Opinion
The contribution our research makes to care Professor in Children and Family Nursing Jane Coad talks to Leslie Gelling about what team working on research into children and young people can achieve JANE COAD is Professor of Children and Family Nursing and director of the Centre for Children and Families Applied Research (CCFAR) at Coventry University (UK). Jane has a background in art and oncology nursing, and has been involved in a number of research projects in this area. A strong element of her work has been qualitative art-based participatory research with children, young people and families, covering consultation, collaboration and user-led projects. Most of Jane’s research has focused on children with long-term, complex and palliative care needs and the research settings have included acute, community and public health in the UK and internationally, including Ireland, the United States and Sri Lanka. Jane takes a lead on a number of local, national and international groups. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 2013. When and why did you develop an interest in research? As a nursing student I was curious about the ‘what and why’ of nursing and of health. While nursing in paediatrics at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with an amazing oncology ward sister, Sue Woodhouse, and she inspired me. She suggested that I apply for a small grant, and I got it. That marked the beginning of my journey as a researcher and as a nurse with a constantly inquiring mind. Who has been most influential in your career as a nurse and as a researcher? Many people have influenced me during my career, not least my husband and my two daughters. I have been affected by all the © RCN PUBLISHING / NURSE RESEARCHER
health professionals, children and families I have met, cared for or researched along the way. The most influential was the team in the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health (CCAH) in Bristol, where I worked as a senior research fellow from 2006 to 2010. The fact that I was in a dedicated team, led by professors with sound leadership and great team working, helped me move my research career along. This prepared me for my role at Coventry University and setting up a dedicated research centre. You have published widely on issues of engaging children and young people in research. What do you think the current challenges are in the field of research? The challenge is mapping engagement to health outcomes to make a real difference. We have the skills and techniques to do this but the concern is making health outcomes realistic and understandable for children, young people and their families. We need to share good examples of how this might be achieved. Of all the research you have published, which do you think has been the most influential and why? Funnily enough, while I have published in many journals, the one I have been contacted about most frequently is one I wrote for
Bringing like-minded professionals, there are now over 30 members of staff, together in one dedicated research theme has been a huge achievement for me
Nurse Researcher about the use of photography in research (Coad 2012). This may be because it is still an underexplored method for use with children and young people in health settings. Recently, there has been a move towards using more visual methods including photography; this adds to the critical base of what we do and potentially what we can do. Which of your achievements has given you the most satisfaction? Two things. First, the most satisfying was a programme of research (£1.4 million) I completed last year. It was around complex and palliative care, and the outputs included reports and documents and also a new online course to masters degree level. Working with the team and delivering it all on time was a huge achievement. Second was when I got the chair at Coventry University. There was some good children’s research in the university but we did not have a dedicated centre for health research on children and families. Bringing like-minded professionals together – there are now over 30 members of staff – in one dedicated research theme has been a huge achievement for me. What research projects are you working on at the moment? We have about 20 projects in our portfolio, all of which bring interest and challenges. They fall into four themes: ■■ Children and young people with long-term complex and palliative care needs. ■■ Participation, user involvement and citizenship of children, young people and families. ■■ Health, children and families across the life development trajectory. ■■ Multidisciplinary and interprofessional research using innovative etechnologies. These themes and projects should enable us to make a significant contribution to the care provided for children and their families. What tips would you give someone new to research in nursing? Stick with your dreams, work hard and be curious – that will serve you well. Reference Coad J (2012) Involving young people as co-researchers in a photography project. Nurse Researcher. 19, 2, 11-16.
May 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 5 47
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The contribution our research makes to care Professor in Children and Family Nursing Jane Coad talks to Leslie Gelling about what team working on research into children and young people can achieve JANE COAD is Professor of Children and Family Nursing and director of the Centre for Children and Families Applied Research (CCFAR) at Coventry University (UK). Jane has a background in art and oncology nursing, and has been involved in a number of research projects in this area. A strong element of her work has been qualitative art-based participatory research with children, young people and families, covering consultation, collaboration and user-led projects. Most of Jane’s research has focused on children with long-term, complex and palliative care needs and the research settings have included acute, community and public health in the UK and internationally, including Ireland, the United States and Sri Lanka. Jane takes a lead on a number of local, national and international groups. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 2013. When and why did you develop an interest in research? As a nursing student I was curious about the ‘what and why’ of nursing and of health. While nursing in paediatrics at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with an amazing oncology ward sister, Sue Woodhouse, and she inspired me. She suggested that I apply for a small grant, and I got it. That marked the beginning of my journey as a researcher and as a nurse with a constantly inquiring mind. Who has been most influential in your career as a nurse and as a researcher? Many people have influenced me during my career, not least my husband and my two daughters. I have been affected by all the © RCN PUBLISHING / NURSE RESEARCHER
health professionals, children and families I have met, cared for or researched along the way. The most influential was the team in the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health (CCAH) in Bristol, where I worked as a senior research fellow from 2006 to 2010. The fact that I was in a dedicated team, led by professors with sound leadership and great team working, helped me move my research career along. This prepared me for my role at Coventry University and setting up a dedicated research centre. You have published widely on issues of engaging children and young people in research. What do you think the current challenges are in the field of research? The challenge is mapping engagement to health outcomes to make a real difference. We have the skills and techniques to do this but the concern is making health outcomes realistic and understandable for children, young people and their families. We need to share good examples of how this might be achieved. Of all the research you have published, which do you think has been the most influential and why? Funnily enough, while I have published in many journals, the one I have been contacted about most frequently is one I wrote for
Bringing like-minded professionals, there are now over 30 members of staff, together in one dedicated research theme has been a huge achievement for me
Nurse Researcher about the use of photography in research (Coad 2012). This may be because it is still an underexplored method for use with children and young people in health settings. Recently, there has been a move towards using more visual methods including photography; this adds to the critical base of what we do and potentially what we can do. Which of your achievements has given you the most satisfaction? Two things. First, the most satisfying was a programme of research (£1.4 million) I completed last year. It was around complex and palliative care, and the outputs included reports and documents and also a new online course to masters degree level. Working with the team and delivering it all on time was a huge achievement. Second was when I got the chair at Coventry University. There was some good children’s research in the university but we did not have a dedicated centre for health research on children and families. Bringing like-minded professionals together – there are now over 30 members of staff – in one dedicated research theme has been a huge achievement for me. What research projects are you working on at the moment? We have about 20 projects in our portfolio, all of which bring interest and challenges. They fall into four themes: ■■ Children and young people with long-term complex and palliative care needs. ■■ Participation, user involvement and citizenship of children, young people and families. ■■ Health, children and families across the life development trajectory. ■■ Multidisciplinary and interprofessional research using innovative etechnologies. These themes and projects should enable us to make a significant contribution to the care provided for children and their families. What tips would you give someone new to research in nursing? Stick with your dreams, work hard and be curious – that will serve you well. Reference Coad J (2012) Involving young people as co-researchers in a photography project. Nurse Researcher. 19, 2, 11-16.
May 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 5 47
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