Professor Heather Wilkinson
Director of Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia (ECRED); Deputy Director of the Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC) Academy
Contact details
- Email: h.wilkinson@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Advanced Care Research Centre Academy (ACRC Academy)
Bio Cube 1
13 Little France Road
Edinburgh Bioquarter
EH16 4UX - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4UX
Qualifications
MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy, Newman University, 2021 (Distinction)
Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Northern Guild, Newcastle, 2020 (Distinction)
Post Graduate Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Studies (Merit), Northern Guild, Newcastle, 2019.
Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy, University of Edinburgh, 2017 (Distinction)
PhD, Lancaster University, 1997. ESRC studentship 1994-1997
Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Secondary), Manchester Metropolitan University, 1991
BA (Hons) Geography, Northumbria University, 1984 – 1987
Research summary
My research focuses on working with people living with dementia to develop better understandings of methodological and personal perspectives of people with dementia, and for people with learning disabilities and dementia. This aim has underpinned my research career since 1996, and particularly from when I joined the University of Edinburgh in 2000. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, I work across the fields of gerontology, health, nursing, sociology, practice development and social policy with strong knowledge exchange and practice development components. My roles in the ACRC have allowed me to extend my interdisciplinarity across wider fields through collaborations with engineering, AI, architecture, design and informatics. Much of my work has been methodologically innovative to ensure that the research participants/collaborators with dementia and/or learning disability (previously totally excluded) are included in research and dissemination. Several of the projects have had a direct influence on policy and practice (see for example, the work for the Scottish Government on the Adults with Incapacity legislation; night time care project; toilets and design for accessibility; the ECREDibles, involving people living with dementia in research). I have a strong commitment to ensuring effective knowledge exchange and public engagement including at an international level with my partnerships in India, Europe, Australia and Taiwan. My work has contributed to service development in Scotland and I was co-founder of the Scottish Dementia Working Group. More recently I have qualified as a psychotherapist and I work in private practice in the north-east of England.