09 April 2007

New Chair of Family Health

Professor Julie Taylor has been appointed Chair of Family Health at the University of Dundee.

Professor Taylor was previously Research Dean within the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and is looking forward to expanding the work carried out among the population of Tayside and Fife.

"The way that health and social care is organised and delivered in our local area, together with the diverse geography and population, makes it an excellent arena for high quality research," said Professor Taylor, who lives in Fife.

"The School of Nursing and Midwifery is excellently positioned with campuses in both Dundee and Kirkcaldy to link directly with people in Tayside and Fife and we have a lot of excellent work already going on in both areas."

"This work is very diverse. We’re also currently beginning to look at the health needs of children who are escaping domestic abuse, but we’re also working with student nurses in teaching them the basics of evidence-based care so that they are in a position to impact on the lives of people they go to care for when they have qualified."

"We are also doing a lot of work with the local population and health and social care professionals to address early years and parenting issues."

"It is vital that as researchers we maintain a close link with the local population around us to ensure that the work we are doing is capable of making a real difference to people’s lives."

While much of the work is concentrated on the local area, the School also has research looking much further afield, and Professor Taylor recently returned from working on a child health project in Zimbabwe.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Dundee, with campuses in both Dundee and Kirkcaldy, attracts over 1700 nursing and midwifery students each year. Crucial to the School's ongoing success is the partnership working with clinical colleagues locally, nationally and internationally. The School's extensive portfolio of education and research programmes is developed to reflect the needs of partners and to ensure it delivers the highest quality nurses and midwives to the National Health Service (NHS). www.dundee.ac.uk

Dundee is host to the Royal College of Nursing 2007 International Research Conference, taking place at the Caird Hall from 1st to 4th May 2007 - further information: www.man.ac.uk/rcn/research2007

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