I am passionate about promoting Psychologically Informed Medicine (PIM, Morton, 2019) to improve both the quality of care & wider experience of living with a heart condition from birth. My experience in this area bridges academia, lifelong personal experience & engagement with key stakeholders & policy makers.
I am always interested to find out about innovative approaches and ideas. If you are a charity or an organisation interested in this work get in touch.
Sharing Knowledge & Building Awareness
Recent article in The Conversation, click to access.
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Recent article in The Conversation, click to access.
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Webinar for Congenital Cardiology team in Armenia, March 2019.
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7th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery - Barcelona, Spain, July 2017
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Consultant Cardiologist Kate Bull's book 'Open Hearts: Stories of the Surgery that Changes Children's Lives on the history of congenital heart disease.
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Book Chapter, Publications & Presentations
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Morton, L. (2018) Born with a heart condition: The Clinical Implications of Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies edited by Prof Stephen Porges & Debs Dana. W.W. Norton & Company. NY.
USA Orders UK Orders The Conversation Consultancy "Your chapter provides new information for those of us, who have studied the bidirectionality of brain and body. As a scientist, I have frequently talked about the bidirectionality between heart and brain and between visceral states and mental function. However, your chapter truly provides a personal narrative of these concepts that has been missing from the scientific literature and specifically from Polyvagal Theory." Prof Stephen Porges, Neuroscientist. |
With a background in research, I am passionate about using psychological knowledge to empower people living with life long health conditions publishing widely & presenting to a variety of audiences. Visit publications & video presentations for a full list of articles, interviews, patient guides, blog posts and more.
Voluntary Campaign Work & Advocacy
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Presenting evidence to The Scottish Parliament, Petitions Committee, Nov 2012 on 'Scottish standards for the care of adult congenital heart patients' . Click photo for link. Photo Credit, Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee |
Feeling uncertain about being able to access safe medical care can contribute to the psychological burden of living with a lifelong medical condition. As such, since 2012, I have been working voluntary as Scottish Campaign manager for The Somerville Foundation, the UK's leading charity for adults born with a heart condition, to improve care for this population.
Since submitting a petition to the Scottish Parliament asking for national healthcare standards in 2012, I have been working with service providers & relevant stakeholders to improve health care provision sitting on NHS Scotland National Service Division's 'Scottish Congenital Cardiac Advisory Board' & their working group for developing standards.
NHS National Services Scotland – National Services Division (NSD) issued Specialist Adult & Paediatric standards for Congenital Cardiac Services in Scotland on the 31st of January 2018 on the Scottish Congenital Cardiac Service website.
I also sit on Health Improvement Scotland's (HIS) working group to develop National Healthcare standards for local care and NHS Scotland's newly developed Scottish Obstetric Cardiac Network. You can find out more about the work of this network here.
Since submitting a petition to the Scottish Parliament asking for national healthcare standards in 2012, I have been working with service providers & relevant stakeholders to improve health care provision sitting on NHS Scotland National Service Division's 'Scottish Congenital Cardiac Advisory Board' & their working group for developing standards.
NHS National Services Scotland – National Services Division (NSD) issued Specialist Adult & Paediatric standards for Congenital Cardiac Services in Scotland on the 31st of January 2018 on the Scottish Congenital Cardiac Service website.
I also sit on Health Improvement Scotland's (HIS) working group to develop National Healthcare standards for local care and NHS Scotland's newly developed Scottish Obstetric Cardiac Network. You can find out more about the work of this network here.
Projects
Scarred FOR Life, a photography exhibition which aim to challenge perceptions about scars & raise awareness about a population hidden in plain sight. Click for more info.
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National Press coverage at the launch of Scarred FOR Life Photography exhibition, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, 2014.
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