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Professor Gail Kinman

Positions held:
  • Associate Lecturer A, Birkbeck Business School
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Dr. Gail Kinman is a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the Academy of Social Sciences. She is an occupational health psychologist with extensive experience in research and practice. Gail’s interests mainly focus on improving the working conditions and wellbeing of people who do emotionally demanding work, such as health and social care professionals, prison officers and academics. She is currently working with health and social care professionals to develop and evaluate systemic approaches to building emotional resilience. Gail also has a longstanding interest in work-life balance and the individual and organisational characteristics required to work remotely  in a healthy and sustainable way. She is currently working on several research and consultancy projects in this area.

    Gail is currently working with several organisations, such as the Society of Occupational Medicine, the NHS, the Ministry of Justice, the Prison Officers Association, and the Educational Support Partnership, on several projects to improve the wellbeing of employees. She is also working with health and social care organisations. Gail has published numerous research papers, reports and book chapters and is regularly invited to deliver keynote talks on her research and deliver training. Gail's h-index is currently 45 and her i10-index is 73. 

    Qualifications

    • PhD Occupational Health Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, 2006
    • BSc Psychology (First Class), University of Bedfordshire, 1996

    Professional activities

    Trustee for the Council for Work and Health

    Co-founder and Co-Chair of the British Psychological Society's Working Group on Work-Life Balance (2010 - 2021); member of the COVID-19 response group

    Member of the Society of Occupational Medicine’s Occupational Health and Work Psychology Group, Academic Advisory Group and COVID-19 Response Group

    Associate Research in Practice

    Commissioning Editor for the British Medical Bulletin

     Associate Editor for the International Journal of Stress Management 

    Associate Editor for Occupational Medicine 

    Member of the international award committee for the Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research (since 2009).

    Senior Member of the ESRC Review College

       

    Member of the Academy of Finland Grant Review Panel for Health, Welfare and Society (2021 and 2011 - 2013)

    Expert assessor for the British Medical Association Foundation for Medical Research Awards, the Medical Benevolent Fund and other medical charities

    Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

    External examiner at Sheffield University

    Professional memberships

    • British Psychological Society (Fellow)



    • Academy of Social Sciences (Fellow)

    • Society of Occupational Medicine

    • European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology

    • Emotional Intelligence Consortium

    Honours and awards

    ORCID

    0000-0002-0130-1708
  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Psychosocial working conditions, particularly in emotionally demanding work
    • Multi-level approaches to developing resilience in health and social care
    • Work-life balance, flexible working and remote working
    • Workplace health interventions
    • Emotional intelligence
    • Precarious work
    • Sickness absence and presenteeism
    • Suicide in healthcare professionals
    • Emotional experiences at work: e.g. emotional labour, empathy and compassion and extreme emotional displays such as anger and crying
    • Psycho-oncology

    Research overview

    I have an international reputation for my research on work-related wellbeing in public sector workers, with a particular focus on emotional reactions to work and work-life balance. I work with various occupational groups, focusing mainly on 'helping' and safety critical professionals such as health and social care staff, academics, prison officers, fire and rescue personnel and the police. My research also focuses on the individual and organisational characteristics required to work remotely and use information communication technology for work purposes in a healthy and sustainable way. I am currently working in collaboration with Research in Practice and Health Education England to develop and evaluate systemic approaches to building emotional resilience in health and social care organisations. I have been working with several organisations, such as the Society of Occupational Medicine, Public Health England, the Royal College of Nurses, the Prison Officers Association, and the Educational Support Partnership on several projects to improve the wellbeing of employees.

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    I supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students in various aspects of occupational health psychology, such as psychosocial working conditions, mental health and wellbeing at work, work-life balance and flexible working, absenteeism and presenteeism, self-care and resilience. I also supervise projects related to emotional experiences related to work such as emotional labour, compassion and empathy.

    I have extensive experience in PhD supervision

    I supervise quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods projects. 

  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    Monograph

  • Business and community

    Business and community

    I have media training.

