Dr Rosaleen O'Brien
Research Associate
Department of Psychology
Dr Rosaleen O'Brien is a medical sociologist with a particular interest in qualitative methods and their application to health research.
Rosaleen joined the Parenting and Families Team in the Department of Psychology, Social Work and Allied Health Sciences in August 2013. She leads the realist process evaluation for the THRIVE Trial (Trial of Healthy Relationship Initiatives for the Very Early Years), working in collaboration with colleagues at the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. The realist process evaluation explores how, why, for whom, and in what contexts, two antenatal interventions work to support women identified as vulnerable in pregnancy.
Rosaleen previously worked at the Institute for Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow (2009 - 2013) where she led a qualitative programme of research that contributed towards the development, implementation, and evaluation of the CARE Plus study, designed to enhance wellbeing of people managing multimorbidity in the context of high socio-economic deprivation. Prior to this Rosaleen worked at the Division of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Oxford (2007-2009), where she conducted qualitative work with patients and professionals in primary and secondary care to identify unmet needs of prostate cancer patients during follow-up after treatment, also leading to a primary care-based intervention. Rosaleen has a long-standing interest in gendered social practices and health, which she began to explore as part of her PhD on masculinities and men's health at the MRC/ CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow.