About Phillip Hodgson
Philip Hodgson is a physiotherapist working within Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, working clinically with inpatient mental health wards. He completed the NIHR PCAF award in 2018 – 2020 as part of the first round of awards.
Philip completed his PCAF whilst based in Kent, which included developing his research proposal alongside completing a Master’s in Clinical Research (distance-learning) through The University of Manchester. Philip has since moved back to the North East where he has continued his interest in research alongside his clinical work.
He hopes to use his experience to contribute and improve the experiences of current and future PCAF award holders. Philip hopes the PCAF Community will provide a platform to share experiences, learn from others and through networking, assist others in similar situations.
Since completing his PCAF award, Philip is now completing his PhD part-time studying Psycho-Physical Symptom Interactions in Parkinson’s Disease funded through a partnership between Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and York St John University.
His research project aims to improve understanding of the relationship between some of the most common motor and non-motor symptoms of PD, including how this may change over time.
After completing junior and senior rotations, Philip moved to a community-based role where he was part of the neuro team. During this time, he began to take a special interest in neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s. He began to recognise an increase in psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression. As a result, he started to routinely assess patients and where necessary, refer them to other services including a neuropsychology service.
Phil moved back to the North East where he began working specifically within mental health physiotherapy. Soon after, applying for a PhD project aimed at exploring the relationship between physical and psychological symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease.
The impacts of this PhD will help to improve the understanding of any psycho-physical interactions in Parkinson’s Disease. Once understood in more detail, this will provide a platform for future improvements in clinical provision for the benefit of patients and clinical services. Future work may help to identify individuals who may be most ‘at risk’ of experiencing various symptoms so that a proactive approach can be taken to minimise the impact clinically.