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Sara Long

Dr Sara Long

(she/her)

Teams and roles for Sara Long

Overview

Dr Sara Long (PhD) is interested in improving health, wellbeing and education outcomes of children and young people. She has led research projects on several major policy priorities spanning public health, social sciences, education, psychology and medicine.

Sara completed her doctoral studies in 2013 in Psychology and Nutrition. Her studies focussed on the impacts of nutrition on psychological outcomes, and on socioecological factors that influence food choice and healthy eating. Since then, she has led on and contributed to a range of major public health research projects, with a particular focus on school health and wellbeing. Most recently, she is leading an implementation evaluation of a major policy initiative that brings together social sciences, school food and nutrition and the psychology of food choice. Sara has taught at Welsh universities for over 15 years in the areas of public health, social sciences, education, psychology and medicine.

Dr Long has a track record in research around health behaviours and outcomes, yet she appreciates that the issues we are facing as a society cannot be fixed by focussing solely on determinants at the individual level. Rather, we must take a complex systems approach and seek to understand health determinants, behaviours and outcomes through multiple levels and angles – economic, political, organisational, social, familial, and finally individual – and notably, particularly important is the interactions between these levels.

Publication

2024

2023

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2013

2011

  • Long, S. J. and Benton, D. 2011. Depression and suicide.. In: Benton, D. ed. Lifetime Nutritional Influences on Cognition, Behaviour and Psychiatric Illness. Food Science, Technology and Nutrition Woodhead Publishing

Articles

Book sections

  • Anthony, R., Young, H. and Long, S. J. 2021. Early pregnancy risk and missed opportunities to plan for parenthood. In: Roberts, L. ed. The Children of Looked After Children: Outcomes, Experiences and Ensuring Meaningful Support to Young Parents In and Leaving Care. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 15-40.
  • Long, S. J. and Benton, D. 2011. Depression and suicide.. In: Benton, D. ed. Lifetime Nutritional Influences on Cognition, Behaviour and Psychiatric Illness. Food Science, Technology and Nutrition Woodhead Publishing

Conferences

Monographs

Research

Please see below for selected funded research projects.

Funded

1.     Nov 2023-Dec 2024: £15,000, Public Health Wales. Long SJ (PI). Advancing knowledge in the use of health and wellbeing data and evidence: A package of training for Healthy Schools Co-ordinators (ADEPT – HSC 2).

2.     Oct 2019-Dec 2023: £315, 999, Health and Care Research Wales Health Fellowship Scheme. Long SJ (PI), Moore G. The role of schools in improving health, well-being, and reducing inequalities: a mixed-methods investigation of curriculum reform in Wales.

3.     Jan 2023-Jun 2023: £10,004, Public Health Wales. Long SJ (PI). Advancing knowledge in the use of health and wellbeing data and evidence: A package of training for Healthy Schools Co-ordinators (ADEPT - HSC).

4.     Jan 2023-Jul 2023: £29,749 Public Health Wales. Hawkins J (PI), Long SJ, Morgan K. Healthy Working Wales Evaluation toolkit – the developing of a national benchmarking tool.

5.     Nov 2022-Aug 2023: £34,450, Welsh Government. Long SJ (PI), Young H, Churm A. Peer-on-peer abuse (POPA) in Wales colleges across Wales: Awareness and confidence in reporting procedures, and management of POPA by colleges and college staff.

6.     Oct 2019-Jul 2022: £192,230, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Long SJ (PI), Farewell D, Fone DF, Lyons R, Moore G, Scourfield J, Taylor C. Does local authority care make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children? Longitudinal analyses of a retrospective electronic cohort.

7.     2020-2023: £600,000, NIHR Public Health Research, Howarth E, Moore GF, (mentor to first-time PI), Feder G, Spencer A, Evans R., Berry V, Stanley N, Bacchus L, Humphrey A, Buckley K, Littlecott H, Long S, Burn A. Family Recovery after Domestic Abuse (FReDA): A feasibility trial and nested process evaluation of a group-based intervention for children exposed to domestic violence and abuse.

8.     Feb 2018-Feb 2019: £85, 777, Social Care Wales (SCW). Williams A, Evans RE, Long SJ, Elliot M, Young H. Understanding outcomes for Welsh children who are placed in secure accommodation.

9.     Dec 2017: £2,100, International Credit Mobility Programme: Erasmus Plus. Long, SJ (PI). Travel grant to strengthen links and promote research collaborations with universities abroad.

10.   Oct 2017-Jan 2021: £70,000, ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Studentship Award. Moore GF (PI), Long SJ, Murphy S.

11.   Jul 2017-Apr 2018: £23,000, The Thrive Approach. Long SJ (PI), Evans R, Moore G (co-PIs). An evaluation of the impact of a primary school-based socio-emotional intervention on education outcomes at key stage 2.

12.   May-Nov 2017: £49,718, Welsh Local Government Association. Morgan K, Moore GF (co-PIs) Hawkins J, Littlecott H, Long SJ. and McConnon, L. An evaluability assessment of the Food & Fitness Summer Holiday Enrichment Programme in Wales.

13.   Jun 2017: Long SJ (PI) £2,000 School of Social Sciences international conference fund. Travel grant to present work at the International Society for Child Indicators Conference.

14.   Jan-Jun 2016: £20,000, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioners’ Office. Long SJ (PI), Ashton KA, Bellis M, Gray B. Exploring the impact of transportation on public safety and health, social and well-being outcomes among users of the night-time economy (NTE).

15.   Oct 2014-Mar 2016: £135,000 South Wales Police and Crime Commissioners’ Office. , Bellis M (PI), Long SJ, Barton E. Development of a multi-agency routine surveillance and analysis system to develop understanding, intervention and prevention of violence in Wales.

 

Teaching

Contributions to teaching:

>Child and Youth Policy, School of Social Sciences (SOCSI), Cardiff University.

>Undergraduate Social Sciences and Research Methods, SOCSI, Cardiff University

>Masters of Public Health (MPH), MEDIC, Cardiff University

>Masters of Social Work (MASW), SOCSI, Cardiff University

>Undergraduate Psychology, Swansea University

2014/present – supervision of undergraduate and MSc students; experience of marking undergraduate and MSc projects