Dr Catriona Connell

Senior Research Fellow

Faculty of Social Sciences Stirling

Dr Catriona Connell

Contact details

About me

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction Services and Research at the University of Stirling.
I am a registered occupational therapist.

My research focuses on 'justice health'. I integrate methods and theories from applied health and social sciences, with a focus on improving the health and social circumstances of people involved in the criminal justice system. I use mixed methods to understand population needs and experiences, how the justice system and its actors contribute (positively and negatively) to health and social circumstances, and designing and evaluating interventions to make changes to optimise peoples experiences of daily life.

Current and recent projects include:

  • examining healthcare access for mental health and substance use following release from prison
  • determining the relational influences on help-seeking for stigmatised conditions among justice-involved people in the community
  • systematic review of the effectiveness of mandatory substance use treatment as part of a community disposal for improving health and social outcomes, coupled with a review of and barriers and facilitators on intervention
  • conceptualising relational practice in public sector services

I am interested in supervising PhD students on topics related to health and social needs/outcomes/circumstances of people with experience of the criminal justice system.

Research projects (3)

Help-seeking for substance use and mental health challenges among justice-involved people in Scottish community contexts: An analysis of the influence of social networks
PI: Dr Catriona Connell
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Understanding mental health and substance use service utilisation by people released from prison: A mixed-methods study
PI: Dr Catriona Connell
Funded by: Chief Scientist Office
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Interventions to improve prosocial occupational participation for people released from prison: A systematic review
PI: Dr Catriona Connell
Funded by: Royal College of Occupational Therapists
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Outputs (17)

Article

Randomised controlled trials of occupational therapy interventions for adults with a mental health condition or dementia: A systematic review of study methods and outcome measurement

Birken M, Wenborn J & Connell C (2022) Randomised controlled trials of occupational therapy interventions for adults with a mental health condition or dementia: A systematic review of study methods and outcome measurement. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 85 (10), pp. 761-778. https://doi.org/10.1177/03080226221086206

Article

Developing an Intervention to Improve Occupational Participation for Justice-Involved People with a Personality Disorder: Defining and Describing Intervention Components

Connell C, Furtado V, McKay EA & Singh SP (2022) Developing an Intervention to Improve Occupational Participation for Justice-Involved People with a Personality Disorder: Defining and Describing Intervention Components. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 66 (6-7), pp. 774-788. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624x211013520

Research Report

Digital Inclusion to Prevent Drug Related Deaths: Scoping user needs

Matheson C, Carver H, Parkes T, Daneshvar H, Schofield J, Dumbrell J, Connell C, Price T & Hnizdilova K (2022) Digital Inclusion to Prevent Drug Related Deaths: Scoping user needs. Scottish Government. Edinburgh. https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fdigitallifelines.scot%2Fmedia%2F1111%2Fdigital-lifelines-user-needs-slide-deck-drns-jan-2022.pptx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

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