School of Psychology

My association with Keele began in 1990 when I was employed to teach Psychology to student nurses at the North Staffordshire School of Nursing and Midwifery, later to become the largest academic school within Keele University. I remained in the school of Nursing and Midwifery until 2005, teaching applied psychology, mental health nursing, communication skills, and research methods. Since 2005 I have been seconded to the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Training Programme, and with the transfer of this programme at Keele from the Faculty of Health to the Faculty of Science, I became a member of the Psychology School staff in June 2008. I am a Chartered Psychologist, a founder member of the BPS Division for Teachers and Researchers in Psychology and a member of the BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology (QMiP) Section; I am associate editor for the latter section’s journal.

My research interests are in psychological caregiving in physical illness, the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities, building research capacity, and interprofessional learning. A current project is on Interprofessional Learning in Mental Health, and I have been appointed Consultant/Facilitator to the project ‘Diversity in the Psychology Curriculum at Keele University; A collaborative action research project’ Funded by HEA Psychology Network & Keele Teaching Innovation Scheme. I have been a member of the North Staffs NHS/Keele University Independent Peer Review Committee since April 2005. I currently supervise 2 PhD students, 7 DClinPsy trainees, 2 MSc Psychology research methods students, 2 MA Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Action Research Module Students and a research assistant.

I am a member of the Research Institute for Life Course Studies.

• Gibbs, M., Priest, H., & Read, S. (2008). Experiences of family carers of people with ID and a mental health condition. Abstract. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 52(8-9), 715.
• Priest, H., Roberts, P., Dent, H., Blincoe, C., Lawton, D., & Armstrong, C. (2008). Interprofessional education and working in mental health: in search of the evidence base. Journal of Nursing Management 16, 474-485.
• Green, B., Segrott, J., Priest, H., McIvor, M., Douglas, J., Flood, Y., Morris, S., & Rushton, C., (2007). Research capacity for everyone? A case study of two academic nursing schools’ capacity building strategies. Journal of Research in Nursing 12(3), 247-265.
• Priest, H. (2006). Helping student nurses to identify and respond to the psychological needs of physically ill patients: Implications for curriculum design. Nurse Education Today. 26, 423-439.
• Priest, H., Sawyer, A., Roberts, P., & Rhodes, S. (2005) A survey of interprofessional education in communication skills in healthcare programmes in the UK. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 19(3),236-250.
• Priest H. & Gibbs M. (2004) Mental health care for people with learning disabilities. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
• Priest H. (2002) The phenomenology of psychological caregiving in nursing. International Journal for Human Caring, 6(3):8-14

In Press

Roberts, P., & Priest, H. (Eds). Healthcare research. A handbook for students and practitioners. Wiley.

Postgraduate

• Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology – Module leader for Research Methods and Research Thesis modules, contributor to all modules
• MA Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Module leader, Action Research Module