UCL Beacon Bursary for public engagement awarded to Dr Briony Hudson

UCL Culture's Public Engagement Unit awards Beacon Bursaries to staff and postgraduate research students who are undertaking projects that connect their research or teaching with communities outside of UCL.

Dr Hudson is a Research Associate in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department and is working on a qualitative research project exploring the views of homeless people and those supporting them regarding palliative care. She was awarded the Bursary for her upcoming short film project, which will explore, from the perspectives of homeless people and hostel staff, what it's really like to be ill and living in a hostel. The film had initially been intended to explore supporting difficult conversations between homeless people and hostel staff.

Dr Hudson explained, 'We decided to change the focus of the film to what it's like to live in a homeless hostel when you are very unwell, and also what it's like for hostel staff to support someone with high care needs.

'This change was motivated by the findings of our qualitative research in which there was confusion from health care providers over what a homeless hostel could and could not offer its residents in terms of physical and personal care and support. This leads to many unplanned or unsupported discharges from hospital and also means that people aren't able to get the medical support that they need while in hostels.'

Filming will begin in late April 2017, to be completed by the summer. The film will ultimately be used in training for healthcare professionals to raise awareness of the challenges of living in a homeless hostel for people who are very unwell.

Dr Hudson said, 'We are delighted to receive this bursary which will enable us to provide a platform for hostel staff and residents to share what its really like to be unwell and living in a hostel. We hope that by using the film in training we are developing for health care professionals (as part of an ongoing research project) that we may increase awareness and understanding of some of the issues around supporting homeless people with advanced ill health.'

Related links

• Beacon Bursaries at the UCL Public Engagement Unit
• Division of Psychiatry