
Dr Jennifer Owen
Research Associate
Pronouns
she/her
Biography
Dr Jennifer Owen is a Research Associate at the NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit (HSCWRU), based in the Policy Institute. She joined King's and HSCWRU in April 2021. At the Unit, Jen is leading an exploratory study, funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR), of the role of professional decluttering services as part of interventions with people who hoard. She was previously part of a team examining self-neglect and hoarding among older people, also funded by the NIHR SSCR.
Prior to joining King’s, Jen was an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at Cardiff University, during which she studied a third-sector decluttering service supporting older people in South Wales. Before this, Jen worked at CASCADE on a systematic review of Shared Decision-Making Family Meetings.
In 2019, Jen completed a PhD based in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, funded by the ESRC. Her thesis examined what the growth of the self-storage industry in the UK could tell us about the changing needs of individuals and families in the face of life-course trajectories, transitions and events – including bereavement, moving home and abroad, and growing older.
With a background in social and cultural geography, Jen’s research is broadly concerned with the spatial processes and practices which construct everyday life. In particular, she is interested in the place of material objects in experiences of home, identity, mobility and the life course.
Jen is an Associate Fellow of Advanced HE, Communications Officer of the Royal Geographical Society Social and Cultural Geography Research Group, and co-founder of the UK Clutter Research Group. She has recently collaborated on the Methods for Change project, funded by ASPECT, which captures and shares the importance of social science methods for societal change.
Jennifer Owen: ORCID iD | Research Profile at King's
Research

Volunteers in Adult Social Care (VASC): An evaluation of the national volunteer responders scheme
Evaluating an online system that aims to ‘match’ potential volunteers with care providers and organisations who wish to recruit more volunteers.
Project status: Ongoing

Decluttering the homes of people with hoarding behaviours: Local authority commissioning, professional practices, and user experiences
Investigating the role of professional decluttering services.
Project status: Ongoing

Understanding and improving training offers for professionals working with people with hoarding behaviours
A short study building on two earlier NIHR School for Social Care Research funded projects.
Project status: Ongoing

Social care responses to self-neglect and hoarding among older people: What works in practice?
How should Adult Social Care best respond?
Project status: Ongoing

Evaluation of the International Recruitment Fund for adult social care
The fund aims to increase the number of international recruits entering adult social care, improving ethical international recruitment & employment practice.
Project status: Ongoing
News
At the NIHR School for Social Care Research annual conference
Unit researchers were a strong presence at the conference – held at The Law Society

Current thinking on hoarding behaviour
Over 320 people attended a webinar focusing on psychological and legal perspectives

King's researchers facilitated two workshops on self-neglect and hoarding behaviour in Greenwich
Nicole Steils and Jen Owen were sharing findings from a NIHR School for Social Care Research study

At the Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology
Unit researchers were a strong presence at this year's online conference

What do we know about hoarding behaviour and treatment approaches for older people?
New evidence review from our NIHR School for Social Care Research study

Events

Current thinking on hoarding behaviour
Psychological and legal perspectives: Paul Salkovskis, Tim Spencer-Lane
Please note: this event has passed.
Research

Volunteers in Adult Social Care (VASC): An evaluation of the national volunteer responders scheme
Evaluating an online system that aims to ‘match’ potential volunteers with care providers and organisations who wish to recruit more volunteers.
Project status: Ongoing

Decluttering the homes of people with hoarding behaviours: Local authority commissioning, professional practices, and user experiences
Investigating the role of professional decluttering services.
Project status: Ongoing

Understanding and improving training offers for professionals working with people with hoarding behaviours
A short study building on two earlier NIHR School for Social Care Research funded projects.
Project status: Ongoing

Social care responses to self-neglect and hoarding among older people: What works in practice?
How should Adult Social Care best respond?
Project status: Ongoing

Evaluation of the International Recruitment Fund for adult social care
The fund aims to increase the number of international recruits entering adult social care, improving ethical international recruitment & employment practice.
Project status: Ongoing
News
At the NIHR School for Social Care Research annual conference
Unit researchers were a strong presence at the conference – held at The Law Society

Current thinking on hoarding behaviour
Over 320 people attended a webinar focusing on psychological and legal perspectives

King's researchers facilitated two workshops on self-neglect and hoarding behaviour in Greenwich
Nicole Steils and Jen Owen were sharing findings from a NIHR School for Social Care Research study

At the Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology
Unit researchers were a strong presence at this year's online conference

What do we know about hoarding behaviour and treatment approaches for older people?
New evidence review from our NIHR School for Social Care Research study

Events

Current thinking on hoarding behaviour
Psychological and legal perspectives: Paul Salkovskis, Tim Spencer-Lane
Please note: this event has passed.