Charlotte Albury

I have a background in medical anthropology, and my experience focused on use of ethnographic and socio-linguistic methodologies to explore patient experiences of health and illness, including spirit healing and body modification.

My current research focusses on how clinicians and patients communicate in discussions about behaviour change. I am trained in applied conversation analysis and in the Conversation Analytic Role Play Method.

I joined the dept in 2015 and used conversation analysis to explore audio recorded interactions between patients and GPs during the BWeL trial, and link these to patient weight loss outcomes. I currently work across a series of projects using conversation analysis to identify ways to improve communication about behaviour change in clinical settings, including smoking cessation, clinical trial recruitment, diabetes self-management, and clinical risk communication.

I am a specialist in qualitative research methods, and I lead and co-ordinate the department’s short courses in qualitative research methods, and lead Oxford University’s NVivo courses.

I currently hold both a Mildred Blaxter Fellowship, from the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness, and a Fulford Junior Research Fellowship at Somerville College. During my fellowship I am exploring how wider social discourses are enacted at the micro-interactional level during unsolicited advice-giving in primary care.

I also currently lead the TalkWeL project, a three year study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). TalkWeL is a collaboration between the University of Oxford, Loughborough University, Public Health England, and people with obesity. In this project we are examining how clinicians initiate and deliver brief advice for weight loss in primary care, and how patients respond. Our aim is to develop an evidence base of helpful and effective ways to deliver brief advice for weight loss.

Prior to joining the department I worked in teaching, and I am an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I lead the department’s short courses in qualitative research methods. I also co-lead the University’s courses on data management with NVivo.