Dr Alexandra Hillman
Research Associate
- Email:
- hillmanae1@cardiff.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- +44(0) 29 2087 9602
- Location:
- Room 2.02, 46 Park Place
I have been working as a researcher in the school of social sciences since beginning my doctorate in 2003. I am a qualitative sociologist with an ethnographic approach to undertaking research. I have worked on a number of collaborative projects that have spanned both the school of social sciences and the medical school. These have included working with looked after children and young people, engaging with experts on the uses of remote monitoring technology for people with chronic illness and more recently, a UK-wide study exploring the issue of dignity and dignified care for older people on acute hospital wards. My teaching reflects my research interests and has meant that I teach both undergraduates and postgraduates on topics such as: medical sociology, qualitative research methods, ethnography in healthcare and older people, medicine and care.
Honours and awards
BScEcon Sociology and Social Policy, MSc Social Science Research Methods, PhD Negotiating Access: Practices of Inclusion and Exclusion in the Performance of 'Real' Emergency Medicine.
Professional memberships
BSA (British Sociological Association)
Academic positions
Research Associate, Cardiff University School of Social Sciences.
2019
- Clare, L.et al. 2019. A comprehensive model of factors associated with capability to "Live well" for family caregivers of people living with mild-to-moderate dementia: findings from the IDEALstudy. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders 31(1), pp. 29-35. (10.1097/WAD.0000000000000285)
- Clare, L.et al. 2019. A comprehensive model of factors associated with subjective perceptions of "Living Well" with dementia. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders 33(1), pp. 36-41. (10.1097/WAD.0000000000000286)
- Hillman, A. and Latimer, J. 2019. Somaticization, the making and unmaking of minded persons and the fabrication of dementia. Social Studies of Science (10.1177/0306312719834069)
2018
- Silarova, B.et al. 2018. Protocol for the IDEAL-2 longitudinal study: following the experiences of people with dementia and their primary carers to understand what contributes to living well with dementia and enhances active life. BMC Public Health 18, article number: 1214. (10.1186/s12889-018-6129-7)
- Hillman, A.et al. 2018. Dualities of dementia illness narratives and their role in a narrative economy. Sociology of Health and Illness 40(5), pp. 874-891. (10.1111/1467-9566.12729)
- Swallow, J. and Hillman, A. 2018. Fear and anxiety: Affects, emotions and care practices in the memory clinic. Social Studies of Science
2017
- Hillman, A. and Latimer, J. 2017. Cultural representations of dementia. Public Library of Science Medicine 14(3), article number: e1002274. (10.1371/journal.pmed.1002274)
- Hillman, A., Lewis, J. T. and Elwyn, G. 2017. Pathways and prospects in cancer research: Securing futures and negotiating boundaries. Biosocieties 12(3), pp. 321-342. (10.1057/s41292-017-0036-5)
- Hillman, A. 2017. Diagnosing dementia: Ethnography, interactional ethics and everyday moral reasoning. Social Theory & Health 15(1), pp. 44-65. (10.1057/s41285-016-0018-x)
2016
- Hillman, A. 2016. Institutions of care, moral proximity and demoralisation: The case of the emergency department. Social Theory and Health 14(1), pp. 1-22. (10.1057/sth.2015.10)
2014
- Hillman, A. 2014. Why must I wait? Performing legitimacy in a hospital emergency department. Sociology of Health and Illness 36(485), pp. 485-499. (10.1111/1467-9566.12072)
2013
- Hillman, A.et al. 2013. Risk, governance and the experience of care. Sociology of Health and Illness 35(6), pp. 939-955. (10.1111/1467-9566.12017)
- Calnan, M.et al. 2013. 'I often worry about the older person being in that system': exploring the key influences on the provision of dignified care for older people in acute hospitals. Ageing and Society 33(3), pp. 465-485. (10.1017/S0144686X12000025)
2012
- Tadd, W.et al. 2012. From right place - wrong person, to right place - right person: Dignified care for older people. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy 17(Supp 2), pp. 30-36. (10.1258/jhsrp.2011.011118)
- White, P., Hillman, A. and Latimer, J. E. 2012. Ordering, enrolling, and dismissing: moments of access across hospital spaces. Space and Culture 15(1), pp. 68-87. (10.1177/1206331211426063)
2011
- Tadd, W.et al. 2011. Right place - wrong person: dignity in the acute care of older people. Quality in Ageing and Older Adults 12(1), pp. 33-43. (10.5042/qiaoa.2011.0143)
- Ross, N. J.et al. 2011. Moving stories: using mobile methods to explore the everyday lives of young people in public care. In: Coffey, A. J. and Hall, T. A. eds. Researching Young People., Vol. 1. Fundamentals of Applied Research London: Sage, pp. 123-140.
