Dr Linda Birt
Senior Research Associate, School of Health Sciences
Linda joined University of East Anglia in 2007. Since September 2014 she has worked within the School of Health Sciences as a Senior Research Associate on an ESRC/NIHR funded project exploring ways of Promoting Independence in Dementia (The PRIDE study).
Prior to working in academia Linda qualified as a general nurse at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in 1984. Following a career change she worked for 12 years in Further Education delivering health and social care training. During this period she achieved a BSc (Hons) Health Studies from Anglia Ruskin and an MSc in Health Sciences from UEA.
Linda gained her PhD at UEA in 2010. Her thesis investigated the roles, obligations and cultural expectations experienced by working age men who were combining paid employment with unpaid informal care. Since achieving her doctorate she has worked as a researcher on a variety of studies at UEA and at University of Cambridge.
Her research interests include: the experience of living with chronic illness, including the impact of biographical disruption; the competing responsibilities of informal caregiving; public attitudes and beliefs about cancer screening and help-seeking for cancer symptoms.
Although her research predominantly uses qualitative methods she has an interest in how qualitative methods might interface with quantitative methods to provide a holistic understanding of the patient experience.