I have a longstanding interest in Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) communities’ experiences of access to health care in the UK, particularly in Type 2 Diabetes, dating back to 1991. I have worked with a number of BME communities in Nottingham, Manchester and Cardiff, and also worked closely with Diabetes UK (Cymru). I have been a member of the Trustee Board of Diabetes UK from 2011-2013.

Between 2001 - 2008, I led an integrated community project in Cardiff (the HeartLink Project) for BME communities to raise awareness of diabetes and heart disease, funded by the Health Inequalities Fund (Welsh Assembly Government). I have published a Cochrane Review on culturally appropriate diabetes health education for ethnic minority groups, updated in 2014.

I have a concomitant interest in Medical Education and Assessment Research, and have researched into e-learning and interactive modules in Diversity Teaching. I have an Innovations in Teaching Award from Cardiff University to develop links with other schools in the University in Diversity Teaching. More recently, I have been working on a research project funded by the Association of Royal Medical Colleges with a Knowledge Transfer Project grant to analyse the sociolinguistic characteristics of candidates taking the Clinical Skills Assessment module of the MRCGP exams (the Membership of the Royal College of GPs, a licensing examination for GPs in the UK). This has resulted in a published book, e-learning modules and peer reviewed papers.

Simulated consultations: a sociolinguist perspective. BMC Medical Education, accepted, in press. 1. Atkins S, Roberts C, Hawthorne K and Greenhalgh T Culturally appropriate health education for Type 2 diabetes in ethnic minority groups: an updated Cochrane Review of randomized controlled trials. Diabetic Medicine 7th Sept 2015. DOI: 10.1111/dme.1286. 2. Creamer J, Attridge M, Ramsden M, Cannings-John R and Hawthorne K. Culturally appropriate health education for people in ethnic minority groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus. 4th Sept 2014, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 9, 2014. 3. Attridge M, Creamer J, Ramsden M, Cannings-John R, Hawthorne K Option Grids to facilitate shared deision making for pataients with Osteoarthritis of the knee: protocol for a single site, efficacy trial. Bmc Health Serv Res, Volume 14 2014 p. 160. Marrin K, Wood F, Firth J, Kinsey K, Edwards A, Brain KE, Newcombe RG, Nye A, Pickles T, Hawthorne K, Elwyn G Healthcare students' perceptions of electronic feedback through Grademark. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research 2014; 13: 27-47. 5. Watkins D, Dummer P, Hawthorne K, Cousins J, Emmett C & Johnson M