BSMS > About BSMS > Contact us > Staff > Kat Frere-Smith

Kat Frere-Smith

Health Coach in Health Services Research
E: K.Frere-Smith@bsms.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 1273 644562
Location: Room 319 Watson Building, University of Brighton, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH

Area of expertise: Health Coaching, Behaviour Change

Research areas: Health Coaching, Change Management, Public Health, Community Engagement, Dementia

Preferred gender pronouns: She/her

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Biography

Kat is a Health Coach in Health Services Research. She brings a diverse skillset to this position, having graduated from Goldsmiths University in 2009 and going on to work for numerous charities internationally focusing on natural resource management and community engagement. She then settled in East Sussex in order to raise her 2 daughters and worked in the Pharmacy department at the local hospital, part-time, whilst the children were young.

She trained as a Health Coach (Level 4 Diploma) after being diagnosed with a second rare neurological condition and becoming even more intrigued about the importance of preventative health care and looking after our own health and wellbeing. She is a member of the UK Health Coaching Association and works with them on their NHS Vision 2020 Project.

Recently Kat has set up an organisation called ‘Food Detectives’ which works with local primary schools and aims to inspire kids, support adults and encourage all to enjoy healthy foods.

Research

Kat is currently working as a Research Assistant on the ARC Community-based volunteering in response to COVID-19 (COV-VOL) study being led by the University of Kent.

She is also working as a Health Coach for the SPICES research study (Scaling-up Packages of Interventions for Cardiovascular disease prevention in selected sites in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa). SPICES is an implementation science project also funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation action and is a co-production research study working alongside several community partner organisations across Sussex.

The intervention will involve training volunteer health champions to deliver a risk assessment and motivational coaching to community peers. This intervention will assess CVD risk and will promote and plan healthy lifestyle changes through peer-to-peer support.

Once Kat's secondment is over she will rejoin the team conducting the PRODEMOS research study (the Prevention of Dementia using mobile phone applications). They’re using a smart phone app and health coaches to help middle-aged to elderly people sustain lifestyle behaviour change and reduce their risk of dementia. The aim of the project is to make an evidence-based dementia prevention strategy accessible to those at increased risk of dementia who are usually not reached by preventive medicine. PRODEMOS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Manages and delivers the ‘Food Detectives’ programme in local primary schools.

Trained as a Level 2 Stop Smoking Advisor, running courses providing advice with behaviour change and pharmacological support, in accordance with NCSCT guidance.