A postgraduate student at Robert Gordon University (RGU) is celebrating success after clinching second place in an international essay writing competition.
Third year PhD student Katie Gibson Smith’s essay: ‘Self care behaviour change: reaching the unreached’ was judged joint runner-up in the International Self-Care Foundation and SelfCare Journal Prize Essay Competition.
Katie is in her third year of a PhD at RGU which is titled: ‘Promoting and implementing self care: a mixed methods study of offshore workers and remote healthcare practitioners.’
Supervised by RGU academics Dr Vibhu Paudyal, Prof Derek Stewart and Prof Susan Klein, the main aim of Katie’s research is to explore aspects of self care amongst the offshore workforce.
Katie finished joint runner-up in the competition with another student from South Africa, both received a prize certificate and £750.
She said: “I am really happy that my essay has done so well in an international competition and that I was placed joint-second. A lot of work went in to the essay and I am so pleased that it did well.”
Katie’s essay focussed on how self care interventions, which promote taking ownership of health, may be of significant benefit to remote and rural populations, and may help reduce health inequalities often experienced in these areas.
She also proposed that participation in self care interventions by these groups may be best facilitated by using online technology.
Katie said: “Digital approaches to interventions may assist in overcoming the physical and mental barriers frequently associated with accessing health services amongst remote and rural populations.”
Dr Paudyal said: Katie’s achievement has demonstrated the global public health importance and impact of researching health and wellbeing of remote and rural population.
“Katie has been very innovative in her approach to the research area which is demonstrated by this international achievement. The accolade also highlights the high quality research that RGU is capable of engaging and delivering.”