Dr Julia Hiscock
Research Fellow
Research Overview
Julia Hiscock is a Research Fellow with Bangor University, based at the North Wales Centre for Primary Care Research in Wrexham. Prior to this she was a Research Fellow in the departments of Primary Care in the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester. She is a medical sociologist and has led many research teams exploring issues at the interface of health and sociology. Her research involves asking sociological questions about how we can understand the ways that people manage their health in their everyday personal lives and the practices that they use to cope with illness and health concerns. This formed the basis of her PhD, funded by a Personal Researcher Development Award from NIHR, which used qualitative methods to explore informal interactions about health between friends, relatives and other social contacts. Julia’s particular methodological expertise is in qualitative methods and she has conducted or led over 15 qualitative or mixed-methods studies, in academic contexts, applied policy research and previously in international development. She has been awarded, either as PI or co-applicant, over £600k in grant capture.
Research Interests
Julia’s main research interest is social support and the role of family and friends in the management of health.
She has a strong interest in qualitative research methods and also retains an interest in the areas of research in which she has been involved in the past including telemedicine, sickness certification in primary care, mental health (particularly depression) and health care delivery in developing countries.
Education and Qualifications
PhD University of Manchester
MSc London School of Economics
BA University of Durham
Peer Esteem
Executive Committee member of the Medical Sociology Group of the British Sociological Association
Peer reviewer for Social Science and Medicine, Sociology of Health and Illness and other medical and social science journals
Selected Publications
Parsonage RK, Hiscock J, Law RJ, Neal RD. Patient perspectives on delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer: a qualitative analysis of free-text data.British Journal of General Practice (2016). DOI:10.3399/bjgp16X688357
Stanciu MA, Morris C, Makin M, Watson E, Bulger J, Evans R, Hiscock J, Hoare Z, Tudor Edwards R, Neal RD, Wilkinson C. A pilot randomised controlled trial of personalised care after treatment for prostate cancer (TOPCAT-P): nurse-led holistic-needs assessment and individualised psychoeducational intervention: study protocol. MJ Open 2015;5:e008470 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008470
Bulger JK, Hiscock J, Neal RD, Stanciu A, Makin M, Wilkinson C. ‘Carrying on the way we are, is becoming shambolic’ An interview study with prostate cancer specialists about their usual practice of follow-up. Journal of Clinical Urology. DOI: 10.1177/2051415814545804
Hiscock J, Hodgson P, Peters S, Westlake D, Gabbay M (2009) Complexity in simple tasks: A qualitative analysis of GPs’ completion of long-term incapacity forms. Primary Health Care Research & Development. 10: 254-269. doi: 10.1017/S1463423609001236
Mair F, Hiscock J, Beaton S (2008) Understanding factors that inhibit or promote the utilization of telecare in chronic lung disease. Chronic Illness. 4, 2: 110-117. doi: 10.1177/1742395308092482
Mair F, Finch T, May C, Hiscock J, Beaton S, Goldstein P, McQuillan S (2007) Perceptions of risk as a barrier to the use of telemedicine. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. 13, suppl 1: 38-39. doi: 10.1258/135763307781645158
Hiscock J (2007) Acquaintances, friends and strangers – do they matter to medical sociology? Medical Sociology Online (MSo). 2, 1: 23-25
Dowrick CF, Hughes JG, Hiscock J, Wigglesworth M, Walley T (2007) Considering the case for an antidepressant drug trial involving temporary deception: a qualitative enquiry of potential participants. BMC Health Services Research. 7, 64. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-7-64
Hiscock J, Hodgson P, Peters S, Westlake D, Gabbay M (2005) UK general practitioner behaviour in the provision of medical evidence for long-term sickness benefit. European Journal of Public Health. 15, suppl 1: 137. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/cki570
Marshall M, Hiscock J and Sibbald B (2002) Attitudes to the public release of comparative information on the quality of general practice care: qualitative study. BMJ (British Medical Journal). 325: 1278-1281. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7375.1278