About us

Valid Research is managed and operated by Dr Cath Jackson.

Cath has more than 15 years’ experience in the university sector, undertaking applied health services research and evaluation. She has worked as a Public Health Specialist and held research positions at the Universities of Leeds and York. In addition to managing Valid Research, Cath is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and a Consultant for the WHO Regional Office for Europe. She has a PhD in Health Psychology and an MSc in Health Promotion and Health Education.

Cath has considerable experience in all stages of delivering research and evaluation projects, from securing funding, establishing teams, collecting and analysing data through to writing up and reporting and publishing findings. Skilled in conducting quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research, she has worked in the UK and internationally with a focus on public health. Her particular research interests are health literacy and decision-making for childhood immunisation. She has a track record of conducting research with marginalised communities.

Health literacy research

Cath’s health literacy research explores how people access, understand and make sense of information to make decisions about their health; for example, about choosing food for their family. Her work helps the NHS and other health organisations tailor their services for people with different levels of health literacy.

Childhood immunisation research

Cath works as a Consultant on the WHO Tailoring Immunization Programmes (TIP). This approach uses research, behaviour change theory and in-country experience to understand barriers to vaccination for target populations in order to develop tailored strategies for programme planning and policy. Her TIP projects to date have focused on health workers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, medical specialists in Armenia, urban parents in Serbia and Estonia, and internal migrants in Kyrgyzstan.

Working with marginalised and vulnerable communities

Cath’s research often involves seeking the views of marginalised and vulnerable people about issues that are important to them. She is experienced in using different approaches to build trustful relationships and has worked closely with gypsy and traveller communities, families living in poverty and individuals with long-term health conditions.

Literature Reviews

If you need a detailed understanding of existing knowledge on a topic or subject then a review of existing literature is needed.

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QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Survey based methods enable you to find out about what people think, understand and what their preferences are.

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