Rachel Edwards

Rachel Edwards is the Implementation Nurse for the Centre for Infection Prevention and Management.  Working with Alison Holmes and the Centre lead Pharmacist, Esmita Charani, Rachel is involved in the work-stream 1 looking at Behaviour Change and the application of Social Marketing. 

Using the Social Marketing expertise of Dr Foster Intelligence, this work-stream is focusing on designing a number of communication interventions designed to improve infection prevention and antibiotic prescribing behaviours.  As well as designing and evaluating the effectiveness of such information based interventions in changing behaviours this research will also examine the sustainability of such approaches.   By fully documenting the process of communications review and audit, intervention design and implementation it is anticipated that this research will fully assess the value of social marketing within this context and form a blue print for role out of similar work across the NHS.

Rachel will also be involved in the development of training multidisciplinary training in Infection Prevention as part of work-stream 4

Background: Rachel graduated from the University of Tasmania in Australia in 1997, with a Bachelor of Nursing degree.  Following this she completed a Masters year focusing on research in healthcare and in 2000 completed a Graduate Diploma in Critical Care Nursing which was relevant to her work within the intensive care environment. On moving to the UK, Rachel joined the Healix Group of Companies where she worked as a Nurse educator as well as an international repatriation nurse.  In this role she as well as providing training, she developed and maintained IT based products used by medical underwriters as a means to assess individuals pre-existing medical conditions in calculating risk and financial exposure. This was also amalgamated with successful research into international repatriation of patients with ACS.