Diksha Naresh Singh

Addressing the often-overlooked psychological burden faced by people living with chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) in rural India, this study focuses on developing and testing a culturally tailored psychological intervention integrated within pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programmes.

The project involves three key stages:

• Reviewing global evidence on psychological interventions within PR in low- and middle-income countries.
• Co-designing the intervention with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to ensure it is culturally relevant and practical in rural settings.
• Testing its feasibility and acceptability in a real-world PR programme to explore its potential for wider implementation.

This research aims to enhance mental well-being, improve engagement with rehabilitation, and strengthen holistic respiratory care in resource-limited settings by creating a scalable model of integrated psychological care.

• A systematic review, synthesising 20 studies across 10 LMICs, has been completed, and is awaiting publication. The review confirms that integrated psychological interventions significantly improve anxiety and depression among people with CRD. A poster summarising this work was presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2025.
• Stakeholder engagement meetings involving clinicians, physiotherapists, psychologists, community health workers and patients are underway. Insights from these sessions have guided cultural adaptations and the framing of the intervention to ensure acceptability and feasibility. A poster summarising one of the meetings was presented at the ERS Congress 2025.
• A culturally sensitive intervention manual has been developed, incorporating evidence-based strategies (CBT, relaxation, behavioural activation) and local adaptations (for example, use of non-stigmatising language, flexible delivery models, community integration).

Needs assessment for introducing pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management in a rural Indian setting: a qualitative study.

Diksha Naresh Singh, Harshpreet Kaur, Sudipto Roy, Sanjay Juvekar, Hilary Pinnock, Dhiraj Agarwal

BMJ Open Respiratory Research 2023;10:e001696. doi:10.1136/bmjresp-2023-001696

I am a psychologist with a background in public health and over seven years of experience working in the field. My research focuses on the psychosocial dimensions of chronic disease management, particularly the integration of mental and physical healthcare in low-resource settings.

Through my PhD, I aim to design context-appropriate, evidence-based psychological interventions within pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. This work seeks to develop sustainable, patient-centred models of care that address both the emotional and physical challenges faced by people living with chronic respiratory diseases in rural India.