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Improving health outcomes for children in care
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Aim
To finish writing up my PhD thesis which is exploring the health outcomes of children and young people in care.
I wouldn't normally ask for help for myself but I'm pretty desperate now. I really need help to pay my rent while I write up my PhD thesis over the next 6 months. My PhD has been extremely challenging and my funding has now run out so I'm struggling to find time to write up my thesis. I was funded by the Wellcome Trust and my PhD is looking at how we can improve health outcomes for children and young people in care. I grew up in foster care myself from the age of 6 as I was physically and emotionally abused, and neglected by my parents. My early childhood was pretty unstable and I had multiple placements but I managed to go to university. My undergraduate degree is in Applied Psychology and Sociology, and my Masters degree is in Health Psychology. University has been far from easy - my little sister was constantly in and out of hospital and on life support, I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and then Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, and had multiple issues with my birth parents resulting in me having to change my name. But some how I managed to get accepted on the doctoral course in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. I was hoping everything would run smoothly and I would be able to show my true academic potential (for once). But that was not to be the case as my little sister was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in October 2015, and later died in July 2016. My sister and I have always been really close despite being placed in care separately. She had complex health needs and disabilities and required one to one care. Watching her illness progress, trying to spend as much time with her as possible, and then having to deal with her death meant that I wasn't able to focus on my PhD. Even when I returned to the office I couldn't concentrate and failed to get any work done.
Last Christmas I took on the challenge of organising Christmas for 40 care leavers living around Oxfordshire (who were otherwise going to be spending Christmas alone). It was a huge success; everyone had a great time and we were really thankful for everyone's support raising money and gifts for the guests. But it took a huge amount of planning and organisation, and so yet again I was unable to work on writing up my thesis for about 6 weeks. In January I was seconded to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology for 3 months which extended my funding a little. I was hoping to work on my thesis alongside my secondment but the 4 hour daily commute took it's toll on my health and Narcolepsy and I have been really struggling with tiredness. I am now due to finish my secondment and I really want to spend the next 3 months writing up my thesis (100,000 words). I feel I owe it to all of the young people in care who have told me their stories in order to help improve services. So any help anyone can offer would be so appreciated! I have managed to pay for my University fees and have some money for bills and food so it really is just my rent I now need help with.
There is very little research on the health of children and young people in care in England. Once I have completed my PhD I plan to apply for a postdoc to explore the health status of those in care in England.
This project successfully funded on 18th May 2018