A pioneering UK-first project at St Oswald's Hospice is using data science to improve palliative care, with intern Christiana Abolarin leading efforts to demonstrate the value of such care to the community.
The Newcastle hospice, celebrating its 40th anniversary this month, is the only hospice in the country to take part in the Black Internship Programme run by Health Data Research UK. Christiana, who has a background in public health and previously researched malaria, is spending the summer at the hospice focusing on data analysis.
Data and patient care combined
Christiana explained her role: "In summary, what I am doing is to explore the complexity of palliative care using the data that has been collected and trying to explain that to the world at large in language that people understand." She added: "People mostly consider that palliative care deals with people at the end of their lives - but it goes much further than that. It's often about helping people to make the most of the time."
She said she was thrilled to be at St Oswald's during its birthday celebrations and described the internship programme as exceptional. "If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't have dreamed of myself being in a position to do this," she said.
Diversity and structural change
Christiana said such programmes are vital for driving diversity and showing future healthcare researchers that key roles are accessible. She described it as "throwing down the rope" to help others. "It's about helping people to access these jobs and speaking up for others," she said. "But while representation is important, it hasn't necessarily closed the inequality gap on its own. Some structural changes still need to happen, like funding research that intentionally includes people of colour, so that they shape the research that informs the care and policies affecting them, and not just be participants and recipients of that research."
She added: "My passion is turning data into actionable insights that tackle real-world issues like health inequality. I'm excited to support St Oswald's in improving patient care."
Support from programme leaders
Afua Acheampong, Head of HDR UK's Black Internship Programme, said: "We are always looking for more host organisations to get involved and St Oswald's Hospice is unique in the programme. Their involvement shows what's possible and opens new opportunities for research and collaboration in health and social care."
Simon Gordon, director of strategy and development at St Oswald's Hospice, added: "Christiana's placement will help us bring data science and patient care together, strengthening both our services and our ability to advocate for resources."
Dave Kirk, Training and Skills lead for NorthFutures Digital Health Hub (Newcastle University), commented: "We're thrilled to be able to fund this kind of initiative for partners here in the North East, further demonstrating our capacity for leading data science innovation."
