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Hassan, Idil (2021) Professional doctorate in health psychology. Thesis portfolio. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
This portfolio contains the work I have undertaken over the two years of my training and demonstrates how I met the required five competencies that make up the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology as outlined by the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2009). The five competencies included in this portfolio consist of an original piece of research and a systematic review of existing literature and four case studies that demonstrate competency in behaviour change interventions, consultancy, teaching and training and review of the professional skills I have gained throughout the two-year training period.
The journey has been transformational for me. At the beginning of the doctoral training, I worked with a local mental health charity as a group coordinator and I was later promoted to team leader in running the recovery-focused group. I was able to expand the service using the knowledge and skills I have gained and was able to include various elements of behaviour change interventions to support adults with long and enduring mental health problems to improve the quality of their lives. Moving on to a different post as a project officer working for a local charity organisation that supports Black African women living with HIV and have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). The role enabled me to expand my potential in delivering FGM awareness trainings to various audiences including healthcare professionals, statutory agencies, secondary school children and members from the local community groups. The teaching and training competency enabled me to expose myself to opportunities to teach various audiences both professionally and in academic settings. On my journey in becoming a competent teacher and trainer, I have engaged with the process of teaching outlined in the competency handbook which helped me develop key skills including understanding different learning styles and accounting for these in the teaching material.
The research competency was the most challenging and equally rewarding. I have never undertaken such a huge project. My research looked at the impact of culture and gender in healthy eating and physical activity among Somali women and men. Being a Somali woman, I have seen the challenges women face in their attempts to adopt healthy lifestyles but face many challenges due to their roles as women. Although I did not set out to undertake this piece of research at the start of my training, however, it became an issue that I persistently came across in my involvement within the community.
I then realised that this is an area that is under researched in which I can greatly contribute to. Undertaking such a qualitative piece of work enabled me to become a competent researcher as I had to make certain choices for my research and justify those choices. For example, understanding the different epistemological stances and why I chose the realist/essentialist approach rather than the social constructionist approaches. Having to consider these elements in my analysis enabled me to evolve my understanding and knowledge in qualitative research. I am more competent in conducting qualitative research and able to evaluate papers that have used qualitative research more confidently.
Conducting the systematic review has been a challenge as this was my first systematic review I have undertaken. Understanding the whole process has made me a competent researcher with a better knowledge and understanding of the steps involved. My review examined factors influencing psychological help-seeking and access to relevant professional services in Black and South Asian ethnic minority groups. The inspiration to examine this topic came from my observations during the COVID-19 pandemic and what was taking place nationally and internationally. Also having personal experience with family members and relatives refusing to seek medical help made me reflect on what was going on and whether this was an issue that was previously explored and how I may be able to contribute to this field. It has been an incredible journey to undertake the review as has enabled me to widen my knowledge in the field of barriers to help-seeking.
The knowledge and experience I have gained from my consultancy competency enabled me to gain further opportunities for consultancies due to referrals from clients. The consultancy has also shaped the way I approach any tasks that involve input from me. For example, establishing needs and priorities of others involved in projects enabled me to be mindful of my own thoughts and beliefs around what approach to take to best support the client.
The behaviour change interventions competency outlines the delivery of a stress management intervention with women living with HIV and have undergone FGM. With little empirical evidence on the impact of both conditions on the individual, it transpired that this population was in extreme need for a community-based health intervention to empower them to self-manage better. The intervention competence seemed challenging to begin with, however, the more I became adept, the easier it became to envisage the whole process and as a result increased my overall confidence.
Now at the end stage of the training I feel that I am totally a different person than at the start due to the knowledge and expertise I have gained as a result of the stage 2 training. Undertaking the training has not only enabled me to develop the specific competencies required by the qualification, but it has been an incredible experience which has given me the confidence to work independently and accomplish things that I felt were always outside of my capabilities. Such as, teaching academically, delivering talks in conferences, being part of a panel in discussions as well as appearing on Somali television network. Having moved on to a Public Health post working for a local authority, the knowledge and skills I have gained through the doctoral training enabled me to provide expert advice in the design and evaluation of interventions to improve the health of the local population. Without the stage 2 training, I would not have had the expertise to accomplish the above.
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