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Deborah Edwards   Bsc (Hons), MPhil PhD

Dr Deborah Edwards

Bsc (Hons), MPhil PhD

Principal Research Fellow

School of Healthcare Sciences

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am a Principal Research Fellow and Systematic Review Methodologist at the School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University, where I have worked since 1996. Additionally, I serve as Co-director of the Wales Centre for Evidence Based Care, a JBI Centre of Excellence.  

In April 2023, along with five other centres across Wales, the Wales Centre For Evidence Based Care was contracted by the Health and Care Wales Evidence Centre to provide evidence synthesis products that answer priority questions for policy and practice in Wales. The Health and Care Wales Evidence Centre work with stakeholders who are involved in health and social care across Wales, to understand the impact of the pandemic on the health and care delivery systems in Wales, prioritise questions that are answerable from the research evidence, and ensure the best available, up-to-date, and relevant evidence is readily available to inform their decision making. 

I am interested in healthcare inequalities across vulnerable groups and my PhD focused on addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in healthcare. I drew on evidence from five mixed methods systematic reviews to explore how healthcare inequalities can be reduced across different vulnerable groups. Current topics of interest include access to cancer services and experiences of cancer care for adults with a physical disability, continence care for people living with dementia, end of life care for people with severe mental illness and crisis responses for children and young people.

Publication

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Adrannau llyfrau

Cynadleddau

Erthyglau

Gosodiad

Gwefannau

Monograffau

Research

Research interests
  • Evidence synthesis methodologies 
  • Evidence synthesis for vulnerable groups in healthcare

Methodological expertise and editorial appointments

  • Chair of JBI Textual Methods Group (From January 2025).
  • Associate editor for JBI Evidence Synthesis.
  • Systematic review consultant for Arts and Health Journal.
  • Member of the NIHR Evidence Synthesis Study with a Review (SWAR) group
  • Member of the Campbell and Cochrane Equity Methods group 
  • Member of the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre Methodology group.
  • Member of the JBI Evidence Synthesis Taxonomy Advisory Panel (International group led by the JBI Collaboration, the University of Adelaide, Australia).
  • Member of the JBI Textual Evidence Methods group contributing to the international development of these methodologies (International group led by the JBI Collaboration, the University of Adelaide, Australia).
  • Cardiff University: Researcher Pathways working group
  • Reviewer for Appetite, BMJ Open, Cogent Social Sciences, International Journal of Nursing Studies, International Journal of Nursing Older People, Journal of Clinical Nursing, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, BMC Systematic Reviews. 

WCEBC commissions

I have been the principal investigator on several evidence synthesis projects, commissioned from organisations including NHS England, European Cancer Organisation, World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development, Royal College of Midwivies, James Lind Alliance, Welsh Government, and the Schools of Engineering and Psychology at Cardiff University. Our current programme of work is with the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre.

Current grants

I have been awarded funding to undertake a Study Within a Review (SWAR) focused on evaluating the usability of unified tools for critical appraisal within rapid reviews of intervention effects. I will lead an international team of experts from renowned institutions, including McMaster University in Canada and Queen’s University Belfast to address methodological challenges in the critical appraisal process by assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of unified tools. This work builds on a comprehensive scoping review of unified tools for assessing the methodological quality of both randomised and non-randomised studies, which was presented as a poster at the Global Evidence Summit in Prague in September 2024​. This project not only seeks to streamline the review process but also to create a model that can be applied internationally, enhancing the speed and accuracy of rapid reviews for healthcare decision-makers worldwide.
 
 
 

Starting in January 2025, I will be leading the evidence synthesis workstream as part of a project funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme. The project aims to improve the experiences of African and African Caribbean people living with dementia in accessing support from Adult Social Care. The evidence synthesis workstream will focus on analysing existing qualitative research to better understand service access and experiences for this population. This work will help inform strategies for early detection, culturally appropriate support, and equitable care for individuals living with dementia in these communities.

 

 

 

Teaching

The subjects I teach are all aligned to my expertise in evidence synthesis which I teach at postgraduate level to healthcare students spanning a range of academic disciplines (nurses, midwives, radiographers, physiotherapists & occupational therapists). 

