Joyce Coker

Joyce’s research spans both UK-based and international work, connected by a common thread: understanding social connection and the changing ways people relate to one another in an increasingly digital and mobile world. Whether she is exploring community organisations in Cambridge or the migration of healthcare workers across countries, her work examines how these changes shape people’s mental health and wellbeing.

What is your research about?

In the UK, I’ve been studying community assets and how they support the mental health and wellbeing of under-researched populations, including older adults, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, people living with poor mental health, and people living in areas of deprivation. One project explores how community organisations use digital technology to support social connection. For some people, digital tools can be a stepping stone into forming relationships by building confidence, familiarity or motivation. For others, they create a perception of connection that keeps them at home, on screens and can limit opportunities for in-person interaction.

My international research focuses on two related areas of interest. The first focuses on the migration of healthcare professionals from countries in the global south, such as Nigeria and Ghana, to the UK and other countries in the global north. I’m interested in the complexity of people’s migration journeys, including the fact that these journeys are not always linear — people may move back and forth, stay temporarily, or plan to return. I’m also exploring how they maintain connections across countries and what these movements mean for families and the care of older adults. I reflect on these questions in more depth in a blog, drawing on my experience of conducting qualitative research across the Global North and South.

The second is an exploratory study on accents and trust in healthcare, looking at how accents influence the perceived trustworthiness of healthcare workers and how this shapes their interactions with colleagues and patients, as well as their sense of belonging. The thread that runs through all my work is social connection and loneliness, and how they are shaped by the world that we live in.

What led you to this area of research?

Care migration is personal for me. I am Nigerian by background and I’ve lived in both Nigeria and England, so I’ve seen these issues first-hand, both in the news and among people I know. I also understand what it’s like to have family living across different countries. My own experiences of how people react to accents has also shaped my interest in migrant healthcare workers' experiences.

Why is it important?

For the migration work, this is important because it has clear implications for policy, workforce planning, and equity. Countries in the global south often have fragile healthcare systems, and when healthcare workers leave, it affects both formal services and informal care, especially for older adults. At the same time, countries like the UK rely heavily on international healthcare workers to address workforce shortages and support the provision of quality care.

To plan sustainably for the future, we need accurate, up-to-date data on people’s migration journeys — who is coming, who is staying, who is returning — and what this means for healthcare services in the years ahead. Migration will not stop, so understanding it better is essential if we want to make these movements more equitable for all involved.

How has working across disciplines supported your research?

My background is in human physiology and public health, but working with researchers from social science, including anthropology, has broadened how I approach my work. They help me understand the wider social world around what I’m seeing and bring theories and concepts I wouldn’t otherwise know. You don’t know what you don’t know; interdisciplinary collaboration helps reveal what you might miss when looking at things through only one lens.

In your opinion, what public health challenge needs more attention?

Social connection. People are moving across countries more, and life is becoming increasingly digital. Social connection plays a major role in mental health and wellbeing, but we still don’t fully understand how these changes affect the quality of our relationships. Feeling 'connected' is not the same as having meaningful connections, and those differences can have real impacts on wellbeing.