Dr Stephen Clayton Ph.D

Personal Statement

By training a social scientist and qualitative researcher, I have taught and researched in a number of areas, before finding myself drawn into Public Health. I have conducted ethnographic social research in a number of different settings, from education development projects in Cambodia to local democracy in Burnley, but have more recently developed a specific interest in the politics of health and social policy formulation and implementation. I was involved in comparative international studies of the impacts of active labour market policies aimed at people with long-term illnesses and disabilities and on the health impacts on lone mothers of a range of social policies. Amongst other projects, I also worked on a scoping study on the impacts of public spending on health inequalities and a systematic review examining the impacts of crime and fear of crime on health outcomes. I have also completed reviews of research into the health impacts of active labour market interventions with colleagues at the Universities of Lancaster and Cambridge and at Universities in Denmark and Finland.
I am currently Lecturer in Public Health in the Department of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool where I am focusing on the development of online postgraduate health programmes. Prior to this appointment, I was Senior Lecturer in Global and Public Health at Edge Hill University where I worked on the development of both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and was programme lead on the BA(Hons) Applied Health and Social Wellbeing. I was previously Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Academic Coordinator in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at UCLan. Prior to that, I was a Lecturer in Public Health in the Department of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool, where I was also Director of Studies for the Online Masters in Public Health. I was also a Research Fellow in Public Health and in the Department of Sociology at the University of Liverpool.
My most recent teaching has focused on the use of qualitative methods in health and health inequalities related research, how social theory can inform public health research and policy, and the issues surrounding evidence-based policy and practice.
I am currently supervising a doctoral research project exploring the experiences of men with mental health conditions who are long-term benefit claimants within a unstable and punitive welfare environment. I am also supervising a doctoral study exploring the experiences of older male carers.
I have supervised a number of Masters dissertations, including studies exploring the experiences of intravenous drug users tying to access Hepatitis C testing and treatment; Bhutanese refugees’ perceptions of health and health behaviours; how breast-feeding initiation rates among low income mothers are affected by the attitudes and practices of health professionals, and; a study of how the design of health facilities is informed by public health concerns.
I have previously taught in sociology departments in both Liverpool and Essex in the areas of the sociology of development, globalisation, qualitative research methods and social theory.