Dr Sandi Dheensa

Based in the BRIGHT (Bristol Research on the Intersection of Gender, Health, and Trauma) research group, I design and evaluate healthcare and public health-based interventions for underserved groups (e.g., people affected by domestic abuse) and conduct evidence syntheses and primary research to inform these interventions.

I have (co)-led interdisciplinary health-related research for 15+ years, with methodological expertise in qualitative methods, document analysis, and survey development.

Recent and current projects include:

• Marie Curie-funded CEDA, exploring caregivers' experiences of domestic abuse from end-of-life care recipients (co-led with Dr Michelle Myall, University of Southampton).
• NIHR-funded PHRIDA (and previously PRESSURE) about healthcare professionals' own experiences of domestic abuse.
• A sister project exploring domestic abuse, sexual violence, and childhood maltreatment among medical students.
• Macmillan Cancer Support-funded CancerDA, which enhanced the cancer workforce's response to domestic abuse and led to a Cancer & Domestic Abuse toolkit.
• Recording & Sharing Domestic abuse Information in Healthcare (RASDIH), which led to national  good practice recommendations
• and, led by Dr Natalia Lewis, TAP Care, exploring trauma-informed care in community mental health services.

Previously, I worked on:

• NIHR-funded ADVANCE - an evaluation of an intimate partner violence and substance use disorder integrated programme for men.
• NIHR-funded REPROVIDE - an RCT testing the effectiveness of domestic abuse perpetrator programmes.
• NIHR-funded HERA -  on improving healthcare responses to domestic abuse in Brazil, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
• And a range of projects on the psychosocial and ethical aspects of genetic and genomic medicine.

As an academic consultant, I have conducted local service evaluations on: 

• a peer support service for young women survivors of sexual violence
• an advocacy service for sexual violence survivors with learning disabilities
• a befriending service for sexual violence survivors with mental health needs
• a healthy relationships service for people aged 16-25 with unstable housing.

Alongside this work, I served as an editor for the journals BMC Women's Health and PLOS One. I also co-led a mapping of decolonising or decolonising-adjacent work in the University.

My broader interests are in social justice and health inequalities. I am keen to build international research partnerships to foster knowledge-exchange. Please get in touch to discuss collaboration or evaluation.