Geraldine Macdonald
Biographic Data
| ID | 4426862 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Geraldine Macdonald |
| GIVEN NAMES | Geraldine |
| FAMILY NAME | Macdonald |
| SIGNATURE | MACDONALD G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Queen's University Belfast |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6846-7235 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 48 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Connecting evidence with decision-making in adult social care: A cross-sectional staff survey
For adult social care organizations faced with growing challenges, an increasingly important issue is how best to make use of relevant research. This article reports on a survey that sought to assess the views, experiences, and use of research among adult social care staff in three neighboring local authorities in England. Findings In total, 250 staff (30% response rate) across all grades and areas of practice responded to the survey. Staff expre…
The barriers and facilitators to help-seeking: What young people in the UK Say: A systematic review
The transition from youth to adulthood is a challenging one, particularly for those with experience of the care system, mental health or youth justice services, and those with long term health needs. To identify what young people in the UK regard as the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking, we conducted a systematic search for relevant qualitative studies, the findings of which were then synthesized using a structured approach. Eighteen stud…
What Influences the Use of Research by the Adult Social Care Workforce
Despite a recognition that research evidence plays a critical role in informing decisions in adult social care, there has been little investment in developing the sector’s own capacity to engage with it. This article reports on a qualitative study of the adult social care workforce (social workers, occupational therapists, managers and commissioners) in three local authorities in England. Data were collected through twenty-five semi-structured in…
The Place of Research in the Professional Identity of Practitioners and Managers in Adult Social Care
The nature of professional identity in the roles of practitioners in social care is not clearly defined. This article uses baseline data from a study seeking to increase the use of research in decision‐making within adult social care to discuss the role of research in the professional identity of social care practitioners. Semistructured interviews were completed with 25 members of staff working in adult social care in the UK, employing purposive…
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Policies and Interventions that Improve Health, Psychosocial, and Economic Outcomes for Young People Leaving the Out-of-Home Care System
Young people who transition to adulthood from out-of-home care (OOHC) are more likely to experience a range of poorer outcomes relative to their same-age peers in the community. This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of policies or interventions (hereafter “interventions”) aimed at improving housing, health, education, economic, and psychosocial outcomes for youth leaving OOHC (hereafter “care leavers”). Eleven databases of published l…
Shooting in the dark’: Implications of the research–practice gap for enhancing research use in adult social care
While participants feel positively towards research, there remains a gap between these perceptions and its use in practice. There remains a need to improve research relevance and accessibility and to clarify its role in decision-making in social care, including where there is no evidence, where evidence challenges existing practice, or where the evidence base is growing. Collaborative partnerships between adult social care organisations, research…
Challenges Faced by Young Mothers with a Care History and Views of Stakeholders About the Potential for Group Family Nurse Partnership to Support Their Needs
Women with experience of being ‘looked after’ are more likely than their peers to become young mothers. There has been limited research investigating support for their needs. This study, embedded in a randomised trial of Group Family Nurse Partnership ( gFNP ), involved interviews with young mothers with care experience, Family Nurses delivering group gFNP , and health and social care professionals. This first qualitative study to explore the vie…
Developing a Consort Extension for Interventions in Criminology, Education, Psychology, Public Health, and Social Work
Young people’s views on the impact of care experiences on their ability to form positive intimate relationships
Existing literature tells us that one of the factors important to the sexual health and intimate relationships of adolescents is the extent to which teenagers feel emotionally connected and supported by their families. In this article, we analyse the experiences of disconnectedness from their families and transience during childhood reported by a sample of young adults formerly in care, and the influence they believed this had on their sense of s…
Mobile Phones and Contact Arrangements for Children Living in Care
This paper reports the findings from the first UK study to examine the use of mobile phones by looked after children. Contact with family and friends is important, but it has sometimes to be carefully managed to avoid unintended consequences such as placement instability. The study examined the ways in which mobile phone technology impacts on contact, drawing on the experiences of children and young people in foster-care and residential care, and…
Working with fathers to improve children's well-being: Results of a survey exploring service provision and intervention approach in the UK
Interventions for fathers are a recent growth area in family services. Although some specific approaches are beginning to be evaluated, there is little known about what kinds of interventions are more generally being used in practice. A web-based survey of practitioners was conducted in the UK, with contact being made via local authority service managers. Two hundred and twenty-one responses were received from 53% of local authorities. Both inter…
Utilising a computer game as a therapeutic intervention for youth in residential care: Some preliminary findings on use and acceptability
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Social and psychological interventions are often complex. Understanding randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of these complex interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them; however, RCT reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to resea…
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Understanding randomized controlled trials of complex social and psychological interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them. However, randomized controlled trial reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to research participants and c…
