Iain Atherton
Iain Atherton

Dr Iain Atherton RGN, Ba(hons), MSc, FRGS, PhD, SFHEA

Senior Lecturer

Biography

I am an internationally recognised in the use of nationally representative survey, administrative and census data to answer policy relevant questions.

Since 2016 I have been a co-director of the ESRC funded Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research, one of the ADR UK network. That work has involved him working with colleagues across the UK to facilitate and encourage the use of anonymised linked administrative data to address key policy focused issues.
I lead a team of two (soon to be three) research fellows on ESRC funded projects using data to understand the drivers behind home deaths in Scotland, the dynamics of the nursing and midwifery professions across the UK, and the wellbeing of Scotland’s veteran community. This work involves a wide range of stakeholders from academia (including colleagues from other schools at Edinburgh Napier University), as well as policy, regulatory, and the public.

I was lead for Edinburgh Napier University’s development of a submission for Unit of Assessment 3 to REF 2021 between 2016 and 2019. I have also played a leading role in enabling the university to become a pocket of excellence associated with Unit of Assessment 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy) in the Scottish Graduate School for the Social Sciences.

I am passionate about the transformative potential of education. He has written on pedagogy in nurse education, and on the population health in pre-registration curriculum. He works closely with colleagues internationally to encourage person centred learning through flipped classroom approaches.

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Member of Nursing and Midwifery Council Thought Leadership Group

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Workshop lead: Unlocking data to better understand the nursing & midwifery workforce
  • Scientific advisory group - International Medical Geographies Symposium
  • Seminar: Last 1000 days of Life
  • Harnessing the Power of Datasets to Develop Policy in New Zealand
  • Frontier Event Organiser: Employability and tackling poverty
  • Organiser symposium on ‘Big Data’, RCN Research Conference, University of Nottingham.
  • Invited to sit on Scientific Advisory Panel for NETNEP International Nurse Education Conference (2015)

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial Advisory Group for the journal Nurse Education Today

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External reviewer promotion application

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • ADR UK - 'Cross-partnership working' award
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • University of Stirling Rated Award
  • Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • Scottish Graduate School for the Social Sciences proposal reviewer
  • Carnegie Trust Reviewer
  • ESRC Peer Review College membership

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Reviewer for applications to Scottish Graduate School for the Social Sciences Steer competition
  • Funding proposals reviewed for ESRC, Chief Scientists Office for Scotland, and Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited to present to Centre for Healthcare Education Research, University of Aberdeen
  • ADR UK Webinar keynote on the NMC-Census England and Wales dataset
  • Scotland Policy Conferences keynote speaker
  • Harnessing the power of large integrated national administrative datasets to develop policy in New Zealand
  • Using data to realise the potential of the 'Last 1000 days
  • RAF Association research seminar - invited speaker
  • Speaker at seminar organised for government analysts from South Korea
  • Scottish Longitudinal Studies Roadshow
  • Medical and Nursing Faculties, University of Queensland, Australia (April 2016).
  • Scottish Blackboard Users Group (Scot-BUG) (2014).
  • Scotstat Data Linkage Conference, Edinburgh (2012).
  • NETNEP International Nurse Education Conference, Netherlands (June 2014).
  • NETNEP International Nurse Education Conference, Brisbane Australia (April 2016).
  • Health and homelessness Conference, NHS Edinburgh, August, 2011.

 

Media Activity

  • Guardian article on end of life research

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Registered General Nurse

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • PhD examination
  • PhD Examination
  • MRes examination

 

Reviewing

  • Peer reviewing for Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
  • Peer review of journals: BMJ, Ageing and Society, Social Science and Medicine, Nursing and Health, Nursing Standard,and Population Space and Place.
  • Appointed to Economic and Social Research Council Peer Review College (2015)

 

Date


70 results

Assessment of causal link between psychological factors and symptom exacerbation in inflammatory bowel disease: a protocol for systematic review of prospective cohort studies

Journal Article
Schoultz, M., Atherton, I., Hubbard, G., & Watson, A. J. M. (2013)
Assessment of causal link between psychological factors and symptom exacerbation in inflammatory bowel disease: a protocol for systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Systematic Reviews, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-2-8
Background Inflammatory bowel disease is an idiopathic chronic disease that affects around 28 million people worldwide. Symptoms are distressing and have a detrimental effect...

