معرفی
Dr. David Orr is an Associate Professor in Social Work (Social Work and Social Care) at the School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex. His work bridges anthropology, psychology, and social work to address complex mental health and safeguarding issues. With a multidisciplinary background, he has become a leading voice in adult safeguarding, particularly in the area of self-neglect, influencing UK policy and practice through his research collaborations with Suzy Braye and Michael Preston-Shoot.
David holds advanced qualifications in his field:
- BA in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin
- MSc, M.Research, and PhD in Social Anthropology from University College London
Before entering academia, he gained practical experience working in Community Mental Health Teams in Older Adult Mental Health and Adult Learning Disability in Teesside and London. His research primarily focuses on mental health and adult safeguarding from social, cultural, and organizational perspectives, emphasizing qualitative, narrative and ethnographic methods. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in indigenous rural communities in Peru, Nepal, and Guinea-Conakry, demonstrating his commitment to global mental health perspectives.
His publication record reveals a consistent trajectory examining the intersection of mental health, cultural contexts, and social care systems. Recent work emphasizes interprofessional collaboration in self-neglect cases, policy implementation across safeguarding boards, and cultural dimensions of mental health conditions. His research spans multiple countries, showing his dedication to both local practice improvement in the UK and broader global mental health issues.
David has received recognition for his impactful work:
- Shortlisted for the Sussex Impact Award in 2018 (one of 8 university-wide)
He has supervised doctoral researchers on topics including family members of people with acquired brain injury, ethnography of dementia care in southern Spain, and Approved Mental Health Professionals' experiences with legal frameworks. His research has been funded by prestigious organizations including the National Institute of Health Research (current project on improving collaborative inter-agency systems in self-neglect), the Wellcome Trust, the UK Collaborative on Development Research, and Skills for Care. He regularly engages with professional practice through training workshops with Research in Practice on self-neglect and hoarding.
David is actively involved with the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research at Sussex and serves on the University of Sussex Safeguarding Working Group and as Vice Chair of the Social Sciences & Arts Cross-Schools Research Ethics Committee (C-REC).
