After working in front-line services, first with older people and then with children, my first degree was a BSc in Social Policy from the LSE. Over many years working in the areas of families and relationships and related policies and services my interests became more sociological, and I have a Masters in Social Research Methods and a PhD from the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey.

I am interested in research that contributes to service improvement. My work has included process evaluations of services in the fields of health, social care and domestic violence; designing complex interventions; and feasibility studies of complex interventions.I have worked on a number of studies around the substantive areas of health and social care services; work-life balance; everyday family practices; social policy and family life; gender and generation.

Much of my research has been with vulnerable and hard to reach groups, primarily older people, children and teenagers, fathers and sex offenders.I have used a variety of qualitative methods and am interested in methodological exploration.

A common theoretical thread to my work is care – what it is, how people achieve it, what it feels like to receive it and the implications of giving it. Other theoretical interests are practices and their display; childhood; temporality.