Differences in self-assessed health by socioeconomic group amongst people with and without a history of cancer: an analysis using representative data from Scotland

Journal Article
Atherton, I., Evans, J., Dibben, C. J. L., Woods, L. M., & Hubbard, G. (2012)
Differences in self-assessed health by socioeconomic group amongst people with and without a history of cancer: an analysis using representative data from Scotland. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 6, 458-467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-012-0226-x
Introduction This paper considers socioeconomic inequalities in self-assessed health amongst people with and without a history of cancer using representative data from Scotla...

Compassion or speed, which is a more accurate indicator of healthcare quality in the emergency department from the patients’ perspective

Journal Article
Beattie, M., Atherton, I., McLennan, B., & Lauder, W. (2012)
Compassion or speed, which is a more accurate indicator of healthcare quality in the emergency department from the patients’ perspective. International journal of person centered medicine, 2, 647-655
Rationale, aims and objectives: Devising indicators to measure quality of care is challenging in Emergency Departments (ED). It is difficult to measure aspects of quality whi...

Relationship between physical and psychosocial factors and attendance at cardiac rehabilitation

Journal Article
Munro, J., Angus, N. J., Atherton, I., Lauder, W., & Leslie, S. J. (2012)
Relationship between physical and psychosocial factors and attendance at cardiac rehabilitation. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 11, S1-S84
Purpose: To examine the relationship between physical and psychosocial factors and attendance at out-patient cardiac rehabilitation classes. Methods: Patients offered hospita...

Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020

Report
Clapham, D., Mackie, P., Orford, S., Buckley, K., Thomas, I., Atherton, I., & McAnullty, U. (2012)
Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020. Edinburgh, Scotland: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Recent economic, social and political change has resulted in a lot of uncertainty regarding the housing options for young people in the UK. This report aims to inform the deve...

Cardiac misconceptions in healthcare workers

Journal Article
Angus, N. J., Patience, F., Maclean, E., Corrigall, H., Bradbury, I., Thompson, D. R., …Leslie, S. J. (2011)
Cardiac misconceptions in healthcare workers. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 11, 396-401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2011.01.004
Background: Cardiac misconceptions are common and may have a detrimental effect on patients. Such misconceptions may be introduced or reinforced by vague and inconsistent advi...

Housing First: Considering Components for Successful Resettlement of Homeless People with Multiple Needs.

Journal Article
Nicholls, C. M., & Atherton, I. (2011)
Housing First: Considering Components for Successful Resettlement of Homeless People with Multiple Needs. Housing Studies, 26, 767-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2011.581907
‘Housing First’ programmes in the US involve the provision of mainstream scatter sited permanent housing at the initial stage of support for homeless individuals with multiple...

The health and well-being of people with a previous diagnosis of cancer: A record-linkage study in Scotland

Journal Article
Evans, J., Atherton, I., Dibben, C., & Hubbard, G. (2011)
The health and well-being of people with a previous diagnosis of cancer: A record-linkage study in Scotland. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology, 3, 429-432
Routinely collected health care data (the Scottish Cancer Registry) were record-linked to representative survey data on health and health behaviours (the Government-funded Sco...

An evaluation to assess the implementation of NHS delivered Alcohol Brief Interventions: Final Report.

Working Paper
Parkes, T., Atherton, I., Evans, J., Gloyn, S., McGhee, S., Stoddart, B., …Choudury, H. (2011)
An evaluation to assess the implementation of NHS delivered Alcohol Brief Interventions: Final Report.
Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABIs) have been identified as an effective strategy for treating people whose alcohol consumption is posing a risk to their health. As part of its...

Research ethics committees and ethical codes – implications for the healthcare chaplain

Journal Article
Atherton, I. (2010)
Research ethics committees and ethical codes – implications for the healthcare chaplain. Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy, 13,
In this paper Iain raises important issues about how the process of applying for ethical permission should be viewed as more than a bureaucratic exercise. Hospital chaplains c...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • Nursing Education: what can perspectives from the social sciences contribute?
  • Cancer survivorship in Scotland: living with and beyond cancer in Scotland
  • ESRC +3 PhD funding
  • Simon Population Trust MSc funding (tuition fees and stipend)

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Supervision of PhD at University of Dundee