Understanding and addressing loneliness in the perinatal period

The Mother and Infant Research Unit is a group of researchers whose vision is to deliver world-leading, impactful research to improve the health and wellbeing of women, babies, children and their families, and to reduce health inequalities. We have a shared interests in working with individuals and groups who are often excluded from research to understand and improve their experiences of health and healthcare. 

Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a serious problem due to its reported: i) prevalence; ii) associations with low wellbeing, poor mental and physical health and premature mortality; iii) economic costs.  The perinatal period is acknowledged as a time when risk for loneliness may be particularly high.

We welcome proposals that focus on understanding and addressing loneliness in the perinatal period by doing one or more of the following:

• Exploring experiences, sources and consequences of loneliness in this context;
• Developing, implementing and evaluating conceptually-sound and contextually-sensitive methods to identify and assess loneliness in this context;
• Developing, implementing and evaluating targeted and tailored interventions to reduce loneliness in this context.

Diversity statement

Our research community thrives on the diversity of students and staff which helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for postgraduate research.  We welcome applications from all talented individuals and are committed to widening access to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from higher education.