards, H, Riley, R, Ives, N, Sadhra, S, Tearne, S, Walters, G & Sapey, E 2024, 'Health screening clinic to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism among NHS Staff: eTHOS a pilot RCT', Health and Social Care Delivery Research, vol. 12, no. 23, pp. 1-105. https://doi.org/10.3310/KDST3869

Adams, RL, McKenna, M, Allsopp, K, Saleem, S, Le Mesurier, N, Diar Bakerly, N, Turner, AM & Gale, NK 2024, '“I know this is on my chest, let’s act”: a qualitative study exploring self-management of acute COPD exacerbations with a sputum colour chart to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 34, no. 1, 41. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00398-3

Martins, SM, Adams, R, Rodrigues, EM, Stelmach, R, Adab, P, Chi, C, Cheng, KK, Cooper, BG, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Dickens, AP, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Jordan, RE, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze, M, Maghlakelidze, T, Sitch, A, Stavrikj, K, Turner, AM, Williams, S & Nascimento, VB 2024, 'Living with COPD and its psychological effects on participating in community-based physical activity in Brazil: a qualitative study. Findings from the Breathe Well group', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 34, 33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00386-7

Pallan, M, Murphy, M, Morrison, B, Pokhilenko, I, Sitch, A, Frew, E, Rawdin, C, Adams, R, Adamson, A, Bartington, S, Dobell, A, Duff, R, Griffin, T, Hurley, K, Lancashire, E, McLeman, L, Passmore, S, Ravaghi, V, Spence, S & Adab, P 2024, 'School food policy in secondary schools in England and its impact on adolescents’ diets and dental health: the FUEL multiple-methods study', Public Health Research, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 1-167. https://doi.org/10.3310/TTPL8570

Gkini, E, Adams, RL, Spittle, D, Ellis, P, Allsopp, K, Saleem, S, McKenna, M, Le Mesurier, N, Gale, N, Tearne, S, Adab, P, Jordan, RE, Bakerly, N & Turner, AM 2024, 'Sputum colour charts to guide antibiotic self-treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the Colour-COPD RCT', NIHR Journals Library.

Williams, S, Fernandes, G, Adab, P, Adams, R, Correia de Sousa, J, Chi, C, Dickens, AP, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Maglakelidze , M, Maglakelidze, T, Martins, S, Sitch, A, Stamenova, A, Stavrikj, K, Stelmach , R, Turner, A, Pan, Z, Pang, H, Zhang, J & Jordan, RE 2024, 'Strengthening clinician-researchers’ communication and knowledge translation skills: An innovative game model from the Breathe Well group', Inquiry, vol. 61, pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580241273178

Gjorgjievski, D, Stavrikj, K, Jordan, R, Adab, P, Stanoevski, G, Stamenova, A, Krstevska, E, Simonovska, S, Trpcheski, F, Adams, R, Easter, C, Rai, K, Cheng, KK, Chi, C, Cooper, BG, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Dickens, AP, Enocson, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze, M, Maghlakelidze, T, Martins, S, Sitch, A, Stelmach, R, Turner, A, Williams, S & Farley, A 2023, 'Randomised controlled trial testing effectiveness of feedback about lung age or exhaled CO combined with very brief advice for smoking cessation compared to very brief advice alone in North Macedonia: findings from the Breathe Well group', BMC Public Health, vol. 23, no. 1, 1887. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16644-1

Martins, SM, Dickens, A, Salibe-Filho , W, Albuquerque Neto , AA, Adab, P, Enocson, A, Cooper, BG, Sousa, LVA, Sitch, A, Jowett, S, Adams, R, Cheng, KK, Chi, C, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Maglakelidze, M, Maghlakelidze, T, Stavrikj, K, Turner, A, Williams, S, Jordan, R & Stelmach, R 2022, 'Accuracy and economic evaluation of different screening tests and their combinations for undiagnosed COPD among people with hypertension in Brazil', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 32, 55 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-022-00303-w

Pang, H, Pan, Z, Adams, R, Duncan, E, Chi, C, Kong, X, Adab, P, Cheng, KK, Cooper, B, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Dickens, A, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze, M, Maglakelidze, T, Martins, S, Sitch, A, Stavrikj, K, Stelmach, R, Turner, A, Williams, S & Jordan, R 2022, 'Community lung health service design for COPD patients in China by the Breathe Well group', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 32, no. 1, 27. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-022-00286-8

Adams, R, Jordan, R, Adab, P, Barrett, T, Bevan, S, Cooper, L, DuRand, I, Hardy, P, Heneghan, N, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Marshall, T, O'Hara, M, Rai, K, Rickards, H, Riley, R, Sadhra, S, Tearne, S, Walters, G & Sapey, E 2022, 'Enhancing the health of NHS staff: eTHOS. Protocol for a randomised controlled pilot trial of an employee health screening clinic for NHS staff to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, compared with usual care', Pilot and Feasibility Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, 155. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01095-z

Maglakelidze , M, Kurua, I, Maglakelidze, N, Maglakelidze, T, Chkhaidze, I, Gogvadze, K, Chkhaidze, N, Beadle, H, Redden-Rowley, K, Adab, P, Adams, R, Chi, C, Cheng, KK, Cooper, B, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Dickens, A, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jowett, S, Martins, SM, Rai, K, Sitch, A, Stavrikj, K, Stelmach , R, Turner, A, Williams, S, Jordan, R & Jolly, K 2022, 'Feasibility of a pulmonary rehabilitation programme for patients with symptomatic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Georgia: a single site, randomized controlled trial from the Breathe Well Group', BMJ open, vol. 12, no. 9, e056902. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056902

Abdel-Aal, A, Lisspers, K, Williams, S, Adab, P, Adams, R, Agarwal, D, Barnard, A, Bouloukak, I, van Boven, JFM, Chavannes, N, Dickens, AP, van Gemert, F, Escarrer, M, Haroon, S, Kayongo, A, Kirenga, B, Kocks, JWH, Kotz, D, Newby, C, McNulty, C, Metting, E, Moral, L, Papadakis, S, Pinnock, H, Price, D, Ryan, D, Singh, SJ, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Ställberg, B, Szefler, SJ, Taylor, SJC, Tsiligianni, I, Turner, A, Weller, D, Yusuf, O, Tabyshova, AK & Jordan, RE 2022, 'Prioritising primary care respiratory research needs: results from the 2020 International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) global e-Delphi exercise', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 32, no. 1, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-021-00266-4

Pan, Z, Dickens, A, Chi, C, Kong, X, Enocson, A, Cooper, B, Adab, P, Cheng, KK, Sitch, A, Jowett, S, Adams, R, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Maglakelidze , M, Maglakelidze , T, Martins , S, Stavrikj, K, Stelmach , R, Turner, A, Williams, S & Jordan, R 2021, 'Accuracy and cost-effectiveness of different screening strategies for identifying undiagnosed COPD among primary care patients (≥40 years) in China: a cross-sectional screening test accuracy study. Findings from the Breathe Well group', BMJ open, vol. 11, no. 9, e051811. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051811

Riley, M, Swann, A, Morris, AJ, Martins, SM, Adams, R & Jordan, R 2021, 'Knowledge, attitudes and practices of patients and healthcare professionals regarding oral health and COPD in São Paulo, Brazil: a qualitative study', NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, vol. 31, no. 1, 20. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-021-00235-x

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