Professor Gillian Yeowell

Profile image of Dr Gill Yeowell

Professor Gillian Yeowell

Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Health and Wellbeing

As a musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapist by background, my research focusses on enabling people to achieve good MSK health and wellbeing by improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

My profile

Biography

Gillian Yeowell is aProfessor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Health and Wellbeingat Manchester Met University, UK. She is a qualified physiotherapist, with professional membership of the Health and Care Professions Council [HCPC] and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy [CSP]. She is a Fellow of Advance HE (formally Higher Education Academy).

She has expertise in qualitative research and mixed methodologies with associated expertise in minority groups. Her research focusses on enabling people to achieve good musculoskeletal health and wellbeing by improving patient outcomes and quality of life. She is the Physiotherapy Research cluster lead. 

Prior to joining Manchester Metropolitan, she worked as a senior musculoskeletal physiotherapist in both the NHS and private sector.

She was  a NIHR Advisory Committee Member; Research for Patient Benefit North West region and was Deputy Head Faculty Research and Ethics Governance until 2023 and Programme Leader for MSc Advanced Physiotherapy 2014-2020.

What I do

Back pain & litigation research
Back pain research
Community sheds research

Interests and expertise

I am a Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Health and Wellbeing. My methodological expertise is in qualitative research and understanding the participant perspective.

My research interests are Musculoskeletal Health and Wellbeing with associated expertise in minority groups. My research is related to the following themes:

  • Patient safety
    • Red flags & Serious spinal pathologies
    • Clinical negligence 
  • Clinical Physical Rehabilitation (Musculoskeletal)

My research aims to make a difference to peoples’ lives by reducing the burden to them and society. My research impacts many communities, including the physiotherapy profession, international and national providers of physiotherapy, and those who often do not have a voice in musculoskeletal research, such as people from ethnic minority communities.

My research has been published widely in scientific journals and presented at both national and international conferences. I have received research funding from NIHR, the CSP, Manchester City Council, Nuffield Health, Age UK, HEE and from Industry.

Get in touch

0161 247 2961
Brooks Building

Impact

The CSP have updated their website to include our research and resources we developed on clinical negligence :

Clinical negligence claims | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (csp.org.uk)

We submitted evidence  from our research on Clinical Negligence to UK Parliament, Health & Social Care Committee:

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1518/nhs-litigation-reform/publications/written-evidence/

This evidence has been used in the report to government on NHS Litigation Reform: House of Commons, Health & Social Care Committee:

NHS litigation reform (parliament.uk) 

Projects

We have completed a study funded by CSP Charitable Trust on back pain (cauda equina syndrome) and litigation. An overview of the study and links to resources can be found here: 

Research: Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) and litigation | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)

Teaching

I supervise Doctoral students within the UK and internationally. I also supervise Masters’ student dissertations on MSc Advanced Physiotherapy programme and MSc Physiotherapy (pre-reg). 

Supervision

I am interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas: Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation; Physiotherapy; Physical Activity, Active Ageing; Ethnic diversity and cultural competence in relation to these areas. If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas, please contact me.

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD Students:

  • Assame N. Understanding the Motivations of Claimants Pursuing Clinical Negligence Claims Against the NHS in the Post-COVID-19 Era
  • Mishra S. Exploring the challenges and attainment of international students on postgraduate physiotherapy programmes in the UK
  • Bury J. Combining brief Interventions for modifiable health behaviours with a physiotherapist- led Exercise programme for rotator cuff disorders: development and testing in a pilot and feasibility randomised controlled trial (CIPHER). NIHR Clinical Doctorate Research Fellow. 
  • Megan McGraw. VC PhD Scholarship: An exploration of wellbeing measures to support the design of interventions to improve workplace wellbeing in a health care provider.
  • Fatoye C. Market Access within the pharmaceutical industry

PhD Completions:

  • Cuff A (2024). The use and rationale for diagnostic imaging for common MSK problems.
  • Leech R (2023). The Experiences of UK Physiotherapists in Relation to Cauda Equina Syndrome and Litigation
  • Hanan Alsaif (2023). An exploration of preoperative rehabilitation in the treatment of first-time lumbar discectomy. External supervisor for University of Manchester.  [International, KSA]
  • April Betts (2020). Clinical and cost effectiveness of strategies for managing chronic wounds. [UK]
  • Sandra Hartley (2019). Gateway to health and wellbeing in older adults and long-term conditions. [UK]
  • Jacqui Clarke (2018). What pre-existing trait anxiety and sensory processing disorder characteristics do patients with NSCLBP with central sensitisation have? [UK]
  • Philip Smith (2017). The development and use of blood flow restriction training as a rehabilitation adjunct following lower-limb musculoskeletal injury. [UK]
  • Gayatri Nambiar-Greenwood (2017). Culturally Appropriate Care: A qualitative exploration of service-users’ perspective of nursing care [UK]
  • Shady Abdullah Alshewaier (2016) Developing a standardised pre-operative physiotherapy programme to improve the outcomes of patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in Riyadh (KSA) [International, KSA]
  • Noorah Alshoweir (2016). Cold Water Immersion: It’s Effect on an Active Population and Efficacy on Recovery on Elite Athletes post DOMS [International, KSA]
  • Sheila Wilson (2014). Narrative study of how non-qualified volunteers and ex-drug users make the transition to paid employment in the substance misuse field [UK]
  • Eman Ahmad Alshawish (2013): Access to and use of healthcare services by Palestinian women in the UK. [International, Palestine]

Research outputs