Dr Alexandra Burton

Profile

I am a Lecturer in Mental Health Research in the Unit for Psychological Medicine in the Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health. I received my PhD in Applied Mental Health Research from the UCL Division of Psychiatry which explored Social Support and Cardiovascular Health in People with Severe Mental Illnesses. My research explores how and why, social, cultural and community programmes impact the health and wellbeing of people with mental health problems, primarily using qualitative methods of inquiry. I am also interested in the interface between physical and mental health and how programmes such as social prescribing can support people with comorbidities.

I currently hold an MQ Mental Health Fellows Award to explore Inequalities in Social Prescribing among People Living with Severe Mental Illnesses and Cardiovascular Risk Factors and I have previously received funding from Rosetrees Trust, NIHR and ESRC as Principal and Co-Investigator.

I am available to supervise MSc and PhD students with a strong interest in qualitative methods, intervention development and evaluation in areas related to social, cultural and community programmes, social support, loneliness, social isolation and severe mental illness.

I am on the editorial advisory board for BMJ Open and a reviewer for the MQ Transdisciplinary Research Grants Award. I hold an Honorary Senior Research Fellow position at University College London.

Research

Research Interests:

My research explores the ingredients and mechanisms of social, cultural and community programmes to understand how and why they impact our mental and physical health as well as barriers and enablers to engagement. I am particularly interested in conducting research that improves social support and tackles loneliness and social isolation for people living with severe mental illnesses and comorbid mental and physical health problems. I am also interested in developing and evaluating interventions that seek to improve physical healthcare for people with severe mental illnesses. I have conducted systematic and realist reviews, qualitative interview, focus group and ethnographic studies and managed feasibility and clinical trials.

Publications

1. Burton, Alexandra; Walters, Kate; Marston, Louise; Osborn, David; (2020) Is there an association between perceived social support and cardiovascular health behaviours in people with severe mental illnesses? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology1007/s00127-020-01879-9.
2. Baxter, Louise; Burton, Alexandra; Fancourt, Daisy; (2022) Community and cultural engagement for people with lived experience of mental health conditions: what are the barriers and enablers? BMC Psychology, 10 (1) , Article 71. 1186/s40359-022-00775-y
3. Warran, Katey; Burton, Alexandra; Fancourt, Daisy; (2022) What are the active ingredients of ‘arts in health’ activities? Development of the INgredients iN ArTs in hEalth (INNATE) Framework [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]. Wellcome Open Research, 7 , Article 10. 12688/wellcomeopenres.17414.2.
4. Burton, Alexandra; Bone, Jessica K; Lawrence-Lunniss, Kate; Philip, Keir EJ; (2024) Acceptability and feasibility of a theatre-based wellness programme to support people living with long COVID: a single-arm feasibility study. BMJ Open, 14 (6) , Article e083224. 1136/bmjopen-2023-083224

5. Burton, A., Bind, R.H., Davis, R. et al. A qualitative exploration of active ingredients and mechanisms of action of an online singing programme with mothers experiencing postnatal depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: SHAPER-PNDO study. BMC Psychol 12, 714 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02213-7

    

Supervision

I am currently first supervisor for:

Leila Heelas - Design of a collaborative social prescribing pathway to increase community asset participation in people living with chronic pain (The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, 2023-28)

Alexandra Bradbury (NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 2024-26)

I am subsidiary supervisor for:

Preeyapat Mangkalard – Connected for Change: Social Support-Based Behavioural Interventions for Overweight and Obesity (Royal Thai Government Scholarship, 2024-28)

Jo Dawes - Frailty and social vulnerability in people experiencing homelessness (NIHR Doctoral Fellowship, 2022-26)

Ben Havers – Developing an intervention to protect older people from cybercrime (Dawes Centre for Future Crimes, 2022-25). 

Maria Azocar Lopez – Experiences of apathy in dementia (Government of Chile, National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research Scholarship, 2019-25)