Dr Navneet Aujla

I am an experienced researcher, having held research posts at various universities. I have led and supported a range of research projects in applied health, focused on populations in the United Kingdom and globally in low-and-middle-income countries.

Most recently, I was Senior Research Associate at Newcastle University working in the Advanced Care Research Centre collaboration with the University of Edinburgh in the 'New models of care' work package. I was also part of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration in the North-East and North-Cumbria, where I was affiliated with the Multimorbidity, Ageing, and Frailty theme.

Prior to that, I worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Behavioural Science Group at Warwick Business School and in the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Improving Health in Slums at Warwick Medical School. Before my PhD, I worked as a researcher at the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham.

My research is focused on improving understanding and support for people with mental health problems related to long-term physical illness. I have a particular interest in stroke and other neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s Disease. The development, evaluation, and implementation of complex interventions is central to my research, alongside tackling health inequalities.

My research uses mixed-methods, including quantitative/qualitative approaches, and evidence review/synthesis. Patients, carers, and members of the public have a crucial role in guiding the focus of my research, based on their real-world experiences.

Aujla N, Tooman T, Arakelyan S, Kerby T, Hartley L, O’Donnell A, Guthrie B, Underwood I, Jacko JA, Anand A (2024). New horizons in systems engineering and thinking to improve health and social care for older people. Age and Ageing; 53, 10, afae238

Frost H, Tooman TR, Aujla N, Guthrie B, Hanratty B, Kaner E, O’Donnell A, Ogden ME, Pain HG, Shenkin SD, Mercer SW (2024). New models of health and social care for people in later life: mapping of innovations in services in two regions of the United Kingdom using a mixed-method approach. BMC Health Services Research; 24, 812

Ho I S-S, McGill K, Malden S, Wilson C, Pearce C, Kaner E, Vines J, Aujla N, Lewis S, Restocchi V, Marshall A, Guthrie B (2023). Examining the social networks of older adults receiving informal or formal care: a systematic review. BMC Geriatrics; 23, 531

Frost H, Tooman T, Hawkins K, Aujla N, Mercer SW (2023). Green social prescribing: challenges and opportunities to implementation in deprived areas. British Journal of General Practice; 73 (733): 342-343

Ho L, Malden S, McGill K, Shimonovich M, Frost H, Aujla N, Ho IS, Shenkin SD, Hanratty B, Mercer SW, Guthrie B (2023). Complex interventions for improving independent living and quality of life among community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Age and Ageing; 52: 7, afad132

Dallosso H, Khunti K, Gray LJ, Hulley K, Ghaly M, Patel N, Kai J, Aujla N, Davies MJ, Yates T (2023). Implementation of a diabetes prevention programme in a multi-ethnic community in primary care in England: an evaluation using constructs from the RE-AIM Framework. Primary Care Diabetes; S1751-9918(23)00096-7

Aujla N-Frost H (joint first authors), Guthrie G, Hanratty B, Kaner E, O’Donnell A, Ogden ME, Pain HG, Shenkin SD, Mercer SW (2023). A comparative overview of health and social care policy for older people in England and Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). Health Policy; 132: 104814

Spieker C, Laverty AA, Oyebode O, Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2022). The prevalence and socio-demographic associations of household food insecurity in seven slum sites across Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE; 17(12): e0278855

Park J-E, Kibe P, Yeboah G, Oyebode O, Harris B, Ajisola MM, Griffiths F, Aujla N, Gill P, Lilford RJ, Chen Y-F, Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2022). Factors associated with accessing and utilisation of healthcare and provision of health services for residents of slums in low and middle-income countries: a scoping review of recent literature. BMJ Open; 12: e055415

Schmidtke K, Aujla N, Marshall T, Hussain A, Hodgkinson GP, Arheart K, Birnbach DJ, Kudrna L, Vlaev I (2022). A crossover randomized controlled trial of priming interventions to increase hand hygiene at ward entrances. Frontiers in Public Health; 9

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2022). Primary care doctor and nurse consultations among people who live in slums: a retrospective, cross-sectional survey in four countries. BMJ Open; 12: e054142

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2021). Inequity of healthcare access and use and catastrophic health spending in slum communities: a retrospective, cross-sectional survey in four countries. BMJ Global Health; 6: e007265

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2021). Pharmacies in informal settlements: a retrospective, cross-sectional household, and health facility survey in four countries. BMC Health Services Research; 21, 945

Aujla N, Chen Y-F, Samarakoon Y, Wilson A, Grolmusová N, Ayorinde A, Hofer T, Griffiths F, Brown C, Gill P, Mallen C, Sartori J, Lilford RJ (2021). Comparing the use of direct observation, standardised patients and exit interviews in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review of methods of assessing quality of primary care. Health Policy and Planning; 36(3): 341-356

Aujla N, Ilori T, Irabor A, Obimakinde A, Owoaje E, Fayehun F, Ajisola MM, Bolaji SO, Watson SI, Hofer TI, Omigbodun A, Lilford RJ (2021). Development of a video-observation method for examining doctors’ clinical and interpersonal skills in a hospital outpatient clinic in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. BMC Health Services Research; 21: 488.

