I am a freelance researcher and Adjunct Assistant Professor with the UCD Centre for Disability Studies, UCD School of Psychology, Newman House, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

I have a strong interest in real world research that makes a contribution to knowledge and directly improves the quality of life of people with disabilities.

Where I worked before.

I am a former Training and Development Manager of St. Michael’s House Services, Dublin, a large service supporting children and adults with intellectual disabilities. I have 26 years experience working in leadership positions in the disability field in Ireland. My former roles included: Community Worker, Senior Social Worker and Residential Services Manager. As Training and Development Manager for 15 years, I shared responsibility for organisation-wide change management initiatives, in particular enhancing quality of life and upskilling of managers at every level through structured in-house leadership programmes.

My education.

I qualified as a Social and Community Worker from Trinity College Dublin in 1985 and completed an MSc programme in Training and Development Management at Dublin City University in 2002. I completed three research studies on the social inclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities as a full-time PhD student (2017 to 2020) at the UCD Centre for Disability Studies. My academic supervisor was Professor Suzanne Guerin, Head of the UCD School of Psychology. My PHD thesis focused on social inclusion in neighbourhoods of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Research interests

As a post-doctoral researcher, I secured funding in partnership with KARE Service for people with intellectual disabilities, Co. Kildare, Ireland. We undertook three studies on the facilitators and barriers to social inclusion for adults with intellectual disabilities in their localities.

I also have an interest in how people with intellectual disabilities experience bereavement and am co-author on two publications on that topic.

Professional Associations.

I am a member of the International Association of Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. I am first author on four journal articles on the topic of social inclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities. I have presented at several national and international conferences on the topic of the social inclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities in their neighbourhoods/ localities.

Email: geraldine.boland1@ucd.ie

Twitter: @gmboland1

ResearchGate profile:  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Geraldine-Boland-2

Google Scholar citations summary:   https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DCl2DlwAAAAJ&hl=en