Zara Hansen

PhD

Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

I graduated from Keele University with a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy in 1997. I then worked within the NHS and private sector specialising in the area of musculoskeletal outpatients. During this time I developed a special interest in chronic pain management that led me to undertake a Post Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) at the University of East Anglia from 2002-3.

In 2004 I joined the University of Warwick Clinical Trials Unit as a Clinical Research Fellow investigating the clinical and cost effectiveness of a cognitive behavioural (CB) group approach to chronic low back pain (Back Skills Training Trial; BeST). My PhD, conducted at the University of Warwick, investigated the competence of physiotherapists to deliver CB approaches and was awarded in 2014.

I have been working within the RRIO team since July 2014 as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in CBT. I am primarily interested in using the CBT model to improve patient care through up skilling health professionals and also using CBT to enable patient self-management. I am a co-applicant on the BOOST Trial and will be primarily involved in intervention development and delivery.

Outside of the RRIO group I deliver CBT training for health professionals and retain practice links through continued work as a CBT therapist and as a physiotherapist.

Recent Publications

Treatment compliance and effectiveness of a cognitive behavioural intervention for low back pain: a complier average causal effect approach to the BeST data set.
Knox CR. et al, (2014), BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 15
Group cognitive behavioural interventions for low back pain in primary care: extended follow-up of the Back Skills Training Trial (ISRCTN54717854).
Lamb SE. et al, (2012), Pain, 153, 494 - 501
A cognitive-behavioural programme for the management of low back pain in primary care: a description and justification of the intervention used in the Back Skills Training Trial (BeST; ISRCTN 54717854).
Hansen Z. et al, (2010), Physiotherapy, 96, 87 - 94
Group cognitive behavioural treatment for low-back pain in primary care: a randomised controlled trial and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Lamb SE. et al, (2010), Lancet, 375, 916 - 923
Design considerations in a clinical trial of a cognitive behavioural intervention for the management of low back pain in primary care: Back Skills Training Trial.
Lamb SE. et al, (2007), BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 8