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2021). Analysis of OpenStreetMap data quality at different stages of a participatory mapping process: evidence from slums in Africa and Asia. International Journal of Geo-Information; 10(4).

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2020). Impact of the societal response to COVID-19 on access to healthcare for non-COVID 19 health issues in slum communities of Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan: results of pre-COVID and COVID-19 lockdown stakeholder engagements. BMJ Global Health; 5: e003042

Aujla N, Yates T, Dallosso H, and Kai J (2019). Users’ experiences of a pragmatic diabetes prevention intervention implemented in primary care: Qualitative study. BMJ Open; 9: e028491

Improving Health in Slums Collaborative (2019). A protocol for a multi-site, spatially-referenced household survey in slum settings: methods for access, sampling frame construction, sampling, and field data collection. BMC Medical Research Methodology; 19: 109

Aujla N, Walker M, Vedhara K, and Sprigg N (2019). The relationship between patients’ illness beliefs and recovery after stroke. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 24(5), 551-558 (EPub 11 Dec 2018)

Aujla N, Vedhara K, Walker M, and Sprigg N (2020). Evaluating a stroke-specific version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, using the Think-Aloud method. Journal of Health Psychology; 25(12): 1989-2005 (EPub 26 Jun 2018)

Aujla N, Walker M, Sprigg N, and Vedhara K (2020). Do individual versus illness belief schema differ in the prediction of post-stroke recovery? Journal of Health Psychology; 25 (13-14): 2118-2128 (EPub 12 Jul 2018)

Schmidtke K, Aujla N, Marshall T, Hussain A, Patel K, Hodgkinson T, Arheart K, Martin J, Birnback D, Vlaev I (2017). Using environmental engineering to increase hand-hygiene compliance: a cross-over study protocol. BMJ Open; 7: e017108

Aujla N, Walker M, Sprigg N, Abrams K, Massey A, and Vedhara K (2016). Can illness beliefs, from the common-sense model, prospectively predict adherence to self-management behaviours? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology and Health; 31 (8): 931-958

Fazil Q, Aujla N, Hale C, Kai J (2015). Unequal treatment: health care experiences and needs of patients with cancer from minority ethnic communities. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care; 12(3): 95-103

Massey A, Campbell B, Raine-Fenning N, Aujla N, Vedhara K (2014). The association of physiological cortisol and IVF treatment outcomes: a systematic review. Reproductive Medicine and Biology; 13: 161-176

Stone MA, Aujla N, Taub N, Davies MJ, Khunti K (2014). Identifying people with or at risk of type 2 diabetes. Primary Care Cardiovascular Journal; 7: 78-80

Aujla N, Stone MA, Taub N, Davies MJ, Khunti K (2013). Identifying people with type 2 diabetes and those at risk: lessons from the Measure Your Waist (MY-WAIST) mixed-methods study in UK primary-care. Primary Care Diabetes; 7: 261-267

McDonough C, Dunkley AJ, Aujla N, Morris D, Davies MJ, Khunti K (2013). The association between body mass index and health-related quality of life: influence of ethnicity on this relationship. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism; 15: 342-348

Eborall H, Stone MA, Aujla N, Taub N, Davies M, Khunti K (2012). Influences on the uptake of diabetes screening: a qualitative study. British Journal of General Practice: e204-e211

Aujla N, Davies MJ, Skinner TC, Webb DR, Srinivasan B, Khunti K (2011). The association between anxiety and measures of glycaemia in a population-based diabetes screening programme. Diabetic Medicine; 28: 785-788

Aujla N, Skinner TC, Khunti K, Davies MJ (2010). The prevalence of depressive symptoms in a White European and South Asian population with impaired glucose regulation and screen-detected Type 2 diabetes mellitus: a comparison of two screening tools. Diabetic Medicine; 27: 896-905

Aujla N, Abrams KR, Davies MJ, Taub N, Skinner TC, Khunti K (2009). The prevalence of depression in white-European and south-Asian people with impaired glucose regulation and screen-detected type 2 diabetes mellitus. PLOS One; 4(11): e7755