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Social and psychological interventions are often complex. Understanding randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of these complex interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them; however, RCT reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to resea…
Treatment Foster Care for Improving Outcomes in Children and Young People: A Systematic Review
Objective: To assess the impact of treatment foster care (TFC) on psychosocial and behavioral outcomes, delinquency, placement stability, and discharge status for children and adolescents who, for reasons of severe medical, social, psychological and behavioural problems, were placed in out-of-home care in restrictive settings or at risk of placement in such settings. Method: Electronic bibliographic databases, web searches, and article reference …
Safeguarding: A Case for Intelligent Risk Management
‘Risk’ in social work is typically read as risk-of-bads, and specifically extreme bads. This paper develops the implications of the logical objection to attempts to predict low frequency extreme events (such as child homicides). Our argument is that if we focus on these low probability high cost outcomes—these heart wrenching, but unpredictable, tragedies—we take social work away from the good that it can do, leave it open to inappropriate disapp…
Working across boundaries to improve health outcomes: A case study of a housing support and outreach service for homeless people living with HIV
This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of the 'Housing Support, Outreach and Referral' service developed to support people living with HIV who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The service was set up as part of the Supporting People Health Pilot programme established to demonstrate the policy links between housing support services and health and social care services by encouraging the development of integrated services. The pape…
Social work in the UK: A testing ground for trialists
This article examines the history of social work research within the UK from a perspective of evidence‐based practice, as originally advocated in the 1990s. It reviews the progress made to date in relation to the use of experimental studies in the field of children and families, and the reasons why this remains limited. It sets this in the broader context of evidence‐based practice and the education and training of qualifying and post‐qualifying …
The challenges of joint working: Lessons from the Supporting People Health Pilot evaluation
The pilots demonstrate that integrating services to support people with complex needs works best when the service is determined by the characteristics of those who use the service rather than pre-existing organisational structures
An Experiment in Helping Foster-Carers Manage Challenging Behaviour
A randomized controlled trial was implemented with groups of foster-carers to test the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioural methods in the management of difficult behaviour. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups with regard to behaviour management skills, the frequency and/or severity of behavioural problems, and placement stability. In contrast, foster-carers expressed satisfaction wit…
The Campbell Collaboration
This article describes the development, organization, and operation of the Campbell Collaboration, an international network of academics and practitioners who prepare, maintain, and make accessible authoritative systematic reviews of the effectiveness of interventions in the fields of social welfare, education, and criminal justice. The Campbell Collaboration is modeled after the successful Cochrane Collaboration, established in 1993 to produce r…
Community Care Services for the Mentally Ill: Consumers' Views
In this study a broadly representative sample of clients in the City of Westminster, receiving Care in the Community for reasons of mental ill-health, were interviewed regarding their experiences of, and levels of satisfaction with, services provided. The results reveal the vulnerability of services users, the benefits of community care, the high regard the majority have for their helpers, the limitations imposed by scarce resources, and the nega…
Implications for practice of recent social work effectiveness research
This article results from an analysis of 95 studies of the effectiveness of social work. The good news from this research, which features a wide range of demanding social problems, is that 75 per cent of results are positive. In this article the authors present their findings and consider their implications for practice
Safeguarding: A Case for Intelligent Risk Management
‘Risk’ in social work is typically read as risk-of-bads, and specifically extreme bads. This paper develops the implications of the logical objection to attempts to predict low frequency extreme events (such as child homicides). Our argument is that if we focus on these low probability high cost outcomes—these heart wrenching, but unpredictable, tragedies—we take social work away from the good that it can do, leave it open to inappropriate disapp…
Working across boundaries to improve health outcomes: A case study of a housing support and outreach service for homeless people living with HIV
This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of the 'Housing Support, Outreach and Referral' service developed to support people living with HIV who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The service was set up as part of the Supporting People Health Pilot programme established to demonstrate the policy links between housing support services and health and social care services by encouraging the development of integrated services. The pape…
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Social and psychological interventions are often complex. Understanding randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of these complex interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them; however, RCT reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to resea…
Social work in the UK: A testing ground for trialists
This article examines the history of social work research within the UK from a perspective of evidence‐based practice, as originally advocated in the 1990s. It reviews the progress made to date in relation to the use of experimental studies in the field of children and families, and the reasons why this remains limited. It sets this in the broader context of evidence‐based practice and the education and training of qualifying and post‐qualifying …
An Experiment in Helping Foster-Carers Manage Challenging Behaviour
A randomized controlled trial was implemented with groups of foster-carers to test the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioural methods in the management of difficult behaviour. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups with regard to behaviour management skills, the frequency and/or severity of behavioural problems, and placement stability. In contrast, foster-carers expressed satisfaction wit…
The Campbell Collaboration
