Rate My Professor Helen Clayson

Helen Clayson is affiliated with the University of Otago's Department of General Practice and Rural Health in the Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Division. She is also connected to the Centre for Rural Health and the Primary Health Care unit at the Dunedin School of Medicine. As a senior lecturer and academic general practitioner, Clayson has made notable contributions to research on palliative and supportive care for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-related lung cancer. Her work explores patient and carer experiences, clinical symptom management, and research priorities in this field. She has authored or co-authored numerous publications, including 'Suffering in mesothelioma: concepts and contexts' in Progress in Palliative Care (2003), 'Mesothelioma from the patient's perspective' and 'Supportive and palliative care in mesothelioma' in Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America (2005), '71 Patients' and carers' experience of mesothelioma' (2006), 'The experience of mesothelioma in Northern England' (2007), 'Guidelines of the European Respiratory Society and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons for management of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma' (2010), 'Caring for Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Japan: Evaluation of a Palliative Care Educational Program' in the Asian Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology (2014), 'Research priorities in mesothelioma: A James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership' in Lung Cancer (2015), 'What's Trending in Breathlessness Research? Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Breathlessness Research Interest Group' (2015), 'Asbestos-worker exposure, family disease' (2017), and the book chapter 'Palliative Treatment in Mesothelioma: How to Manage Clinical Symptoms in Mesothelioma' (2021). These publications have collectively garnered over 112 citations on ResearchGate.

Clayson's career includes roles in rural medical education and practice. She serves as regional coordinator for the University of Otago's Rural Medical Immersion Programme in Wairarapa and as a general practitioner in Masterton, New Zealand. In August 2024, she presented on 'Palliative care in Wairarapa: Access and primary care workload through an equity lens' at the Rural Health Research Network Symposium. She is recognized in the University of Otago 2024 Calendar under the Department of General Practice and Rural Health. Her research and clinical work bridge palliative care needs with rural health equity.