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Biography

I am responsible for developing a research programme centred on health and social care of older people. I supervise a range of postgraduate research students in areas aligned to my research interests and methodological expertise, including topics on falls prevention, healthy ageing environments, and social support in older age. I manage a public involvement network (INSPIRE Portsmouth: Integrating Support for Public Involvement in Research at Portsmouth), supporting research, innovation, and educational activities across the University, and beyond. I work with the wider academic, business, and social communities, to help grow activities in the field of ageing. I am currently managing the delivery of a Medical Research Council funded scheme - 'INSPIRE Portsmouth for the MRC', to enable researchers to embed meaningful public involvement at the proposal writing stage. I am supporting third sector organisations (Age UK Portsmouth and Community First) in the evaluation of their services to reduce loneliness in older age, and work with colleagues in the local authority to help grow research capacity. I am the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead (Research) for the School of Dental, Health & Care Professions, and an NIHR Academic Career Development Lead.

Previously, I have been a Research Fellow and on a part-time secondment to the UK Cochrane Centre as a lecturer in systematic reviews. My PhD was a mixed methods study including an RCT, focus groups, interviews, and a systematic review. Prior to this, I undertook an MSc in Psychological Research Methods (distinction), and BSc (Hons) in Psychology (2:1). My research has included the first and only hospital-based pilot cluster RCT on shock absorbing flooring for fall-related injury prevention. I also have enjoyed working with Cochrane on training materials in research methods, including developing a suite of online learning materials, and I collaborated on the development of Cochrane’s risk of bias tool for cluster RCTs.

Research interests

My research interests primarily lie in the fields of ageing and age-friendly environments.

Projects have included:

• The SAFEST Review: Shock-Absorbing Flooring Effectiveness SysTematic Review including older adults and staff in care settings
• A mobile messaging service to support the psychological wellbeing of carers of people living with dementia
• Research capacity building in adult social work
• Evaluation of the ‘Close Encounters’ service for reducing loneliness and isolation in older people
• Psychological and Educational Interventions for Preventing Falls in Older People in the Community (Cochrane Systematic Review)
• Research to improve customer experience and safety when using escalators
• The HIP-HOP Flooring Study: Helping Injury Prevention in Hospitalised Older People.
• The PEOPPLE Project: Putting Evidence for Older People into Practice in Living Environments.
• NIHR Physical Environments study exploring the design of dementia care wards to create falls prevention design toolkit.
• Undertaking systematic reviews