Jen Brown, Research Fellow, Department of Health Sciences
Jen is a behaviour change scientist with a background in health psychology.
In her current role, she manages the DIAMONDS programme, designing and testing a diabetes self-management intervention for people with severe mental illness.
email: jennifer.brown@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Jen:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I work with groups facing profound health inequalities, for example those who have poor physical health alongside serious mental health problems.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
It is incredibly humbling to work with service-users and their family carers and realising how much our work means to them. They place a lot of faith in us so we have a responsibility to get it right.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Sometimes, the scale of the problem can seem overwhelming and our work feels like a drop in the ocean. But it’s important to make a start!
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
If nothing else, I hope that our work gets people talking about how we can better support the most vulnerable in our society.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
For me, exercise is key. Between golf, lifting weights, and pole dancing (or even just chasing after my kids) I try and make time to be active a couple of days every week. I really feel my mood deteriorating when I don’t manage it – and nobody wants that!