Dr Dawn Pickering

Biography

I trained as a physiotherapist Birmingham qualifying in 1980. I worked in hospitals around Cardiff and moved to work in Paediatrics developing community and special school expertise. I then worked in Caerphilly from 1992-2002 in a multiagency partnership and completed an MSc in Child Health in 1999.

Teaching:I moved into teaching at Cardiff University in 2002, successfully completed a Post Graduate Teaching Certificate in Medical Education in 2005. I have developed the Interprofessional personal and professional development module for the revalidated programme from 2014 with a strong feature of hearing the patient’s voice. I have taken on School roles in student disability and equaltiy and diversity. I obtained Academic Promotion to Senior Lecturer on a teaching and scholarship pathway in August 2014.   I am committed to developing healthcare practitioners who show empathy, care and compassion as part of values based healthcare. I was involved as a volunteer in the Race Running Dragons club for children with a range of disabilities in Cardiff. I am actively involved in developing opportuntties for disabled children to experience sailing in 'Sealegs2' in Neyland, West Wales. I encourage students to volunteer.

Research:I developed my research in Family Centred Care by carrying out a funded research project from 2006-2009(Nancie Finnie Charitable Trust). I was the Principal Investigator of the Pilot research study: Pedal Power- looking at the effects of adapted cycling for children with cerebral palsy(2009-2012). I was appointed to the British Academy of Childhood Disability Strategic Research Group from 2013-2018. I carried out my PhD from 2015-2021 exploring the wellbeing impact from participation in recreational activities with children and young people with cerebral palsy(GMFCS  and CFCS IV -V), This qualitative study was part funded by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s Charitable Trust Fund.

External responsibilities:I was external examiner for Masters Modules at Sheffield Hallam University (2012-2016) and Swansea University (2009-2011). I have been involved in the Welsh Branch of the Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists (APCP) as Treasurer and on the organising committee for 2 national conferences held in South Wales (1984 and 2005). I took on the role of Education Officer for the National APCP Committee from 2006-2009. This involved advising and teaching on various postgraduate courses around the UK and Cyprus. I currently review for journals including: Child:Care,Health and development; Journal of Child Health, Qualitative research, Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists.

Professional memberships

Member of the Chartered  Society of Physiotherapy- 38822

Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council  PH27267

Academic positions

Lecturer 2002-2014

Senior Lecturer 2014 to date

Speaking engagements

"Adapted cycling in young children with cerebral palsy: Practice and evidence of effect" Early Intervention: The power of parenting and practice in the light of the ICF-CYP conference, Groningen, Netherlands, 2016

"Qualitative Research:Children’s Perspectives, Cerebral Palsy", 4th Baltic and North Sea Conference on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Riga, Latvia, 2015

"Promoting and Empowering the Rights of Disabled Children and Young People:Utilizing participatory methods to hear the voices of disabled children and young people who participate in recreational activities", Children in Wales conference, Cardiff: 2015

"RaceRunning: improving health and wellbeing in people with cerebral palsy" at the CP Sport conference, Nottingham, 2015

Committees and reviewing

Grant advisor for NIHR HTA on orthotics

Grant reviewer for British Academy of Childhood Disability

Journal reviewer for Physiotherapy Canada, Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists, Child: Care, Health and Devlopment, Disability and Rehabiltation assitive technology.

School of Healthcare Sceinces Patient and Public Engagement committee.

Publications

We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.

Teaching

I joined the teaching staff at Cardiff University in 2002, successfully completed a Post Graduate Teaching Certificate in Medical Education in 2005. My teaching commitments involve Undergraduate personal and professional development, paediatrics, learning disability and research, as well as at Postgraduate complex decision making and research theory.  I also teach and assess students interprofessionally. Since 2021 I have started PhD supervision.

My expertise is in qualitative research, specifically case study design and postioning theory. I previously had developed my research in Family Centred Care by carrying out a pilot project from 2006-2009. This is an approach to patient centred care that involves working with parents and children and young people with disabilities. Focus groups and interviews were used to explore staff and parents experiences of Family Centred Care. This work is published and was presented at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, Amsterdam, 2011. I was the Principal Investigator of the Pilot research study: Pedal Power- looking at the effects of adapted cycling for children with cerebral palsy. This project was funded externally by the Nancie Finnie Charitable Trust from 2009-2012. This research was carried out in partnership with the voluntary organisation 'Pedal Power Cardiff', the cycle hire facility for the city.  This research is now published and has been presented in Belfast, Derby, Cardiff, Sheffield, London, Norway and Amsterdam and Boston, USA. The implications for practice were presented in Bristol, Aberystwyth and Sheffield in June 2014. I complted my PhD using a mulitple case study design to explore the views, experiences and choices of recreational activities with children and young people with Cerebral Palsy, to explore the impact upon their emotional wellbeing. This VOCAL PhD project was completed in 2021 and was part funded by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy's Charitable Trust. I was a member of the British Academy of Childhood Disability's Strategic Research Group from 2013-2018. I am involeved in a new study about well-being and the Innowalk:'WEBS' study 2022-2023.

I currenlty co-supervise Fatemah Altheyab (OT) who is interviewing parents in Kuwait who have non-verbal autistic children; Rawan Alruwaili (PT) who has carried out some COPD interviews with staff and patients about physical activity guidelines.

Supervision

• Qualtative research
• Case study deisgn
• Cerebral palsy GMFCS IV-V/ Disabled children
• Well-being in non-verbal populations
• Innowalk
• IPA - co supervisor 
• OT- co supervisor
• Positioning theory 

Past projects