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My programme of research aims to provide an empirically based theoretical foundation to better understand the everyday complexities of clinical culture, behaviour and practice in ward settings. The goal of my current ongoing research is to identify, understand, and resolve issues faced within clinical and nursing practice, and by people living with dementia and their families admitted to acute hospital settings.

My research utilises novel qualitative methods, in particular ethnogrpahy, to develop new theory, alongside interventions and training to improve the working practices of nursing staff responsible for people with dementia and the quality of hospital experiences for people living with dementia

• Health Policy Research Unit
• Leicester Academy for the Study of Ageing

Boddington, P, Featherstone, K., Northcott A. (2020) ‘Presentation of the clothed self on the hospital ward: an ethnographic account of perceptual attention and implications for the personhood of people living with dementia’ BMJ Medical Humanities 

Featherstone, K., Boddington P. Northcott, A. (2020) ‘Using Signs and Symbols to Label Hospital Patients with a Dementia Diagnosis: Help or Hindrance to Care?’, Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 10(1) 49-61 

Featherstone K., Northcott A., Harden J., Bale S., Harrison-Denning, K., Bridges J. (2019) Refusal and resistance to care by people living with dementia being cared for on acute hospital wards: an ethnographic study, Health Services and Delivery Research 7(11) 

Featherstone, K., Northcott A, Bridges J. (2019) ‘Routines of resistance: An ethnography of the care of people living with dementia in acute hospital wards’. International Journal of Nursing Studies 96 53-16 2 

Curtis, P., Northcott, A. (2016) The impact of single and shared rooms on family-centred care in children's hospitals, Journal of Clinical Nursing 26 1584-1596. 

Northcott, A., Brocklehurst, P., Jerković-Ćosić, K., Reinders, JJ., McDermott, I., Tickle, M. (2013) Direct Access: Lessons learnt from the Netherlands, British Dental Journal 215(12) 607-10

Featherstone, K., Northcott, A. Wandering the Wards, Routledge : London (In press, October 2020) Routledge Studies in Health and Medical Anthropology 

Featherstone, K., Northcott, A. (2019) ‘The care of people living with dementia in the acute hospital setting’ in Harrison-Denning, K (ed) ‘Evidence-Based Practice in Dementia for Nurses and Nursing Students’ Jessica Kingsley Publications : London

• Dementia
• Health Policy and Politics
• Hospital Organisation
• Acute Care Settings
• Ward Culture
• Ethnography

• PhD – Public Health – University of Manchester 2016
• MA – Politics and International Relations – University of Manchester 2010
• BA (Hons) – Politics and Modern History – University of Manchester 2003

HLS Research Oscar: VC2020 Research

Understanding continence practices in acute settings for people with dementia: raising awareness and improving care. (NIHR)

Implementing the finding of the MemoryCare study: A feasibility project. (NIHR)

Better Visits: Improving the experience of visiting a person living with dementia (LASA)

Developing the dementia friendly cinema. (BFI/Film Hub Wales) 

Refusal and resistance to care by people living with dementia being cared for within acute hospital wards

(2020) A matter of urgency: continence and technologies of indignity in the acute hospital setting, Alzheimer Europe, Bucharest

(2020) Using signs and symbols to identify hospital patients with a dementia diagnosis: help or hindrance to recognition and care? International Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International, Singapore 

(2020) A Crisis of Continence: Exploring continence care for people living with dementia during a hospital admission and its consequences. International Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International, Singapore 

(2019) Bedside care and its consequences: an ethnography of the care people living with dementia receive in hospital wards British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, York, UK 

(2018) The role of food and mealtimes in the recognition of people living with dementia on acute hospital wards, Alzheimer’s Europe, Barcelona, Spain 

(2018) The Moral Categories of Consumption: Mealtimes and memory on the hospital ward. British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, Glasgow, UK 

(2018) Everyday technologies of attention within the acute hospital ward; The production of visibilities and invisibilities of people living with dementia. [Co-author] British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, Glasgow, UK 

(2018) Thinking with Your Fingers: Participatory Visual and Tactile (Artistic) Methods to Support People Living with Dementia and Their Family Carers to Access and Share Hard-to-Express Experiences and Emotions. [Co-author] British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, Glasgow, UK 

(2018) Models of care for people living with dementia in acute hospital wards: An ethnography of hospital care in the UK, Alzheimer’s Disease International, Chicago, USA 

(2018) Routines of resistance: an ethnography of the everyday care of people with dementia on Medical Assessment Units, School of Allied Healthcare Annual Conference, Leicester, UK 

(2018) ‘Moral categories, mealtimes and memory on the acute hospital ward’, School of Allied Healthcare Annual Research Conference, Leicester, UK 

(2018) ‘The Moral Classification of Consumption: Memory, mess and mealtimes on the hospital ward’. Health and Life Science Early Career Conference, Leicester UK 

(2017) Invisible bodies, temporary spaces: The experience of people with dementia admitted to medical assessment units, Alzheimer’s Europe, Berlin, Germany 

(2017) Observing the Invisible: An ethnography of the everyday organisation of people with dementia admitted to Medical Assessment Units, 12th Annual International Ethnography Symposium, Manchester, UK. 4 

(2017) Observing the Invisible: An ethnography of the everyday organisation of people with dementia admitted to Medical Assessment Units, British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, York, UK 

(2017) Routines of Resistance: An ethnography of the everyday care of people with dementia in acute hospital wards. [Co-author] British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Conference, York, UK 

(2017) Routines of resistance: an ethnography of the everyday care of people with dementia on Medical Assessment Units, School of Allied Healthcare Annual Conference, Leicester, UK 

(2017) ‘Feeding’ and food consumption: the role of food and mealtimes in the recognition of people with dementia in acute wards, British Sociological Association Food Study Group, Westminster, UK 

(2017) Belonging in the hospital ward: an ethnography of the everyday care of patients with dementia, British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Manchester, UK 

(2016) The redefinition of Alzheimer’s disease and its social and ethical consequences, Foundation-Brocher Symposium Geneva, Switzerland 

(2016) Task substitution and direct access in oral health care; lessons learnt from the Netherlands (Poster) International Symposium on Dental Hygiene, Basel, Switzerland 

(2015) Family-centred cubicles? issues associated with delivering and receiving care in cubicles. [Co-author] Royal College of Nursing Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK 

(2015) Bridging the gap; from family centred care to family – enabled care? Royal College of Nursing Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK