Professor Claire Goodman

Current Role: I was appointed Professor of Health Care Research at the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care at the University of Hertfordshire in 2005.

Background: I have a background in nursing and district nursing. In addition to nursing posts in the UK I have worked in India and USA. The last ten years of my career have been wholly involved in health care research and post graduate supervision.

Clinical / academic interests: My main clinical and research interest is in primary and community health care specifically  the organisation of health care  and the impact of policy on  the organisation of services. I am the Essex and Hertfordshire lead for the NIHR Age and Ageing local speciality group,  a member of the primary care clinical studies group (CSG) for DeNDRoN and a member of the commissioning panel for the NIHR HDR funding stream. I am the co-editor with Professor Vari Drennan of the Oxford Handbook of Primary Care and Community Nursing published by Oxford University Press.

Research interests: My research focuses on the oldest old and how primary health care can work with social care and third sector providers to support this population. This includes nationally funded studies on end of life care for older people  with dementia, on inter professional working for older people with complex needs living at home, and interventions that support effective working between primary health care services and care homes. All of my research is multidisciplinary.

Motivations for mentoring: The ‘breakthrough’ moments in my career have been when I have worked with or encountered people who have helped me ( intentionally or not)to  understand the skills , knowledge  and networks I need to be an effective researcher. I have been very fortunate in who  I have worked with and what they have been willing to share. I believe strongly that access to this kind of support and insights should not be ad hoc or down to happenstance.

My mentoring style: I think I am facilitative, enthusiastic and quite challenging. I see the mentoring role as one that aims to give the mentee confidence in their abilities, a different perspective on their work , introduces them to networks of influence and encourages them to go beyond what they think is possible and enjoy making a difference . I would very much hope I could also be  a source of support and a sounding board when there are setbacks or difficult choices to be made.