Dr. Jan Smith joined Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) as a Lecturer in Psychology in October 2020. Jan is a Practitioner Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Chartered Health Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society (BPS). Jan is also a board member for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategic Board for the BPS and an EDI Champion for the Department of Psychology at GCU. Moreover, Jan supports the BPS as a committee member for the Division of Health Psychology Scotland and the EDI task force for the Division of Health Psychology.
Her qualifications include the following: PhD in Community Care (2013, University of Kent); Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Applications in Psychology (Newman University College, 2011); MSc in Research Methods in Psychology (2006; University College London); MSc in Health Psychology (2005; University of Westminster) and a BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical Psychology (University of Kent, 2003). Jan completed her health psychology practitioner training with the National Health Service (NHS) Education for Scotland (NES) Stage 2 Health Psychology training programme alongside placement support from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
In 2022, Jan completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in order to obtain status as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. As part of her ongoing commitment to professional development and her interests in enhancing her educational practice skills, Jan is currently specialising in leadership in Higher Education settings through her current Doctorate of Education (EdD) studies.
Jan has accumulated over 15 years of postgraduate psychology experience across the United Kingdom (UK). Previous experiences include the application of psychological practices within the NHS and UK universities, along with the third and private sectors. Jan made the move into Higher Education at GCU, in order to provide structured psychological learning to students and demonstrate how psychological principles could be practically applied in diverse environments including the NHS, industry, public and private sectors.
Additionally, Jan has supported students from undergraduate to doctoral level (DPsych and PhD) at GCU. Jan looks forward to supporting GCU students by providing constructive, supportive, collaborative and empowering practices and strives to work towards producing more inclusive learning environments for all GCU students and staff.
Research interests
Jan has an avid interest in psychology, with particular interests in health psychology, diversity and supporting people living with various vulnerabilities and multi-morbidities.
As an evidence-based practitioner, Jan continues to publish and contribute to psychological understandings through psychological-related outputs and has authored or co-authored a number of peer-reviewed publications on psychologically relevant areas. Her current research interests include:
- Management of long-term health conditions
- Understanding health behaviours, health conditions and lived experiences of people from minority populations
- Understanding service quality, quality of life outcomes and lived experiences of vulnerable people in community care settings
- Developing and applying behaviour change theory and practice to digital health interventions
- Applying reflective and reflexive practice in psychology with sensitivities to social justice, inclusion and equality.
Overall, Jan is passionate about Higher Education and looks forward to helping students and aspiring Psychologists reach their full potential.