About PHaR

We're an interdisciplinary group of researchers who meet at Aston University. We have members who are based at other institutions. We meet regularly to read, discuss and share insights into any work which brings a phenomenological focus to the study of health and illness. We're especially interested in understanding the relational context of health and illness, and what we might call a 'health relationship.' 

A ‘health relationship’ might be the relationship between a professional (such as a therapist or doctor) and a client or patient. It might be the support relationship between an informal carer and a person experiencing a health problem. It might be the informal peer support which enables sometime to cope with a stressful event and remain out of services. It could include the family who live with a person with a long term condition. It could extend to the relationships between healthcare professionals themselves, or to the relationship between a person and a ‘service’ as a whole. Any or all of these relationships might be the target for intervention by services, but they might also be the mechanism through which an intervention is made.

What kinds of questions are we asking?

·      Who talks to whom about what?

·      Who does what with whom?

·      What does good relational support look like?

·      Through what kinds of relational support does successful coping arise?

·      What is the role of families and/or peer groups in coping with stressful events or health conditions?

·      What are the consequences of poor relational support?

·      How can we identify – and nurture – meaningful/authentic relationships?

·      What methods can we use to capture the various meanings and functions of relationships in the context of health and wellbeing?

·      How can we intervene at the relational level?

Why health relationships?

There is strong evidence that relationships are important for good outcomes in health and wellbeing. There is less evidence about how relationships can be helpful (or hindering) and in what contexts. This is important, because as healthcare budgets are placed under growing strain, it is increasingly important to:

a. make the best use of the informal support which may be available to people who use services.

b. develop capacity to improve relational support for people who are isolated

c. intervene in relational systems which are not functioning well.

d. work with all stakeholders in a ‘whole systems’ approach in order to reduce the long term costs of secondary effects (stress, vicarious trauma etc).

e. develop services in collaboration with users, so that they include the perspectives of service-users and anticipate all parties’ relational needs appropriately.

f. develop and maintain services which can build good relationships with their users, even when they have less face-to-face time to do so.

g. engage with progressive models of ‘illness’ which incorporate capacity, capability, coping, resources, and the possibilities afforded for ‘wellbeing-within-illness.’

To find out more, please contact Michael Larkin or Rachel Shaw at Aston.