I co-lead the Systematic Review Dissertation module for the Masters in Advanced Healthcare Practice (NRT 080).  

I lead the organisation and delivery of the JBI evidence synthesis training programmes - comprehensive systematic review training and scoping review workshop.

Biography

Work history

August 2023-present

School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University

Senior Research Fellow

2021-July 2023

School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University

Research Fellow

2003-2021

School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University

Research Associate

1999-2003

School of Nursing & Midwifery Studies,  University of Wales College of Medicine

Research Assistant

1996-1998

Department of Social Medicine. University of Bristol

Research Associate

1994- 1996

Department of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine

Research Assistant

Research experience

Which interventions improve HPV vaccination uptake and intention in children, adolescents and young adults? An umbrella review.

Technologies used to facilitate remote rehabilitation of adults with deconditioning, musculoskeletal conditions, stroke, or traumatic brain injury. An umbrella review

Crisis responses for children and young people: an evidence synthesis of effectiveness, experiences and service organisation (CAMH-Crisis).

End of life care for people with pre-existing, severe, mental health problems: an evidence synthesis (the MENLOC study)..

Men’s perceptions of the impact of the physical consequences of a radical prostatectomy on their quality of life: a qualitative systematic review.

Barriers to and facilitators of, access to cancer services and experiences of cancer care for adults with a physical disability. A mixed methods systematic review.

Understanding continence in acute settings for people with dementia: raising awareness and improving care.

Assistance at mealtimes in hospital settings and rehabilitation units for older adults from the perspective of patients, families and healthcare professionals

The RISC Project. An evidence synthesis of risk identification, assessment and management for young people using tier 4 inpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)

The ‘EPIC Project’: Developing and evaluating a child-centered intervention for diabetes medicine management using mixed-methods and a multi-centre Randomised Controlled Trial

Academic positions

  • Co-Director of Wales Centre For Evidence Based Care - January 2022 to present
  • Senior Core Member of Wales Centre For Evidence Based Care - January 2020 to January 2022

Speaking engagements

  • Challenges and strategies in developing a search strategy for systematic reviews of textual evidence.
    Short oral: Global Evidence Summit, Prague, Czech, 10-13 September 2024.

 

  • Quality of healthcare at the point of care - generation, synthesis and transfer of evidence: A JBI gLOCAL Solution Room, Online 3rd June 2024. Collaborative activity between the Romanian Centre for Nursing Research and the Wales Centre For Evidence Based Care
    • Session 2. Achieving quality through evidence synthesis - A case study of generation, synthesis and evidence transfer
    • Session 3. From conception to translation - Defining the question, deciding on the approach, conducting the review

 

  • An overview of the international review evidence on factors that affect resilience in nurses and midwives. Annual Conference of OAMGMAMR, Bucharest Branch, Bucharest, Romania. May 22nd to 23rd May, 2024

 

  • Edwards, D. Rapin, J., Parisod, H., McArthur, A. Round table: JBI model contribution to sustainable EBH: How do EBH inform the stakeholders, the decision makers, and the governmental institutions? JBI 2024 European Symposium, Lausanne School of Health Sciences/HESAV (BEST JBI Centre of Excellence, Switzerland), April 16th, 2024.

Committees and reviewing

•    Associate Editor and member of the editorial board of JBI Evidence Synthesis: February 2022 to present
•    Systematic review editorial consultant for Arts and Health Journal: February 2022 to present
•    JBI Evidence Synthesis Taxonomy Advisory Panel member: February 2022 to present 
•    Invited member JBI Textual Evidence Methods Group: February 2021 to present

 

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of

  • Evidence Synthesis
  • Healthcare inequalities
  • Vulnerability 

Current supervision

Bethan Thomas

Bethan Thomas

Graduate Tutor

Past projects

Co-supervisor

  • Madeline Boots (Lecturer, PhD student – part-time, commenced September 2021), providing methodological expertise for a scoping review component. Title of thesis -  Establishing a consensus voluntary code for the delivery of physical activity promotion and facilitating behaviour change: Bridging the gap from healthcare to physical activity providers. 


     

 

Contact Details

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Systematic reviews
  • Health Inequalities
  • Rapid review methods
  • Systematic review methodology
  • Vulnerable groups in healthcare