Delyth’s research interests lie in the psychology of patient and practitioner behaviours underpinning medicines use and consultation skills. She is particularly interested in understanding the patient’s beliefs about medicines and how these can be addressed during the consultation. Delyth’s extensive experience of teaching in this area is very much informed by evidence-based research. Delyth is a co-founder of the ‘Health Psychology and Medicines Use’ group. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and has held External Examiner / Specialist Advisor roles for Masters programmes at a number of different Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Delyth is a Member of the Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences Research Excellent Framework (REF) Panel, and REF co-ordinator for Health Sciences.
Dr Delyth Higman James took up her role at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2015. Delyth is a Principal Lecturer in Health Psychology within the Department of Applied Psychology. As a registered Pharmacist, her main area of research and teaching relates to ‘Health Psychology and Medicines Use’. She is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), Affiliate Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and member of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP).
At Undergraduate level her main teaching responsibilities are in areas related to research methods, bio-psychosocial influences on health and health psychology. At Masters level she teaches research skills, consultation skills, perceptions of illness and treatment, self-care, self-medicating and other health-related behaviours. She also undertakes some teaching through the medium of Welsh and is interested in the role of language within healthcare consultations.
Career profile
Dr Delyth James graduated from the University of Bath with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) degree. After completing her pre-registration training in hospitals within the Oxford NHS Region, she joined Charing Cross Hospital as a Resident Pharmacist and gained sponsorship to complete a full-time MSc in Clinical Pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, University of London. After 5 years working as a renal pharmacist with an education and training role, she travelled to work as a clinical pharmacist in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia.
On return to the UK, Delyth started a PhD in Health Psychology at the University of Brighton with Professor Robert Horne (now at University College London) and Professor John Weinman (now at King’s College London). Her PhD thesis was entitled ‘Patients’ perceptions of myoocardial infarction and adherence to treatment’. She subsequently joined the academic staff at the School of Pharmacy, University of Brighton as a Senior Lecturer. Delyth then worked for Kent, Surrey and Sussex Workforce Development as an education & training pharmacist before taking up a post at Brighton & Hove Primary Care Trust (PCT) as Principal Pharmacist to implement the Older People National Service Framework, medicines management agenda.
Delyth moved back to Wales in 2005 to take up a post at the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University. There, she was a Senior Lecturer (0.8wte), Teaching & Scholarship and Programme Director for the MSc in Pharmacy Clinical Practice (Community and Primary Care), with teaching input into all levels of the undergraduate and postgraduate portfolio of programmes. During her career, Delyth has supervised over 20 Masters research dissertations, over 45 undergraduate research projects and 5 Erasmus students.