    Media

    I am happy to receive enquiries from the media on the following topics:

    • Wellbeing at work
    • Work-life Balance, Flexible and Hybrid Working
    • Mental health at work
    • Workplace health interventions
    • Absenteeism and presenteeism
    • Emotional experiences at work

      Outreach

      Making homeworking a success: getting the most from remote/hybrid working styles. British Psychological Society Webinar, December 2021

      Breaking presenteeism and combatting the ‘always on’ culture in a busy workplace, CIPD Wellbeing at Work Conference, December 2021

      Presenteeism during the COVID-19 pandemic: risk factors and solutions for employers. Society of Occupational Medicine Webinar, November 2021

      Employee wellbeing post-pandemic; the verdict. Kings College London, the Ministry of Defence and the University of East Anglia. November 2021

      Sickness Presenteeism: managing the challenge.  The health challenges of new ways of working following COVID and how they can be addressed. BPS Division of Occupational Psychology and Society of Occupational Medicine Webinar, October 2021

      The Change Project: Improving organisational resilience in social care. Invited seminar. Social Services Resilience and Care Continuity Seminar, European Social Network, Slovenia, October 2021

      Mental health and burnout: research insights and interventions. Webinar for UK Research and Innovation, October 2021

      Avoiding snake oil in workplace health – what is the evidence base? Podcast for the Society of Occupational Medicine. https://fb.watch/8Becqc5EiP/

      Interventions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of nurses and midwives. Nursing 2021: Developing the Nursing Workforce for COVID-19 Recovery, September 2021

      Assessing the impact of work-related stress on mental health and burnout among nurses. National Nursing Excellence Event 2021, August, 2021

      Managing inequalities in workplace wellbeing during and after the pandemic, Employee Wellbeing Post-Pandemic: Seizing the Opportunity, King’s College, July 2021

      Supporting mental wellbeing of frontline workers. CIPD Coronavirus webinar, May 2021

      How to switch off: recovery, work-life balance and wellbeing. Research in Practice Webinar, April 2021

      Working from Home: Messages for Organisations. PHE/SOM Webinar series on Work, Worklessness and Wellbeing, March 2021

      What Employers Can Learn About Presenteeism. Health and Wellbeing at Work, March 2021

      Creating a supportive working environment for social workers. Keynote speaker. Festival of Social Work 2020. November 2020

      Health Professionals in Difficulty. RAND/SOM Webinar. November 2020

      The Mental Health and Wellbeing of Nurses and Midwives in the UK: Systematic Review and Recommendations. Society of Occupational Medicine Webinar, October 2020

      The Mental Health of Nurses and Midwives. John Goodlad Memorial Lecture, Royal College of Nursing Conference. October 2020

      Occupational health and wellbeing for university staff. SOM Webinar, November 2021 London.

      The health challenges of news ways of working following COVID. Division of Occupational Psychology, BPS and Society for Occupational Medicine Conference, 2021, London.

      With Public Health England and the Society of Occupational Medicine.  A series of webinars and associated briefings on key issues faced by organisations during the pandemic and beyond. Work, Worklessness and Health Briefing Series. https://www.som.org.uk/new-public-health-england-covid-19-work-worklessness-and-health-briefing-series

      Breaking presenteeism and managing the always on culture. Invited talk at the CIPD Wellbeing at Work Conference, November 2021

      The evolving meaning of burnout, Storyteller with Lisa Golden Episode ;82. https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/storyteller-with/the-evolving-meaning-of-yTn517QcezG/

      Work-life Balance: Feature with Bruce Daisley for Audible (2020)

      Stress at Work, All in the Mind, BBC Radio 4 (November 2019)

      Services

      • Consultancies and expert advice
        06-DEC-21 to 28-FEB-22

        Consultant working with ENGINE and Samsung on a project related to hybrid living (2021)
      • Consultancies and expert advice

        Research in Practice: Consultancy on various research and training projects related to enhancing resilience at a systemic level in social care organisations (from 2016 and ongoing)
      • Contract research

        Public Health England and the Society of Occupational Medicine: commissioned to develop a series of webinars and associated briefings on Work, Worklessness and Health related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond (2021)
      • Contract research

        Education Support: Commissioned to design and conduct a national survey of wellbeing and support needs in UK university employees (2021)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by the Louise Tebboth Foundation to conduct a research project on the experiences of clinical staff working in secondary care who have experienced the death by suicide of a colleague (2021)
      • Consultancies and expert advice

        Commissioned by Care Knowledge to develop a series of resources on supporting wellbeing in social care organisations (2019 - 2021)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing Foundation to conduct and publish a systemic review of mental health and wellbeing in UK nurses and midwives (2019)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by the Prison Officers Association to conduct national surveys of the work-related wellbeing of prison officers in the UK (2014 and 2020)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by the Louise Tebboth Foundation to develop a suicide postvention framework for primary care staff who have experienced the death by suicide of a colleague (2020)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by Health Education England to develop the Social Work and Health Diagnostic and Associated Workbook (2021)
      • Contract research

        Commissioned by the Louise Tebboth Foundation and Society of Occupational Medicine to conduct and publish a review of the mental health of UK doctors (2018)