Optimising health and wellbeing through the lifespan group

Our research

Our research focuses on improving mental and physical health and wellbeing across the lifecourse from pre-conception and the antenatal period, and from birth through to older age. Research topics include those which seek to understand the lived experiences of individuals across the lifespan, as well as the development of interventions to support wellbeing for neurodivergent children, young people, and adults, people with chronic conditions (e.g. gastrointestinal conditions, atopic conditions and diabetes), lifelong disability (e.g. cerebral palsy), loneliness, older adults and dementia. We work closely with NHS, charity, policy, and industrial partners.

Methodological expertise in the group includes: secondary data analysis; administrative data analysis; qualitative methods; systematic, realist and scoping reviews; co-design; co-production; clinical trials; psychometrics, randomised controlled trials; mixed methods, validity and reliability testing; cross-sectional studies, and longitudinal designs

Current PhD student topics include menopause and olfaction, plant-based diets in care homes, dementia screening in prisons, and realist evaluation of psychosocial approaches in dementia care.

Funding 

Members of the team have secured funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Innovate UK, the Economic and Social Research Council, Diabetes UK, Coeliac UK, the Vivensa Foundation (formerly Dunhill Medical Trust), the Food Standards Agency and Diabetes UK. The team has also secured funding to work in collaboration with local service providers, such as the joint University of Surrey and Royal Surrey County Hospital ‘Bid for Better’ scheme and the UKRI Higher Education Innovation Funding.

Example projects

BRIDGES Dementia Network + (2026–2028). Funded by EPSRC, NIHR and the Alzheimer's Society, this network supports development of novel technology supporting the independence of those with dementia. See https://bridgesfordementia.org/

CP Link: Developing a specialised link worker role to support adults with cerebral palsy to age well (2024–2027). Funded by the Vivensa Foundation (formerly Dunhill Medical Trust) https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/cp-link-developing-specialised-link-worker-role-support-adults-cerebral-palsy-age-well  

Anxiety and Anaphylaxis (2025–2028). Funded by Innovate UK, this project will develop and deliver support for people with serious allergies and address the psychological aspects of living with anaphylaxis, such as anxiety. The project is a partnership between the University of Surrey and Anaphylaxis UK.

Selected publications 

Hargitai, L.D., Waldren, L.H., Livingston, L.A. et al. Neurodiversity and mental health in adulthood: exploring the unique contributions of autism and ADHD to internalising problems. Sci Rep16, 16343 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35440-6 

Dawtry, R. J., Callan, M. J., Waldren, L. H., & Sherman, C. (2026). Social distancing from innocent victims by spatial distality.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 130(3), 431–451. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000472

Byrne, E.M., Eneberi, A., Acharya, R., Barker, B., Grimas, E., Iles, J., et al. (2024). Psychometric properties of the preschool strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) in UK 1-to-2-years-olds. European Journal of Pediatrics, 183 (12). DOI: 10.1007/s00431-024-05801-2. 

Loughnane, M., Tischler, V., Khalid Saifeldeen, R., Kontaris, E. (2024). Ageing and Olfactory Training: A Scoping Review. Innovation in Aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igae044

Tischler, V., Zeilig, H., O’Malley, M & Asker, C. (2023). Together yet apart: rethinking creativity and relational dementia care during the Covid-19 pandemic. Geriatric Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.08.012 

Smith KJ, Gupta S, Fortune J, Lowton K, Victor C, Burke E, Carew MT, Livingstone E, Creeger M, Shanahan P, Walsh M. Aging well with a lifelong disability: a scoping review. The gerontologist. 2024 Sep;64(9):gnae092. 

Smith KJ, Victor C. Typologies of loneliness, living alone and social isolation, and their associations with physical and mental health. Ageing & Society. 2019 Aug;39(8):1709-30. 

Tunks, A., Berry, C., Strauss, C., Nyikavaranda, P., & Ford, E. (2023). Patients' perspectives of barriers and facilitators to accessing support through primary care for common mental health problems in England: A systematic review. 

Piper, M.A., Tunks, A., Humfrey, S., Calderwood, L., Tayabali, S., Taylor, S., Kaul, A., Dalby, E., Ahmed, S., Farrington, S., Pollak, T.A., & Sloan, M. (2025). “My world has shrunk”: a mixed-methods exploration of the impact of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases on patients’ lives. Rheumatology International, 45(11), 247. 

Williams, S., Darwin, Z., Lee-Carbon, L., & Iles, J. (2025). A phenomenological exploration of non-carrying mothers in same-gender relationships experiences of a psychologically traumatic birth. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2025.2503936 

Herbert, L., Protudjer, J., Jones, C.J., Marchisotto, M.J., Brough, H., Warren, C., et al. (2025). A global survey of mental health treatment experiences among food allergy patients and caregivers. Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 13(8):2142-2150. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2025.05.015. 

Jones, C.J., Tallentire, H., Edgecumbe, R., Sherlock, G., & Hale, L. (2024). Online, group, low-intensity psychological interventions for adults, children and parents with food allergy. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 133(4):453-461. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2024.07.025

Nagy, V., Poole, L., Banting, E., & Satherley, R.-M. (2025). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of lived experiences and psychological processes in internalized weight stigma. British Journal of Health Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12804 

Satherley, R.-M., Lerigo, F., Higgs, S., & Howard, R. (2022). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the development and maintenance of gluten-related distress and unhelpful eating and lifestyle patterns in coeliac disease. British Journal of Health Psychology, 27(3), 1026–1042. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12588