Profile
Suhana Begum
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About Me:
I live with my husband and daughter in London. I work for public health helping people with changing their behaviour to be healthier. I love travelling and trying new food. We have recently explored more of England and Wales, which I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t really done before!
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I love my role in public health, I always wanted to do something that involved helping people and this allows me to help people on a larger scale. I also lecture at City, University of London and Arden University. I love working with students. I’m passionate about supporting students from an ethnic minority background into higher education; I think it’s so important to show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to some beautiful destinations. There is so much of the world to see and explore. It’s has also made me realise the importance of ensuring we preserve it for future generations – the world is currently facing important decisions in terms of changing our behaviours to protect the Earth. My background in behavioural science (looking at the hows and whys of changing behaviour) has a lot to offer here and I’m interested in potentially exploring this further in my work. Travelling has also given me the opportunity to try lots of different types of food – I’m usually open to trying almost anything once!
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My work involves designing programmes and putting things in place to support people to make healthier behaviours easier for them. For example, I worked with the council to set up a market stall that sells fresh fruit and vegetables in an area that only had two supermarkets (Marks and Spencer and Waitrose). This wasn’t affordable for most of the people that lived in that area. Having the stall meant that people could afford to buy more healthier food rather than buying less fruit and vegetables or none at all because they couldn’t afford to do so. Another example is working with the council to improve the local parks and green spaces so it is a pleasant environment for people to be able to use to be active and spend time outside with their children.
I have also done some work on COVID, such as trying to understand why some people might be unsure about having the vaccine. I worked on a study to talk to people and find out what their worries were and then think about ways that we can reassure them about having the vaccines. For example, some people felt more reassured about getting the vaccine once they knew that other people in their community had the vaccine too.
I also lecture in psychology and health psychology topics at university and do research with colleagues at different universities.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up and get myself and my daughter ready for the day. I drop my daughter off at the childminders and start work at 8am. At the moment I am working from home due to COVID. I usually stop for lunch at about 12 / 12.30 and then continue with my afternoon. I usually finish work about 6pm.
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I wake up and get myself and my daughter ready for the day. I drop my daughter off at the childminders and start work at 8am. At the moment I am working from home due to COVID, so I don’t have far to travel to my home office! I work 3 days a week and I usually start the day with emails to see if there is anything urgent I need to attend do. My work involves speaking to lots of people (professionals and local residents) and writing up what they have told me so I can share it with other colleagues. I normally have 2/3 meetings a day, but try to keep at least one day a week free of meetings so I can do my project related work. I usually stop for lunch at about 12 / 12.30 and continue with my afternoon, finishing work at about 6pm.
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Education:
City, University of London October 2014 – September 2018
University College London and King’s College London September 2010 – September 2011
City, University of London September 2006 – July 2009
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Qualifications:
City, University of London October 2014 – September 2018
DPsych Health Psychology professional doctorate
University Certificate of Academic Practice (Research Supervision and Learning, Teaching & Assessment)University College London and King’s College London September 2010 – September 2011
MSc Health Psychology (jointly delivered between UCL and KCL) Merit
City, University of London September 2006 – July 2009
BSc Psychology 2:1
City and Islington College, 3 A levels (Psychology, English Language and Literature and Sociology) grades AAB
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, 10 GCSE’s, grades one A*, 8 A’s, one B
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Work History:
Knowledge and Information Officer Camden and Islington Public Health
October 16 to Aug 20
I worked as a qualitative researcher collaborating with colleagues within public health and other departments, as well as partners such as the CCG. I conducted qualitative research projects, from planning through to dissemination of the findings. I supported colleagues with formulating robust evaluation plans using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods designs to enable evidence to be gathered about programmes efficacy. I have excellent research skills and a strong track record of publication and presentations at regional and international conferences. Knowledge and Information Analyst Camden and Islington Public Health
November 18 to April 19
This is a similar role to my current role but had additional management responsibility for two Knowledge and Information Officers. I also managed the Qualitative Research Involvement Network (QRIN), which is a partnership with colleagues inside and outside of the council (such as local voluntary and community sector organisations and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)) to coordinate the qualitative research function across the borough. I also attended and chaired strategic departmental meetings with key stakeholders and deputised for the Senior Strategist when needed. Honorary Research Fellow School of Health Sciences,
City University
December 12 to August 16
I was commissioned to work with the team on a project looking at the influence of culture and ethnicity on self-titration of insulin in patients with diabetes. My role involved collecting qualitative data (interviews) in English and Bengali and assist with transcription, based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. I analysed the data and supported the team in publication of the study in Diabetic Medicine in August 2016. Health Improvement Officer Islington Public Health
November 12 to October 16
I worked across early years settings to lead the development and delivery of the healthy lifestyles offer to parents and carers of young children. I worked creatively to enable settings to embed and sustain activity to improve health outcomes (as identified through analysis of local population needs) for families in most need. I also supported early years settings to attain Healthy Children’s Centres (HCC) or Healthy Early Years (HEY) accreditation by monitoring, evaluating and reporting their progress. I also worked on producing the Healthy Early Years London (HEYL) tools with the Mayor’s office. I have also worked as a telephone researcher (which involved cold calling people to complete surveys over the phone) and for Royal Mail (sorting the extra parcels in the run up to Christmas).
