I am a Senior Research Fellow and the Women & Equalities Research Lead for the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research (VFI), at Anglia Ruskin University. My main research interests focus on: 1) gender and the impact of military service, 2) the health and well-being of the military and veteran community, and strategies to promote this, and 3) identifying and addressing barriers to accessing support services in the military and veteran community.
I have a background in Psychology and the medical sciences and prior to joining the VFI in 2015 I completed my PhD in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, focused on examining compulsive behaviours in Anorexia Nervosa. During my time at the VFI I have worked on projects focused on employment support for military spouses/partners, perinatal mental health in military spouses/partners and developing frameworks for measuring the impact of support services on the well-being of military families. During this time, my methodological focus has shifted towards the social sciences and mixed methodologies. In addition to this I have led the institute's research programme focused on the impact of military service on women since 2020.
My current research projects include the following:
1) A qualitative examination of the impact of internet-based technologies on family communication during military separation (funded by the Naval Children's Charity). The project aims to provide better support and guidance to help military families navigate virtual relationships.
2) A scoping study of the impact of military life on women's health and well-being post-service (funded by NHS England and commissioned by the Confederation of Service Charities). This project will give an overview of the evidence landscape and recommendations for future research and activities with women veterans.
3) A programme of mixed methods research focused on barriers to accessing services for women veterans (funder to be announced later in 2021).
Email: lauren.godier-mcbard@aru.ac.uk
Twitter: @laurengmcb
Research website: https://aru.ac.uk/people/lauren-godier