A recent graduate from the School of Health Professions has been awarded the 'Recently Qualified Health Professional Prize' by the British Society for Rheumatology. Serena Naidoo, who completed her undergraduate degree in podiatry in 2010, was awarded the prize for her final year dissertation which was based on a group project on the footwear selection of women with rheumatoid arthritis.
Serena was also awarded the 'podiatry research' prize by the school of Health Professions for this piece of work and was selected from applicants across the UK for the award-winning Arthritis Research UK-funded graduate internship for podiatrists in 2010. She presented the research during two plenary sessions at last autumns' Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists Conference and will also be presenting a poster at this spring' British Society of Rheumatology Conference.
Serena said: "My interest in rheumatology developed progressively whilst studying for my first degree in podiatry. All aspects of podiatry interest me, but rheumatology is where my passion lies! In the future I hope to have a career in research and clinical fields as both are an integral part of podiatry practice. I am currently completing my MSc in Podiatry with Rheumatology at the University of Brighton and hope to continue to a PhD in the future."
Below is a summary of Serena's research:
"I could cry, the amount of shoes I can’t get into": A qualitative exploration of the factors that influence footwear selection in women with rheumatoid arthritis
Serena Naidoo, Stephanie Anderson, Joanna Mills, Stephanie Parsons, Stephanie Breeden, Emma Bevan, Camilla Edwards and Simon Otter - School of Health Professions, University of Brighton
Studies report that women with rheumatoid arthritis are not wearing NHS supplied therapeutic footwear; therefore it is likely they are wearing footwear sourced through retailers. Previous research gives limited information on people’s perceptions of the relationships that exist between retail footwear and issues of wellbeing and quality of life. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of women with rheumatoid arthritis regarding their choice of footwear and identify the factors influencing footwear selection.
Eleven women with rheumatoid arthritis who wore normal retail footwear were recruited from an out-patient podiatry clinic in the south east of England. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and an interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted for data collection and transcript analysis embracing the concept of a hermeneutical approach to identify recurring themes.
Six key themes were revealed from the analysis: (1) the nature of foot complaints and deformities, (2) aesthetic appearance and design of footwear, (3) body image, (4) psychosocial aspects, (5) perceptions of footwear and (6) the therapeutic value of retail shoes. These contributed to an overarching concept of loss of choice associated with retail footwear. In particular, the areas discussed most frequently throughout were themes (2), (3) and (4), which were notably more ‘emotional’ in nature.
Limitations in retail footwear for these women have impacted on their individuality, linking significantly with their body image. The loss of choice in footwear as a consequence of the disease impacts negatively on wellbeing and was identified in reduced self-perceived quality of life.