This article describes the development, organization, and operation of the Campbell Collaboration, an international network of academics and practitioners who prepare, maintain, and make accessible authoritative systematic reviews of the effectiveness of interventions in the fields of social welfare, education, and criminal justice. The Campbell Collaboration is modeled after the successful Cochrane Collaboration, established in 1993 to produce r…
Young people’s views on the impact of care experiences on their ability to form positive intimate relationships
Existing literature tells us that one of the factors important to the sexual health and intimate relationships of adolescents is the extent to which teenagers feel emotionally connected and supported by their families. In this article, we analyse the experiences of disconnectedness from their families and transience during childhood reported by a sample of young adults formerly in care, and the influence they believed this had on their sense of s…
Working with fathers to improve children's well-being: Results of a survey exploring service provision and intervention approach in the UK
Interventions for fathers are a recent growth area in family services. Although some specific approaches are beginning to be evaluated, there is little known about what kinds of interventions are more generally being used in practice. A web-based survey of practitioners was conducted in the UK, with contact being made via local authority service managers. Two hundred and twenty-one responses were received from 53% of local authorities. Both inter…
The challenges of joint working: Lessons from the Supporting People Health Pilot evaluation
The pilots demonstrate that integrating services to support people with complex needs works best when the service is determined by the characteristics of those who use the service rather than pre-existing organisational structures
Shooting in the dark’: Implications of the research–practice gap for enhancing research use in adult social care
While participants feel positively towards research, there remains a gap between these perceptions and its use in practice. There remains a need to improve research relevance and accessibility and to clarify its role in decision-making in social care, including where there is no evidence, where evidence challenges existing practice, or where the evidence base is growing. Collaborative partnerships between adult social care organisations, research…
Utilising a computer game as a therapeutic intervention for youth in residential care: Some preliminary findings on use and acceptability
Implications for practice of recent social work effectiveness research
This article results from an analysis of 95 studies of the effectiveness of social work. The good news from this research, which features a wide range of demanding social problems, is that 75 per cent of results are positive. In this article the authors present their findings and consider their implications for practice
Community Care Services for the Mentally Ill: Consumers' Views
In this study a broadly representative sample of clients in the City of Westminster, receiving Care in the Community for reasons of mental ill-health, were interviewed regarding their experiences of, and levels of satisfaction with, services provided. The results reveal the vulnerability of services users, the benefits of community care, the high regard the majority have for their helpers, the limitations imposed by scarce resources, and the nega…
The Campbell Collaboration
This article describes the development, organization, and operation of the Campbell Collaboration, an international network of academics and practitioners who prepare, maintain, and make accessible authoritative systematic reviews of the effectiveness of interventions in the fields of social welfare, education, and criminal justice. The Campbell Collaboration is modeled after the successful Cochrane Collaboration, established in 1993 to produce r…
An Experiment in Helping Foster-Carers Manage Challenging Behaviour
A randomized controlled trial was implemented with groups of foster-carers to test the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioural methods in the management of difficult behaviour. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups with regard to behaviour management skills, the frequency and/or severity of behavioural problems, and placement stability. In contrast, foster-carers expressed satisfaction wit…
The challenges of joint working: Lessons from the Supporting People Health Pilot evaluation
The pilots demonstrate that integrating services to support people with complex needs works best when the service is determined by the characteristics of those who use the service rather than pre-existing organisational structures
Social work in the UK: A testing ground for trialists
This article examines the history of social work research within the UK from a perspective of evidence‐based practice, as originally advocated in the 1990s. It reviews the progress made to date in relation to the use of experimental studies in the field of children and families, and the reasons why this remains limited. It sets this in the broader context of evidence‐based practice and the education and training of qualifying and post‐qualifying …
Working across boundaries to improve health outcomes: A case study of a housing support and outreach service for homeless people living with HIV
This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of the 'Housing Support, Outreach and Referral' service developed to support people living with HIV who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The service was set up as part of the Supporting People Health Pilot programme established to demonstrate the policy links between housing support services and health and social care services by encouraging the development of integrated services. The pape…
Safeguarding: A Case for Intelligent Risk Management
‘Risk’ in social work is typically read as risk-of-bads, and specifically extreme bads. This paper develops the implications of the logical objection to attempts to predict low frequency extreme events (such as child homicides). Our argument is that if we focus on these low probability high cost outcomes—these heart wrenching, but unpredictable, tragedies—we take social work away from the good that it can do, leave it open to inappropriate disapp…
Treatment Foster Care for Improving Outcomes in Children and Young People: A Systematic Review
Objective: To assess the impact of treatment foster care (TFC) on psychosocial and behavioral outcomes, delinquency, placement stability, and discharge status for children and adolescents who, for reasons of severe medical, social, psychological and behavioural problems, were placed in out-of-home care in restrictive settings or at risk of placement in such settings. Method: Electronic bibliographic databases, web searches, and article reference …
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Social and psychological interventions are often complex. Understanding randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of these complex interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them; however, RCT reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to resea…