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Current Job:
Health Psychologist City, University of London
Sept 18
My doctorate in Health Psychology specialised in understanding the determinants of behaviour change interventions, fidelity of delivery and evaluating efficacy. I conducted a qualitative study exploring khat usage using the Theoretical Domains Framework (Cane et al., 2012). I interviewed users and healthcare professionals supporting them to quit. I mapped the framework onto behaviour change techniques from the Behaviour Change Taxonomy (Michie et al., 2013) to devise a behaviour change intervention. My systematic review explored fidelity in smoking cessation behaviour change interventions, assessing the extent to which the five dimensions of the Behaviour Change Consortium framework (Borelli, 2011) were used in assessing fidelity in smoking cessation behavioural interventions and assessed the methodology used to examine fidelity. I review journal articles on substance misuse / khat misuse. Public Health Lead Surrey County Council
Aug 20 to present
In this role I design, implement, monitor and review activity relating to public health programmes and services to support delivery of Surrey County Council’s public health responsibilities in health improvement. I am responsible for developing policy and management processes in order to ensure delivery of effective services in line with budgets, business timescales and corporate policies. I lead and contribute to multi-agency and partnership networks and alliances to optimise use of resources to address health issues and health inequalities across the wider health improvement agenda. Assistant Publication Editor Behavioural Science in Public Health Network (BSPHN)
February 19 to present
This role involves promoting and furthering the work of the BSPHN through the dissemination of key network publications. The role involves collaborating with the Editor to research and plan new articles and encourage committee members, speakers from events, and relevant contacts to write articles. I am responsible for writing and editing pieces, as well as proofreading and checking articles for accuracy. I often suggest possible sources and improvements for pieces and choose supporting material e.g. images. I also follow current events and developments and suggest original ideas, use social media to draw attention to articles (e.g. Twitter) and provide general administrative support to the Editor. Visiting Lecturer City, University of London
(December 18 to present)
Arden University (March 20 to present) and Imperial College London(Nov 20 to present)
I teach Health Psychology and research methods contributing to a number of courses (including BSc Psychology, MSc Health Psychology, BSc Nursing and BSc Health and Social Care, amongst others). I develop an understanding of the content, learning outcomes and modes of delivery for the relevant sessions and prepare course materials accordingly, including setting assignments, producing reading lists and course outlines/handouts. I teach lectures, tutorials and seminars, as well as offer students tutorial support, both face to face and online as distance learning. I also assess assignments and work as part of the course team to coordinate supervisory support on modules. -
My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, friendly psychologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
I had no idea!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
A few times for talking too much
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I think the Spice Girls will always be my favourite!
What's your favourite food?
Anything my mum cooks
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To have had more fun when I was younger and didn't have as many responsibilities, to have spent more time listening to my grandad's stories and to be less worried about what other people think of me.
Tell us a joke.
Why did Mickey Mouse go to space? To see Pluto!
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