Maria Tighe Clark

University of Nottingham | Notts · Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Safeguarding for healthcare involves working together to protect adults, children, and young people at risk of harm. Despite global research and national guidance outlining health professionals’ roles in this regard, there is limited knowledge about the type of strategies used to mobilise safeguarding research to practitioners in England. Our criti...

In March 2020, Public Health England provided social distancing and shielding guidance for all adults aged 70 and over in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article seeks to provide insight into the lived experiences of older people during this period of household isolation. To do so, we analysed the metaphors used by 13 older adults during in...

Child abuse linked to faith or belief (CALFB) is a worldwide issue that is linked to serious short-term and long-term consequences and even death. Children affected by CALFB may have undergone multiple abuses - such as ritual starvation, beatings, burns, stabbings and drowning - prompting concern in hospitals, schools and communities, including in...

Background: Due to the global pandemic, governments have enforced household isolation and social distancing to reduce infection and mortality rate. However, the impact of prolonged enforced isolation for older people who are prone to social isolation and loneliness has yet to be understood. Objectives: A longitudinal study to understand the lived...

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic people over the age of 70 have been advised to undertake stringent social isolation and distancing measures. Global data has begun to emerge on older people's early experience of adhering to social restrictions, and the impact of the pandemic on their health and well-being (Brooke and Clark, 2020; Robb et al...

In this chapter, we report on a community-based safety partnership to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) in Uganda. The ‘Anti-Domestic Violence and Abuse Center’ (ADOVIC) is based in the city of Jinja in the east of the country. Since 2012, it has performed an important role in identifying and responding to GBV. The aim of the organisation is to re...

This qualitative study aimed to explore the lived experience of medical doctors in delivering cervical cancer screening in a city in Iraq. Methods: An applied grounded theory approach explored the reported experiences of doctors in the field. A purposive sample of 12 gynaecologists and one general practitioner (GP) working in two main hospitals p...

This article reports on an initiative to foster student nurses’ engagement with sustainable healthcare, by embedding this into the elective learning component of the nursing curriculum at the University of Birmingham (U.K). This was published in the BMJ blog: https://blogs.bmj.com/ebn/2020/12/20/sustainable-healthcare-elective-in-nursing-a-futures...

Aims: To consider the scope and quality of mixed methods research in nursing. Design: Focused mapping review and synthesis (FMRS). Data sources: Five purposively selected journals: International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, and Journal of Mixed Me...

Aim and objective: To explore older people's initial experience of household isolation, social distancing and shielding, and the plans they constructed to support them through the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Public health guidance for those aged 70 or older was predominantly to undertake stringent social distancing within their household. Lit...

E-professionalism is defined as the competence and values expected of professionals when engaged in online communication, and is a rapidly expanding area of nursing practice. The use of online social media is popular among nursing students, some of whom have created online platforms for peer support and influence. There are significant benefits of...

Background Medical misconduct is an international problem. It is judged according to whether a doctor has endangered the health of the public. Little is known about the risk factors associated with medical misconduct. To inform patient safety, we undertook a focused mapping review and synthesis (FMRS) of tribunal reports retrieved from the Medical...

Over the past decade, the potential harms regarding young people's use of technology have attracted mounting political, media and research attention worldwide. One practice engaged in by many young people is that of “sexting” and the sharing of partially, or complete nude images (“selfies”). Such images are not always retained within private spaces...

Literature reviews are an important and popular part of synthesising evidence across a range of disciplines. There are numerous approaches, each with their distinctive features and purposes. The aim of this article is to advance the science of literature reviewing by describing a new form of review: The ‘Focused Mapping Review and Synthesis’ (FMRS)...

Research into higher education has shown that for those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans* and/or Queer (LGBTQ), universities are places where both direct and indirect discrimination is experienced. This paper reports the findings from a systematic search and review on gender and sexual diversity in professional practice placements. Thi...

Infant mental health (IMH) is a growing area of practice for health, education and social care practitioners, as links are increasingly made between experiences in the early years and subsequent child development, mental health and well-being. It is unclear how parents perceive IMH and use knowledge relating to IMH with their children. We conducted...

Background Globally, the potentially harmful effects of using cell phone technology for ‘sexting’ among young people, is a public health concern. The background literature indicates that sexting might have adverse psychosocial consequences for some young people who share partially nude images (‘selfies’). Public health nurses (PHNs) could offer gui...

How to facilitate and promote the access to cervical cancer screening among women living in Iraq

Duoethnography is a method of dialogical reflection that combines different voices and juxtaposing worldviews in order to glean fresh perspectives on wider social or professional issues. In this paper we use poetry to support an inter-professional duoethnographic exploration of sensitive issues in nursing and healthcare. Using a method of linked ta...

