Individual,Family & Community Health Interventions

Research Group Leader

Professor Paul Flowers
Professor of Sexual Health Psychology

Tel: +44(0)141 331 8617/3119
Email: p.flowers@gcu.ac.uk

Professor Flowers completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield, and subsequently worked at the Medical Research Council’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, and at Glasgow Caledonian University. Throughout his career he has maintained a clear interest in both academic research and its applied value, through influencing policy development and through his charity work.

Deputy Research Group Leader

Dr Susan Kerr
Reader in Public Health

Tel: +44 (0)141 331 8374
Email: s.m.kerr@gcu.ac.uk

Dr Susan Kerr is a public health nurse.  Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of complex healthcare interventions designed to improve the health and wellbeing of people experiencing health inequalities.  Particular areas of focus include smoking/smoking cessation, hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption, parenting and secondary prevention of stroke. Susan has published extensively and has secured external funding from a variety of sources including the National Prevention Research Initiative (a consortium of funders including the MRC, ESRC, DoH, Cancer Research UK), the Chief Scientist Office, the World Health Organisation and a number of charitable bodies. She works collaboratively with colleagues in other HEIs and Health Boards across Scotland.
 
Susan is the current Chair of the Scottish Tobacco Control Alliance (STCA) Research Group, she is a member of the Research and Evaluation Sub-group of the Ministerial Working Group on Tobacco Control and she is a member of the Training and Development Advisory Group of Partnership Action on Tobacco and Health (PATH). She is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Nursing Council on Alcohol.  In 2009 Susan’s leadership role in enhancing the research capacity and capability of nurses and allied health professionals was acknowledged when she received a UK Award for Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Scientists (funded by the Department of Health, the Scottish Government and others).


Research Scope

This research group seeks to inform the design of interventions to promote health and prevent illness, through theoretical, methodological and empirical research. The group draws together strengths in health improvement, health protection and health promotion from a variety of perspectives, including health ethics and policy, theories of behaviour change, and the design and evaluation of theory-informed interventions.

Reducing health inequalities is a core concern of our work. Research methods used are pluralistic, including randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, surveys, action research and qualitative research.  Current expertise is concentrated in 5 themes:

• Parenting and family support
• Sexual health
• Substance use and misuse
• Diet, nutrition and obesity
• Effects of music on health and wellbeing