Hannah Forbes

PhD Student

About me

Before undertaking a PhD in partnership with WWT and the University of Exeter I worked as a Health Economist at the University of Manchester. This research focused on the social determinants of health and wellbeing. I grew up in rural Suffolk and have always enjoyed getting out and about in nature. I am interested in the transformational effect that the natural environment can have on health and wellbeing. I am keen to bring my professional and personal interests together through a PhD project that will have tangible positive outcomes for people.

My project

My PhD project focuses on how the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust can promote health and wellbeing through offering nature based social prescriptions. I will be conducting field work at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge to gain a greater understanding of ‘blue prescriptions’ in particular. The main aims of the project are to: gain a greater understanding of nature based social prescribing and a specific understanding of ‘blue prescribing’, to investigate the health and wellbeing benefits of blue prescribing, and to identify suitable methodologies to research the outcomes of blue social prescribing.

Experience and interests

• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Statistical analysis and modelling in STATA

Publications

Forbes, LJL, Forbes, H, Sutton, M, Checkland, K & Peckham, S 2019, 'How widespread is working at scale in English general practice?', British Journal of General Practice. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X705533

Forbes, H, Fichera, E, Rogers, A & Sutton, M 2017, 'The Effects of Exercise and Relaxation on Health and Wellbeing', Health Economics . https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3477

Forbes, H, Sutton, M, Richardson, G & Rogers, A 2016, 'The determinants of time spent on self-care', Chronic illness, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 98-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742395315614380