Research Fellow

Michelle has been working at the Tilda Goldberg Centre for Social Work and Social Care (TGC) since it was established in 2010. She initially worked on social work research with children and families and then moved into the Substance Misuse and Ageing Research SMART team in February 2015. Since 2015 Michelle worked on the UK wide “Drink Wise, Age Well” (DWAW) consortium, (£25 million Big Lottery funded); the first programme of its kind worldwide which aimed to reduce alcohol related harm in people aged 50 and over. The Drink Wise Age Well programme recently ended (May 2020) and she is now starting work on a care home study; promoting good practice in relation to alcohol use in care homes for older people. Key Research partners include; care home residents, staff and relatives, care home companies, and the Care Quality Commission and we will work with them to use the findings to improve adult social care. This study is funded by the National Institute of Health Research School for Social Care for two years.

Michelle also works with SMART colleagues to develop public engagement and co-production in substance misuse and ageing. Whilst in SMART Michelle managed an Alcohol Research UK (ARUK) funded wet care home study of two long term, non-abstinence based care homes, one in the UK and a wet care provider in Norway for individuals 50 and over with refractory alcohol problems (individuals unable or resistant to change drinking).

Before entering research, Michelle was a social worker for 10 years, working in London in children and families teams, and a specialist fostering scheme for traumatised young people.

Research Interests

• Substance misuse and ageing
• Co-production with Public and Experts by Experience

Qualifications

• Masters Applied Social Studies and Social Work Qualification, South Bank University, London

Current and Recent Research Projects

• Substance Misuse and Ageing Research Team (SMART), University of Bedfordshire. £25m Big Lottery funded Drink Wise, Age Well Study UK wide study to reduce alcohol related harm in older people. February 2015 to present.
• Alcohol Research UK (ARUK) funded wet care home study of the only two long term, non-abstinence based care homes in the UK for individuals 50 and over with refractory alcohol problems (individuals unable or resistant to change drinking).
• (RCT) Randomised controlled trial. Delivery and evaluation of a practice and intensive skills development programme in (MI) Motivational Interviewing in Children and Family social work teams 2012 in a London Borough.
• Evaluation of pilot delivering children services in a North UK Borough. Comparative evaluation of traditional structure for service delivery and new “pod” teams being trialled. 2012
• Evaluation of two innovative approaches to delivering better social work services for children and families: The Reclaiming Social Work (RSW) initiative and Motivational Interviewing (MI.) Large scale evaluation of London Authority using a systemic unit model (RSW) in the delivery of children services and two other Local Authorities using more traditional team structure. 2011-2013
• Review on Social work Services and Recovery from substance misuse; Review of the Evidence. Jointly commissioned by Scottish Government, Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW) Institute of Research and innovation in social services. 2010-2011.
• Prevention of Older People Programme (POPP). Evaluation of development of preventative services for older people experiencing dementia. 2008-2010 for a Local Authority. The Partnership for Older People Projects (POPP) which was funded by the Department of Health to develop services for older people, aimed at promoting their health, well‐being and independence and preventing or delaying their need for higher intensity or institutional care.

Recent Publications

• McCann.M and Wadd.S with Crofts G. ‘Wet’ care homes for older people with refractory alcohol problems: A qualitative study, 2017, Alcohol Research UK funded.

Publications

• Forrester D, Westlake D, Killian M, Antonopolou V, McCann M, Thurnham A, Thomas R et al (2019) What is the relationship between Worker skills and Outcomes for Families in Child and Family Social Work? The British Journal of Social work, Volume 49, Issue 8, December 2019, pages 2148-2167 doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy126
• Forrester, D Westlake D., Killian, M., Antonopolou.V, McCann M, Thomas R et al (2018) A randomised controlled trial of training in motivational interviewing for child protection. Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 88, May 2018, p180-190 doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.014
• Donald Forrester, Georgia Glyn and Michelle McCann. Social work research and substance misuse. Social work with Adults. M. Davies. Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan. 2011.
• Michelle McCann. Part 3 Social work and substance use. Introduction. Social work with Adults. M. Davies. Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan. 2011.

Other reports

• Engaging Parents and Protecting Children: A randomized controlled trial Exploring Motivational Interviewing in Child Protection Work. Donald Forrester, David Westlake, Michelle McCann, Angela Thurnham, Charlotte Whittaker, Charlotte Waits, Roma Thomas, Vivi Antonopoulou, Mike Killian. 2013
• Pod working in (a Northern UK) Local Authority: A descriptive evaluation. Donald Forrester, Michelle McCann and David Westlake 2011
• Reclaiming social work? An Evaluation of Systemic Units (sometimes referred to as the “Hackney Model” or “Reclaiming Social Work”) as an approach for delivering Children Services. Findings of an evaluation of the systemic unit model. An in-depth comparative description of practice and the factors shaping it in three local authorities. Professor Donald Forrester, David Westlake, Michelle McCann, Angela Thurnham, Guy Shefer, Georgia Glyn and Mike Killian.
• Social work services and Recovery from substance misuse; Review of the Evidence. Dr S Galvani, Professor Donald Forrester, Ms G Glyn, Michelle McCann, Professor Andy Guppy, Christine Hemsley, Mary Hilson, Dr Angela Thurnham (2011)

Contact details

E: michelle.mccann@beds.ac.uk