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Paul Willis

Professor Paul Willis

(he/him)

Academic and research staff

School of Social Sciences

Email
WillisP4@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29225 14639
Campuses
sbarc|spark, Room 1.07, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ

Overview

I am Professor of Adult Social Care, a registered social worker, and the inaugural Director of CARE - the Centre for Adult Social Care Research, based in the School of Social Sciences and located at sbarc/ spark. My research background is in social gerontology and my research focuses on issues of social inclusion and care in later life, particularly for older people belonging to minoritised groups with care and support needs. Areas of research interest and expertise: housing, ageing and social inclusion; unpaid carers and social isolation; loneliness, ageing and later life; older men's social connections; sexuality, gender identity and ageing; LGBTQ+ ageing; social work with older people; inclusive social care practices and services.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2012

2011

2010

2009

2007

Articles

Book sections

Books

Monographs

Websites

Biography

I am a registered social worker and I qualified in social work at the University of Tasmania in Australia in 2002. In practice I worked as a school social worker with children and young people 5-16 years (statutory role) and as a counsellor and community educator for a Tasmanian charity supporting people coming out as LGBT. I also briefly worked as an after-hours hospital social worker in an A&E ward. I completed my PhD in Social Work in 2009 on the topic of workplace inclusion for young people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexul and queer. 

In 2009 I relocated to the UK and took up my first lectureship post in social work at Swansea University, Wales. In 2016 I relocated to the University of Bristol, England as a senior lecturer and then Associate Professor in social work and social gerontology. I commenced my current role as professor and director of CARE in late 2023. 

Since 2011 I have led a number of funded research studies that are primarily qualitative or deploy mixed-method approaches. This includes studies funded by Health and Social Care Wales, NIHR School for Social Care Research, Dunhill Medical Trust, and the Economic and Social Research Council. 

 

Honours and awards

  • Senior Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research (2017-2023)

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Registered Social Worker (Social Care Wales)
  • Member of the British Society of Gerontology.

Academic positions

2023 to present: professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.

2016-2023: senior lecturer and associate professor, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol.

2009-2015: lecturer and senior lecturer, College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University.

2008: lecturer in social work, School of Sociology and Social Work, University of Tasmania.

 

Committees and reviewing

  • Member of the ESRC Peer Review College
  • Panel member of the NIHR Research for Social Care Committee (2021-2023)
  • Grant reviewer for the NIHR School for Social Care Research
  • Grant reviewer for several other countries' research councils
  • Editorial board member, Ageing and Society (2023 - )
  • Editorial board member, European Social Work Research (2022 - )
  • Associate editor, Policy and Politics (2016-2018)
  • Chair and co-chair, UK Sexuality and Social Work Interest Group (2009-2014)

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Social work
  • Gender and sexuality
  • social care
  • Inequality
  • Ageing