John Bosco Tumuhairwe
PhD Student
School of Allied Health and Community
Association for Dementia Studies
email: tumj1_23@uni.worc.ac.uk
John is a full-time PhD student in the Association for Dementia Studies, School of Allied Health and Community. His studentship research project is “Exploring stigma and prejudice towards people living with dementia in Extra Care Housing”. John's supervision team is led by Dr Julie Barrett (Director of Studies), with Dr Mary O'Malley and Dr Vanessa Pritchard-Wilkes from Housing 21.
My name is John Bosco Tumuhairwe, from Uganda. Before coming to the ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ for my PhD, I worked as a Research Assistant in the OASIS (Optimizing Adherence through Implementation Science) study, where we were looking at ways through which electronic adherence monitoring can be used in routine HIV care to help remind clients on Antiretroviral Therapy(ART) to take their drugs and also enable Healthcare Workers remotely monitor the adherence of these clients, for them to provide the most appropriate care that the clients desire. I also worked as a Project Manager in the Local Service Delivery Activity on HIV/AIDS(LSDA), funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where we implemented strategies to improve uptake of HIV care, treatment and prevention services among Key and Priority Populations in Ibanda District-South Western Uganda. I have also worked as an HIV Prevention counsellor, Counsellor Supervisor and Researcher in many HIV Prevention, linkage to care and treatment programs and studies since 2005. I am passionate about health promotion because most of the diseases and infections can be averted if people and communities are put at the forefront in the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health and health promotion programs. I am also passionate about addressing health inequalities by understanding and addressing the social determinants of health.
Having worked most of my entire career in the field of HIV/AIDS, I have witnessed how stigma affects Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, leading to poor health and wellbeing due to treatment adherence challenges, as these people at times feel ashamed and fail to go to HIV treatment and Care Facilities to collect their drugs. Stigma and discrimination are not good for any person with any health condition as it worsens their condition and lowers their self-esteem. It is this background that motivated me to do this PhD research project “exploring stigma and prejudice towards people living with dementia in extra care housing”.
The findings of this research have the potential to have a significant impact for people living with dementia and those who care for them. Key messages will also be communicated to a range of providers, policy makers and commissioners through existing networks with the Association for Dementia Studies, including the Housing and Dementia Research Consortium, the Dementia and Housing Working Group, and the Housing Learning and Improvement Network.
Links
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Qualifications
MSc Public Health-Health Promotion from Leeds Beckett University (2015-2016).
Bachelor of Adult and Community Education (BACE) from Kyambogo University-Uganda (2002-2005)