Population-based screening programs have resulted in minimizing mortality and morbidity from cervical cancer. The aim of this integrative review was to explore the factors influencing access of women from Western Asian and Middle Eastern Arab countries to cervical cancer screening. A systematic search for studies conducted in Arab countries in thos...

This article reports the findings from a new form of review: a focused mapping review and synthesis. The aim was to create a contemporary, snapshot profile of the nature and scope of gender-based violence (GBV) studies conducted in Europe. GBV is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world affecting mainly women and girls. The po...

Globalisation is the term used to describe the increasing economic and social interdependence between countries. Shifting patterns of health and disease are associated with globalisation, affecting the health of populations across the world. Global health refers to a health issue that is not contained geographically and is one that single countries...

Aims: To report the findings of a qualitative case study that investigated abused women's experiences of an identification and referral intervention and to discuss the implications for nurses, specifically those working in primary and community care. Background: Domestic violence and abuse is a significant public health issue globally but it is...

Pluralism and creativity are inherent and important parts of the qualitative endeavour. The multiplicity of approaches and methods can, however, be confusing. We undertook a focused mapping review and synthesis to obtain a snap-shot profile of the state of qualitative research in health and social science literature. We retrieved 102 qualitative ar...

Intimate partner violence is a common problem that is known to have serious and long-term effects on health across a lifetime. While community nurses are placed to deal with intimate partner violence, some may be unsure of what to do. They may fear getting things wrong or making the situation worse. Additionally, intimate partner violence is often...

Clinical academic careers for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals are gaining recognition internationally and nationally, yet public health nurses appear underrepresented. The purpose of this paper is to share our learning through a clinical-academic partnership. We critique our experiences and in the context of public health nursing,...

Background Acupuncture shows promise as a treatment for plantar heel pain (PHP) or plantar fasciitis (PF), but data heterogeneity has undermined demonstration of efficacy. Recognising that acupuncture is a diverse field of practice, the aim of this study was to gain a broader, global perspective on the different approaches and rationales used in th...

Aims and objectives: The aim of this article is to discuss critically the theoretical concepts of awareness, recognition and empowerment as manifested in intimate partner violence and to show how these can be translated into a practice framework for improving nurses' response. Background: Intimate partner violence is a universal problem and is c...

The book Green Exercise discusses the synergistic health benefit of being active in the presence of nature and provides a balanced overview on all aspects of Green Exercise, including evidence from physiology, ecology, psychology, sociology, the environmental sciences, and more from across the world. The book explores the future of Green Exercise,...

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is widespread and has serious, long-term negative effects on health and wellbeing. These vary depending on the nature of the abuse, but usually encompass anxiety and depression. Each interaction with patients is an opportunity to assess for DVA, and it is vital that nurses know how to do this competently. This arti...

The Chinese population in the UK is highly dispersed and ethnically diverse. The following information will enable Health Visitors (HVs) to better identify the health needs and allied resources for supporting Chinese first and second generation families. The Chinese National Healthy Living Centre (CNHLC) was founded in 1987 and has many years of ex...

A qualitative study focused on the practical challenges facing health care professionals working in cervical cancer screening departments in Iraq.

The specific project aim was to evaluate the physical health benefits of LINE in a year 2 class in a local Natural Connections primary school, using the following methods:  measuring the participants’ physical activity (PA) levels during LINE and compare to indoor lessons, using accelerometry  measuring their BMI and compare to previous measureme...

This paper presents a small-scale action research study of public health nursing and social work students’ practice-based learning. The study aimed to identify collaborative opportunities to improve access to green space for community residents in Plymouth, in the United Kingdom (UK). The student experience was nested within ‘Stepping Stones to Nat...

Global trends in public health nursing (PHN) suggest the value of community-based social research. However, it is not always clear how social research relationships may be of benefit to PHN or how such skills can best be learned and applied. To advance this understanding, we present a qualitative analysis of the development of social research relat...

Introduction: Plantar heel pain (PHP) is a common complaint, yet there are no definitive guidelines for its treatment. Acupuncture is increasingly used by podiatrists, and there is a need for evidence to validate this practice. It is acknowledged that PHP and acupuncture are both complex phenomena. Method: A systematic review (PROSPERO no. CRD42...

The health and well-being benefits of access to green space are well documented. Research suggests positive findings regardless of social group, however barriers exist that limit access to green space, including proximity, geography and differing social conditions. Current public health policy aims to broaden the range of environmental public healt...

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a rapidly developing healthcare practice. This exploratory case study of the role of TCM reveals how the use of TCM in a Chinese National Healthy Living Centre (CNHLC) raises the visibility of TCM as a Chinese cultural practice and challenges the relationship between ‘traditional’ medicine use and Chinese healt...