About
Dr Sarah MacDonald is a Research Fellow at the DECIPHer research center within the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Her work focuses on children and young people's health and wellbeing, examining interactions between systems such as schools, families, and communities. Her PhD research explored food practices in primary schools and family settings, while recent studies investigate mental health support for care-experienced young people in educational settings. She leads a Health and Care Research Wales-funded study on wellbeing support in secondary schools and FE colleges for care-experienced individuals, alongside a NIHR-funded systematic review of mental health interventions for children in care.
Education: PhD in Social Sciences (Cardiff University), MSc in Advanced Geography (Aberystwyth University), BA (Hons) in Geography (Aberystwyth University).
Teaching Roles: Lecturer in Social Policy and dissertation supervisor for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Supervises Lucy Treby's professional doctorate in Social Work.
Grants & Funding: Secured over £255k for studies on care-experienced youth wellbeing support and £277k for mental health intervention reviews. Previous grants include projects on self-harm management, school-based health prevention, and tobacco use among children.
Research Highlights: Specializes in qualitative methods, with publications in journals like Children & Society and Sociology of Health and Illness. Her work addresses systemic interactions, care-experienced youth needs, and translational research to inform policy and practice.
Affiliations: DECIPHer, Cardiff University. Previously at Cardiff University's Centre for Health, Social and Economic Research (CISHE).