- Tadd, W.et al. 2011. Dignity in practice: An exploration of the care of older adults in acute NHS Trusts. Project Report. [Online]. HMSO. Available at: http://www.bgs.org.uk/pdf_cms/reference/Tadd_Dignity_in_Practice.pdf
2010
- Holland, S.et al. 2010. Power, agency and participatory agendas: A critical exploration of young people's engagement in participative qualitative research. Childhood 17(3), pp. 360-375. (10.1177/0907568210369310)
- Hillman, A., White, P. and Latimer, J. E. 2010. Accessing care: Technology and the management of the clinic.. In: Schillmeier, M. and Domenech, M. eds. New Technologies and Emerging Spaces of Care... Ashgate, pp. 197-220.
2009
- Ross, N. J.et al. 2009. Moving stories: using mobile methods to explore the everyday lives of young people in public care. Qualitative Research 9(5), pp. 605-623. (10.1177/1468794109343629)
- Evans, R. J.et al. 2009. Qualitative research, deliberative inquiry and policy making. Qualitative Researcher(10), pp. 10-11.
2008
- Renold, E.et al. 2008. 'Becoming participant': problematizing 'informed consent' in participatory research with young people in care. Qualitative Social Work 7(4), pp. 427-447. (10.1177/1473325008097139)
- Holland, S.et al. 2008. Rights, ‘right on’ or the right thing to do? A critical exploration of young people's engagement in participative social work research. Working paper. ERSC National Centre for Reseacrh Methods. Available at: http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/460/1/0708%2520critical%2520exploration.pdf
- Ross, N.et al. 2008. The multi-sensory experiences of mobile research encounters. Presented at: NCRM Research Methods Festival 2008, St Catherine's College, Oxford, 30 June - 3 July 2008.
- Holland, S.et al. 2008. The everyday lives of children in care: using a sociological perspective to inform social work practice. In: Luckock, B. and Lefevre, M. eds. Direct work: social work with children and young people in care.. London: British Association for Adoption & Fostering, pp. 77-94.
2007
- Hillman, A. 2007. Negotiating access : Practices of inclusion and exclusion in the performance of 'real' emergency medicine.. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
As I am a full time funded researcher, I am able to focus on teaching that reflects my interests and research. My teaching therefore cuts across schools and includes both undergraduates and postgraduates. Topics I have taught include: older people and healthcare, sociology of risk and professional practice, medical sociology, ethnography and qualitative research methods.
My research is in medical sociology with a particular interest in the treatment and care of older people. A recurring theme of all my research is the relationship between medicine and the organisation of health services and how this relationships shapes everyday routines and practices of care. My doctoral research explored categories of prioritisation in a hospital emergency department (ED) and showed how institutional logics of care constituted older people as particularly problematic to the purposes of emergency medicine. In my current project- funded as part of a Wellcome trust Ethics and Society Postdoctoral Fellowship award- the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, dementia and cognitive impairment are explored to highlight the implications of diagnoses for the (re)making of the boundaries between normal ageing, cognitive decline and degenerative disease. I am also interested in the social and ethical implications of a new and growing group of older people labelled with a pre-condition. Alongside the science and the medicine of ageing, all my work pays attention to people's experiences of getting older, both of health and of illness, and the ways in which these experiences are shaped by the organisations and services that deliver healthcare.