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Understanding randomized controlled trials of complex social and psychological interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them. However, randomized controlled trial reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to research participants and c…
Developing a Reporting Guideline for Social and Psychological Intervention Trials
Social and psychological interventions are often complex. Understanding randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of these complex interventions requires a detailed description of the interventions tested and the methods used to evaluate them; however, RCT reports often omit, or inadequately report, this information. Incomplete and inaccurate reporting hinders the optimal use of research, wastes resources, and fails to meet ethical obligations to resea…
Working with fathers to improve children's well-being: Results of a survey exploring service provision and intervention approach in the UK
Interventions for fathers are a recent growth area in family services. Although some specific approaches are beginning to be evaluated, there is little known about what kinds of interventions are more generally being used in practice. A web-based survey of practitioners was conducted in the UK, with contact being made via local authority service managers. Two hundred and twenty-one responses were received from 53% of local authorities. Both inter…
Utilising a computer game as a therapeutic intervention for youth in residential care: Some preliminary findings on use and acceptability
Challenges Faced by Young Mothers with a Care History and Views of Stakeholders About the Potential for Group Family Nurse Partnership to Support Their Needs
Women with experience of being ‘looked after’ are more likely than their peers to become young mothers. There has been limited research investigating support for their needs. This study, embedded in a randomised trial of Group Family Nurse Partnership ( gFNP ), involved interviews with young mothers with care experience, Family Nurses delivering group gFNP , and health and social care professionals. This first qualitative study to explore the vie…
Developing a Consort Extension for Interventions in Criminology, Education, Psychology, Public Health, and Social Work
Young people’s views on the impact of care experiences on their ability to form positive intimate relationships
Existing literature tells us that one of the factors important to the sexual health and intimate relationships of adolescents is the extent to which teenagers feel emotionally connected and supported by their families. In this article, we analyse the experiences of disconnectedness from their families and transience during childhood reported by a sample of young adults formerly in care, and the influence they believed this had on their sense of s…
Mobile Phones and Contact Arrangements for Children Living in Care
This paper reports the findings from the first UK study to examine the use of mobile phones by looked after children. Contact with family and friends is important, but it has sometimes to be carefully managed to avoid unintended consequences such as placement instability. The study examined the ways in which mobile phone technology impacts on contact, drawing on the experiences of children and young people in foster-care and residential care, and…
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Policies and Interventions that Improve Health, Psychosocial, and Economic Outcomes for Young People Leaving the Out-of-Home Care System
Young people who transition to adulthood from out-of-home care (OOHC) are more likely to experience a range of poorer outcomes relative to their same-age peers in the community. This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of policies or interventions (hereafter “interventions”) aimed at improving housing, health, education, economic, and psychosocial outcomes for youth leaving OOHC (hereafter “care leavers”). Eleven databases of published l…
Shooting in the dark’: Implications of the research–practice gap for enhancing research use in adult social care
While participants feel positively towards research, there remains a gap between these perceptions and its use in practice. There remains a need to improve research relevance and accessibility and to clarify its role in decision-making in social care, including where there is no evidence, where evidence challenges existing practice, or where the evidence base is growing. Collaborative partnerships between adult social care organisations, research…
The barriers and facilitators to help-seeking: What young people in the UK Say: A systematic review
The transition from youth to adulthood is a challenging one, particularly for those with experience of the care system, mental health or youth justice services, and those with long term health needs. To identify what young people in the UK regard as the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking, we conducted a systematic search for relevant qualitative studies, the findings of which were then synthesized using a structured approach. Eighteen stud…
What Influences the Use of Research by the Adult Social Care Workforce
Despite a recognition that research evidence plays a critical role in informing decisions in adult social care, there has been little investment in developing the sector’s own capacity to engage with it. This article reports on a qualitative study of the adult social care workforce (social workers, occupational therapists, managers and commissioners) in three local authorities in England. Data were collected through twenty-five semi-structured in…
The Place of Research in the Professional Identity of Practitioners and Managers in Adult Social Care
The nature of professional identity in the roles of practitioners in social care is not clearly defined. This article uses baseline data from a study seeking to increase the use of research in decision‐making within adult social care to discuss the role of research in the professional identity of social care practitioners. Semistructured interviews were completed with 25 members of staff working in adult social care in the UK, employing purposive…
Connecting evidence with decision-making in adult social care: A cross-sectional staff survey
For adult social care organizations faced with growing challenges, an increasingly important issue is how best to make use of relevant research. This article reports on a survey that sought to assess the views, experiences, and use of research among adult social care staff in three neighboring local authorities in England. Findings In total, 250 staff (30% response rate) across all grades and areas of practice responded to the survey. Staff expre…
Medicine (18 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Nursing (15 works) · Political science (12 works) · Medical education (7 works) · Mental Health and Patient Involvement (7 works) · Psychological intervention (7 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Social Work (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)