معرفی
Jessica Turner is a Research Fellow at De Montfort University in the School of Applied Social Sciences and is affiliated with the Centre for Reproduction Research. Her work bridges sociology and applied health research, with a strong emphasis on women's health, reproduction, chronic illness, and digital sociology. She contributes to both research coordination and strategic development within her Centre.
Her educational background includes a MRes in Applied Health Research, with a dissertation focusing on discourses of pregnancy and early motherhood on social media, and a BA in Sociology. These qualifications underpin her expertise in qualitative research and sociological analysis of health and illness.
Jessica’s research interests revolve around the sociological dimensions of health, particularly in reproduction and long-term conditions like type 2 diabetes. She applies theoretical frameworks such as Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) to understand how healthcare interventions are implemented in primary care settings. Her work explores how digital platforms influence maternal identity and how systemic barriers affect patient access to self-management education.
The recent publications highlight a thematic focus on improving the implementation and uptake of structured self-management education for type 2 diabetes patients in the UK. Using NPT, she investigates how interventions can be embedded into routine clinical practice, examining factors at patient, professional, and organisational levels. Her interdisciplinary approach combines ethnographic methods, stakeholder consultation, and mixed-methods analysis to design and evaluate complex health interventions.
Jessica has contributed to externally funded projects, including an NIHR-funded £2 million Programme Grant and an internally funded ESRC-related interdisciplinary study on egg donation (EDNA). She is an active member of the British Sociological Association and serves on the organising committee for the BSA East Midlands Medical Sociology Group. Additionally, she is the editor of the Centre for Reproduction Research Blog and an Open Access Champion at DMU, promoting research visibility and accessibility.
She has presented her work at multiple national conferences, including the BSA Medical Sociology Conference and the Society of Reproductive and Infant Psychology Annual Conference. Her collaborative research involves institutions such as the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester, demonstrating strong interdisciplinary and inter-institutional engagement.
