Patricia joined the social work team at Ulster University as a Lecturer in 2021 and teaches on both the undergraduate and post-graduate programmes at Ulster.   She brings extensive experience from social work practice, across a range of adult social care and social work settings.  As part of her efforts to embed anti-oppressive practice and social justice perspectives in social work education she works alongside a local ‘Improving Adult Care Together’ (IMPACT) Network.   This group work collaboratively across sector to strengthen inclusion and anti-racist practice in social work and social care.  Patricia also works in partnership with social work students and the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland (BASW NI)  to lobby for improved financial support for students studying on the social work degree programme.

Patricia is a developing researcher with a range of research interests, her academic and professional work is underpinned by a commitment to social justice, rights, anti-oppressive and evidence-based  practice.  Drawing on her experience in adult social work, Patricia works to strengthen the connections between theory, practice, and policy, with a focus on empowering approaches and interventions that might help to improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.

Teaching Interests

Patricia’s teaching interests are mainly centred on adult social work and the development of ethical and empowering practice. Her teaching is informed by current research and aims to be responsive to the ever changing political and social landscape.  As well as promoting critical thinking, professional values, student engagement, collaborative practice and the use of research and evidence-based interventions.   She is particularly interested in how interventions are applied in practice and how outcomes may be evaluated. 

Research Interests

Patricia’s research interests include co-production and service user involvement in both higher education and professional practice.  Expanding on her own practice experience and interests in community development she has worked collaboratively on a number of research projects.  These have included a qualitative enquiry into community based nursing and social work support for palliative and end of life care and an evaluation of a collaborative project between the community and statutory sectors.   She is currently undertaking a part-time PhD which investigates the application of active learning strategies to assessment in professional health and social care education. This experimental study will make a contribution to the evidence base on active learning techniques assessment.  Importantly, it will help underscore the particular value of these techniques in designing assessments that are authentic and aligned with the realities of professional practice.