Cheyann Heap
Research Associate
Profile
Biography
Dr Cheyann Heap has a background in applied psychology and human rights. She is interested in relationships and social connection, the links between structural inequalities and wellbeing, and using psychological ideas in community contexts. Her work focuses on psychosocial mental health interventions (both clinical and non-clinical).
Cheyann is an experienced collaborator and relationship builder. Settings where she has worked include: NHS mental health teams, learning disability and dementia care settings, low- and middle-income countries, prisons, homelessness services and the third sector. She has also worked closely with LEAPs (Lived Experience Advisory Panels) to include service users in data collection and analysis.
Her expertise includes:
- Designing and evaluating psychosocial mental health interventions
- Applied research
- Mixed-methods and qualitative methods
- Literature reviews (scoping, narrative and systematic)
- Participatory research and teaching research skills
- Working with underserved populations
Qualifications
- BSc Psychology
- MA Applied Human Rights
- DClinPsy
Research
Overview
Current topics of interest include:
- Evaluating psychosocial mental health and wellbeing interventions
- Co-design of interventions with service users and carers
- Social prescribing and community connection
- Improving relationships in care settings
- Initiatives to address the impact of inequalities.
Cheyann welcomes international work, and has hands-on experience on international development projects including human rights and disability, women’s rights, youth employment, and mental health support for international volunteers.
Projects
AMICABLE (Addressing Mental health In Custody A Brief Learning Environment)
Former projects at the University of York
Community-Enhanced Social Prescribing (CESP): A non-randomized controlled mixed methods feasibility study
SCENE: Improving quality of life and health outcomes of patients with psychosis through a new structured intervention for expanding social networks
Life after Lockdown and the LGBTree of Life