Research
Research and engagement is a new and innovative area of our work at Waverley Care, building on our 30 years of experience providing support, testing and training in communities across Scotland.
Our research and engagement team works with people who are living with HIV and Hepatitis C, as well as people who are disproportionately affected by poor sexual health in Scotland. The team is made up of Francis Osis (Community Heritage Officer), Collett O'Connor (National Peer Support and Volunteering Lead) and Kirsty Kay (Research Officer). We also include three Co-Researcher teams: Fourth 90 Research Participatory Action Research Team, Remote and Rural Participatory Action Research Team and Heritage Community History Peer Research Team.
About our Research and Engagement Work
The evidence gathered by our research and engagement work is used to smash HIV, hepatitis C and sexual health stigma, while helping Scotland:
- develop targetted blood-borne virus and sexual health services
- promote blood-borne virus and sexual health testing and support
- influence policy work on blood-borne viruses and sexual health
At present, our work is focussed on exploring:
- health and social care practitioner's perceptions of providing sexual health information and advice to people who inject substances in Glasgow
- the sexual health needs of men who have sex with men living in remote and rural areas of Scotland
- what it means to have a good quality of life when living with HIV in Scotland today
- the history of HIV and AIDS in Scotland through our community heritage oral history project
Our Research and Engagement Ethos
Our research and engagement ethos is simple:
"Nothing about us without us."
We believe that people with lived experience are in the best position to guide and direct our work. That's why our team uses participatory action research approaches, as well as peer-led engagement techniques. This ensures that communities traditionally the subject of research are better resourced and facilitated to lead the generation of research, services, policy and societal perspectives that affect them.
We are committed to conducting research in an ethical way, and you can read about the principles that underpin our approach here.
Get Involved in Research and Engagement
If you have any questions about our research and engagement work, get in touch with us here.
To get involved in upcoming research and engagement activities, check out our events here.
Our research and engagement team regularly host student research placements. If you want to explore a research placement with us, submit your query here.
Downloadable Research
Read and download our latest briefings and research papers here:
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Experience of Scottish Men Who Have Been Subject to Intimate Partner Violence in Same-Sex Relationships | Report summary of Dr Steven Maxwell's research into same-sex male relationship Intimate Partner Violence, completed in collaboration with Waverley Care. |
| “We are INVISIBLE!”: Research Briefing | Report briefing of Dr Steven Maxwell's research into same-sex male relationship Intimate Partner Violence, completed in collaboration with Waverley Care. |
| Telling Scotland's Story of HIV and AIDS Update.pdf | This briefing gives you an overview of how our Community Heritage Project has developed to date, including a summary of what the project is about, quotes from the oral histories collected, and an overview of what's coming next. |
| Why Scotland Needs a National STI Postal Testing Service (Evidence Briefing).pdf | This briefing uses data from Pride events in 2022, contextualised within Waverley Care's wider research and existing international literature, to explain why Scotland needs a national STI postal testing service. |
| It Stresses Me Out (Full Report).pdf | This report describes the findings of a research project exploring the sexual health needs of young people living in Highland, funded by NHS Highland Public Health. |
| We All Have Different Consciousness About It (Full Report).pdf | This report describes the findings of research exploring the sexual health needs, including HIV testing, of people from African communities in Scotland. |
| If It's Not There for You, You're Not Going to Go Looking For It - Briefing.pdf | A briefing providing an overview of the findings of our full report - 'If It's Not There for You, You're Not Going To Go Looking for It' |
| If It's Not There for You, You're Not Going to Go Looking For It (Full Report) - April 2022.pdf | This is a preliminary report describing the findings of a qualitative assessment of the sexual heath needs of people who inject substances in Glasgow |
| Waverley Care’s Milestone Intermediate Care Unit (MICU) Evaluation | An evaluation of the Milestone Intermediate Care Unit (MICU) and the benefits of its approach to caring for vulnerable people, carried out in collaboration with members of the Milestone Steering Group. |
| HIV Street Support Project - Peer Evaluation Report.pdf | An evaluation of our HIV Street Support Project in Glasgow, conducted by a team of peer researchers and facilitated by our Research and Engagement team |
| Preliminary Report - Exploring the Sexual Health Needs, Including HIV Testing of People from African Communities in Glasgow.pdf | A preliminary report exploring the sexual health needs, including HIV testing, of people from African communities in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. |
| An Evaluation of HIV Self Test Scotland (November 2020) | Report providing an overview and evaluation of the HIV Self Test Scotland Service. |
| There Needs To Be Care Throughout (Full Report) (October 2020) | Research report exploring the access of non-binary people, trans men and trans women to sexual health services in Scotland. |
| There Needs To Be Care Throughout (Executive Summary) (October 2020) | Executive summary of research exploring the access of non-binary people, trans men and trans women to sexual health services in Scotland. |
| Student Attitudes to Sexual Health Services (December 2019) | Research based on interviews with students, exploring their knowledge and experiences of STI testing, and what factors may encourage or prevent their decision to get tested. |
| Discursive Disclosures - Sharing HIV status via Networks of Care (November 2019) | Research exploring the relationship between the settings of care that people living with HIV encounter, and the anxieties they experience around disclosing their HIV status. |
| Glasgow HIV Outbreak - World AIDS Day Briefing (November 2019) | A briefing report providing an overview of the current HIV outbreak in Glasgow affecting people who inject drugs, and action to address it. Produced for World AIDS Day 2019. |
| Exploring Alcohol Use among Men who have Sex with Men (October 2019) | Peer research project exploring the role of alcohol in the lives of gay, bisexual and all men who have sex with men. |
| Principles of Ethical Research at Waverley Care | This document sets out several overarching principles that underpin Waverley Care's approach to ethical research. |
