Giskin Day is a part-time PhD student at King’s College London and has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Doctoral Studentship. We met her to discuss her research which focuses on the expression and reception of gratitude in healthcare.
The project consists of four interrelated phases: analysis of past and present thank-you letters and other gestures of gratitude from patients; mapping of sites of gratitude displays; ethnographic fieldwork; and a series of workshops to share emerging findings and shape recommendations for practice. Giskin’s fieldwork will consist of observing gratitude on the wards of the Royal Brompton Hospital, mapping the sites where gratitude is evident, sampling expressions of gratitude, and shadowing and interviewing staff.
Giskin hopes the study will generate advice and guidance for healthcare institutions who wish to better recognise and facilitate gratitude to create positive working environments.
In addition to her PhD which she is conducting at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King’s; Giskin is also teaching medical humanities at Imperial College London and has an honorary role as an ethnographer at the Royal Brompton Hospital which will help her to carry out the research.
When applying for funding, Giskin contacted us and was assigned an adviser from our team at Imperial College London. The adviser helped Giskin refine her research proposal and connected her to our qualitative methods lead, Jill Russell who offered tailored advice.
“The proposal benefited from candid, constructive and detailed feedback. My adviser was friendly and approachable which made the process much more enjoyable and less stressful.”
Watch the video to learn more.
