Sonali Dave

Overview

Sonali was awarded a BSc Hons in Human Biology and Psychology from Kingston university where she discovered her passion for Neuroscience and vision. Shortly after completing her undergraduate degree, Sonali went on to complete her MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at King’s College London where her research focused on visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease. On completion of her MSc, Sonali began working as a research assistant in King’s College London on two studies about visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease, dementia and eye disease.
In 2020, Sonali moved to City, University of London to begin her Macular Society funded PhD in the Department of Optometry and Visual Science.

Research

The title of Sonali's PhD is 'Patient practitioner communication in AMD'.

There is currently no treatment for non-neovascular AMD, however lifestyle modification (such as stopping smoking and changing diet) may reduce the risk of progression. Eye care professionals (ECP) are therefore recommended to provide lifestyle advice to patients with AMD, and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists state that patients should be informed of modifiable factors that can reduce the progression risk through written and verbal communication. Studies suggest that these guidelines are not consistently followed, however, little research has been conducted to see what the barriers are to advice provision, and what approaches may increase communication effectiveness.

Therefore, the objectives of Sonali's PhD are to investigate the extent, nature and effectiveness of lifestyle modification advice currently given to patients with AMD to provide a framework to increase the provision of delivery and optimise communication effectiveness.

In the study, patients with AMD, recruited from hospital eye clinics and high street optometrists, will be given a questionnaire to complete about lifestyle advice they were or were not given by their practitioner. 3 months later, patients will be sent a second follow up questionnaire to investigate any self reported changes patients have made since their appointment. Finally, practitioners will also be given a questionnaire to investigate any barriers that may prevent the provision of lifestyle advice.

Qualifications

• MSc Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom, Sep 2017 – Jul 2018
• BSc Human Biology and Psychology, Kingston University, United Kingdom, Sep 2011 – Jul 2014

Languages

English (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review), Gujarati (can speak and understand spoken) and Hindi (can speak and understand spoken).

Title of thesis: Investigating the delivery and impact of patient-practitioner communication in modifying lifestyle of people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Sep 2020

Summary of research

Age related macular degeneration is the leading cause of visual impairment and severe visual loss. There is currently no treatment for non-neovascular AMD, however lifestyle modification (such as stopping smoking and changing diet) may reduce the risk of progression. Eye care professionals (ECP) are therefore recommended to provide lifestyle advice to patients with AMD. Studies suggest that these guidelines are not consistently followed, however, little research has been conducted to see what the barriers are to advice provision, and what approaches may increase communication effectiveness.
The aim of my thesis is to investigate the extent, nature and effectiveness of lifestyle modification advice currently given to patients with AMD to provide a framework to increase the provision of delivery and optimise communication effectiveness.

1^st supervisor

• Dr Tamsin Callaghan, Lecturer in Dispensing

2^nd supervisor

• Dr Alison Binns, Senior Lecturer in Optometry & Visual Science

External supervisor

• Vinuela-Navarro, V. Aston University.

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