Overview
Background:
I did my professional physiotherapy training in Birmingham qualifying in 1980. Following this I came to Cardiff to work at the University Hospital of Wales. When the opportunity to work in Paediatrics came up I moved into the Children’s Centre and developed community and special school expertise. After a career break to have my children, I moved to work in Caerphilly at the Children’s Centre based at Energlyn in 1992. This project is a multiagency partnership and enabled me to develop some management skills. In my time there, I studied for a Masters in Child Health from 1996-1999 and began to research Family Centred Care. I enjoyed being involved in staff development from assistants to more senior staff and my final position there was team leader and clinical specialist in paediatric physiotherapy.
Teaching:
I joined the teaching staff at Cardiff University in 2002, successfully completed a Post Graduate Teaching Certificate in Medical Education in 2005. My teaching commitments involve Undergraduate neurology physiology, personal and professional development and research as well as a Postgraduate Masters in Physiotherapy. I am leader for the adult and paediatric Neurorehabilitation module. I have developed the Interprofessional personal and professional development module for the revalidated programme from 2014. I am committed to developing healthcare practitioners who show empathy, care and compassion. I am involved as a volunteer in the new Race Running club for children with a range of disabilities in Cardiff.
External responsibilities:
I was external examiner for Masters Modules at Sheffield Hallam University from 2012-2016. I have been involved in the Welsh Branch of the Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists (APCP) as Treasurer and on the organising committee for 2 national conferences held in South Wales (1984 and 2005). I took on the role of Education Officer for the National APCP Committee from 2006-2009. This involved advising and teaching on various postgraduate courses around the UK and Cyprus, as well as attending National committee meetings.
I was invited to represent the All Wales Children and Young person’s physiotherapy manager’s group in providing evidence for a research report ‘Fair Play’ about disabled children’s play opportunities in Wales now published by the Bevan Foundation. In July 2013 I was appointed to the British Academy of Childhood Disability Strategic Research group. I obtained Academic Promotion to Senior Lecturer in August 2014 on a teaching and scholarship pathway.
Research
Research interests
Research:
I completed my Master’s degree in child health in 1999. I developed further research in Family Centred Care by carrying out a pilot project from 2006-2009. This is an approach to patient centred care that involves working with parents and children and young people with disabilities. Focus groups and interviews were used to explore staff and parents experiences of Family Centred Care. This work is published and was presented at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, Amsterdam, 2011.
I was the Principal Investigator of the Pilot research study: Pedal Power- looking at the effects of adapted cycling for children with cerebral palsy. This project was funded externally by the Nancie Finnie Charitable Trust from 2009-2012. This research was carried out in partnership with the voluntary organisation ‘Pedal Power Cardiff’, the cycle hire facility for the city. This research is now published and has been presented in Belfast, Derby, Cardiff, Sheffield, London, Norway and Amsterdam and Boston, USA. The implications for practice were presented in Bristol, Aberystwyth and Sheffield in June 2014. I am part time PhD student developing my proposal from a qualitative perspective to explore recreational activities with children and young people with Cerebral Palsy.
