Professor

Jermaine M Ravalier

Projects

I am currently running a number of research projects, and am Principle Investigator on two large, funded grants. Each funded project takes a participatory approach to the design, delivery, and evaluation of organisationally- and individually-focused stress and mental health management interventions.

• The HOW (Healthier Outcomes at Work) NHS project. PI, with Prof Andy McVicar (Anglia Ruskin University). ESRC, £218,000.
• The HOW (Healthier Outcomes at Work) Social Work project. PI, with Dr Elaine Wainwright, Dr Mark Loon, and Dr Nina Smyth (University of Westminster). Health and Work Challenge Fund, £235,000.

In addition, I am working closely with the British Association of Social Work (BASW) and Social Workers Union (SWU) on the ‘Respect4SocialWork’ campaign for improved working conditions in the sector. Each year I therefore conduct a ‘state of the workforce’ survey of social worker working conditions, stress, and mental health (see the BSW website here for more information). Each of these projects (and others, such as that I recently conducted alongside Dr Joe Walsh with teachers and education staff) has led to significant public engagement and impact.

Invited talks

I have given a number of keynote, invited, and other research talks to national and international conferences. An example of which from 2018 alone are below:

• Ravalier, J. (2018). Life beyond the PhD: Preparing for Academia, Anglia Ruskin University Doctoral Conference (Key Note). Chelmsford: Essex
• Ravalier, J. (2018). Stress in UK front line public sector workers, International Congress of Applied Psychology. Montreal: Canada
• Ravalier, J. (2018). Zero-hours and stress in domiciliary care workers, Institute of Work Psychology (Invited paper). University of Sheffield

Public engagement

My work has had – and continues to have – a significant amount of media and public engagement coverage. 

Since April 2017, I have given live national and international TV and radio interviews (to Victoria Derbyshire Show and BBC World Service; BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Wiltshire), and news coverage on ITV news, Channel 4 news, and Sky news. There has been coverage in all of the major English (e.g. Guardian, Observer, Daily Mail, Independent) and Scottish (e.g. the Herald, the Scotsman) newspapers, and various online and print trade ‘magazines’ (such as community care, Times Education Supplement, Lalagos, Child and Young People NOW).

Impact

My research has had impact at parliamentary, national organisational, small teams and individual employees.

• House of Lords and Commons: my work on social work wellbeing led to a debate in the House of Lords, and numerous questions asked of the Minister in the House of Commons
• Education Institute Scotland: my research was used as the basis for the EIS Scottish teachers’ 2017/18 pay negotiations
• Scottish Parliament: my work was used by the Scottish government to inform the Scottish Education and Skills Committee
• British Association of Social Work: my social work research has led to the ‘Social Work Working Conditions’ campaign (see Ravalier 2018a, 2018b)
• Social Work Wellbeing: my work led directly to a House of Lords debate on the subject
• ESRC and Challenge Fund: my ESRC-funded research has led to the development of an organisational wellbeing toolkit and smartphone app for employees in NHS and social work organisations.

Research supervision

I would be happy to supervise Higher Degrees/Doctoral students interested in healthcare workers, social Work/care workers, or educators – any frontline role.