My profile

Biography

I’m a Professor of Mental Health at Manchester Metropolitan University. I’ve worked on numerous funded projects pertaining to mental health, inclusion and participation. Research on the exploration of stakeholder perspectives and implementation has been a strong feature of my work to date. I have a background in forensic mental health and more recently her national and international focus has been upon minimising restrictive practices such as physical restraint and coercion across varied settings. I was a member of the Guideline Development Group for the NICE guidelines on Violence and Aggression: Short-term management in mental health, health and community settings. I’ve written extensively on this subject over the past 20 years.

As a result of my profile in this area and collaborative ventures, I’m the Chair Elect of the European Violence in Psychiatry Research Group, and the Restraint Reduction Network. In recognition of my work I was awarded the title of Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and won a national mental health nursing accolade: The Eileen Skellern Award in 2014.

I’ve secured funding to examine a range of topics including coercion, patient safety, service user engagement, participatory action research, digital inclusion, reviews and varied evaluation approaches. Funders have included NIHR, MOJ, YJB and the Health Foundation. I’ve published extensively in the area of mental health care and coercion and made a number of media appearances pertaining to the topic.

Research outputs