Out of Hospital Care
- Social prescribing
- Care home workforce wellbeing
Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute
The Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute, launched in 2019.
Interdisciplinary Research and Knowledge Exchange in health and care
The University benefitted from a generous, multi-million-pound donation from philanthropist and entrepreneur Helen McArdle, which was instrumental in the creation of the innovative new Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute in 2019. The University's Shackleton House building has been re-named Helen McArdle House in recognition of this extraordinary gift.
The Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute focuses on applied health and care research, working collaboratively across all Faculties, harnessing the power and potential of interdisciplinary research. Drawing upon the wide talent and expertise of academics and synergies across the University, our interdisciplinary approach to solving real world research and knowledge exchange issues is making a difference to underserved populations, stigmatised conditions and enabling people to take control of their own health and wellbeing.
Our strategic programmes
Opened in September 2019, the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute focuses on four strategic and synergistic programmes of research and knowledge exchange:
1) Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHPs)
2) Health Inequalities
3) Health Services Research
These strategic programmes are aligned to international, national and regional policy in these areas. Since opening, the Institute’s strategy has also evolved in response to key national and regional policy on the commissioning and delivery of services in the NHS, local authority, and social care, alongside the evidenced widening of health inequalities.
Health and wellbeing
The Institute works collaboratively with external organisations from health, social care, local authority, academic, commercial, and professional bodies. These international, national, and regional partnerships produce co-designed research and knowledge exchange activities under the Institute programmes and workstreams to provide recommendations and solutions to health and wellbeing challenges across the continuum of care.
Find out more information on health and wellbeing in Sunderland:
Institute Staff
PhD Students
Our PhD students make a vibrant contribution to the Institute’s research environment, with their work aligned to our Programmes and Workstreams:
- Callum Tierney
- Sam Lucas
- Julie Parrott
- Inga Hamilton
Research Associates
Our activity is enhanced by a team of experienced and interdisciplinary Research Associates, across a range of externally funded research and knowledge exchange projects:
- Abbey Fletcher
- Eva Masterman
- Lindsay Parkin
- Dawn Ridgway
- Jane Young
Advisory Boards
The Institute is governed through an Internal and an External Advisory Board, who support the strategic development of research and knowledge exchange activity.
Visiting Professors and Visiting Research Fellows
The Institute’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Activity is supported by our Visiting Professors and Visiting Research Fellows internationally and nationally.
Our research programmes
Our four Institute workstreams
The four programmes are supported by four strategic workstreams of:
Military and veteran health and wellbeing
- Social isolation
- Resettlement and reintegration of veterans
Obesity and bariatric surgical care
- Long-term follow up of people who have had bariatric surgery
- Stigma of obesity
Women's health
- Inequalities in sexual and reproductive health in BAME and populations with obesity
- Breastfeeding
The drivers of these research and knowledge exchange workstreams are to produce outputs which can change service delivery and models of integrated care, improve population health and influence policy and practice.
Staff contacts
Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs):
Psychology:
- Dr Heather Yemm
- Dr Becci Owens
- Dr Joe Butler
Hospital Pharmacy:
- Mrs Lindsay Parkin
Community Pharmacy:
Get involved
The Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute offers lectures, podcasts, and webinars to highlight the work of the Institute, and our collaborations with partner organisations, providing opportunities for discussion and debate.
These activities will be open to, and bring together, University staff and students, local and regional NHS and care workforces, including health and social care organisations, and the public.
For any enquiries about the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute, please email Professor Yitka Graham at yitka.graham@sunderland.ac.uk.