Abi Palmer

Research

Thesis

Exploring the variation and equality of access for at-risk adults in receipt of care and support in Wales

My focus is on inequalities in the risk of abuse and neglect, and access to safeguarding, for older at-risk adults in the UK. My thesis includes a scoping review followed by a sequential explanatory mixed methods study using a critical realist framework.

Funding sources

This PhD project is funded by the Welsh Graduate School of Social Sciences (WGSSS) in partnership with Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW).

Biography

I am a social care researcher who, before beginning a career in research, worked as an English teacher, having trained on the Teach First training programme. My undergraduate degree is in English Literature, and prior to my PhD studies I studied an MSc conversion course in Psychology. During this time I also worked as a research assistant in the CASCADE Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre. My research now focuses on adult social care.

My PhD thesis involves mixed methods, and I am also conducting a scoping review, having some experience of assisting with review studies. The focus of my PhD research is on comparing risks of mistreatment and barriers to safeguarding across different social care contexts and for different groups of people accessing services.

I also have a broad interest in research related to social welfare, public health and inequalities, and have assisted on research projects related to homelessness, welfare inequalities and child social care interventions.

Supervisors

Jonathan Scourfield

Professor