On the evening of Thursday 19^th January 2023 Professor Michael Brown, Director of Graduate Studies, gave a Professorial Lecture in the Council Chamber, Lanyon Building, QUB.  The Title of the lecture was People with Learning Disabilities: Moving forward to address the challenges. A large audience attended including families and carers and colleagues from education, health and social care across Northern Ireland. The Professorial Lecture focused on the evidence of the changing and increasing population of children, adults and older people with learning disabilities and the many positive changes and developments that have taken place over the past decades. Many people with learning disabilities experience a wide range of complex health needs that require education, care and support that for some will be lifelong.

As a consequence, there are and will be increasing demands on all education and health and social care services.  Part of the solution to addressing needs in the future involves growing and developing the research evidence of what works to improve the health and lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.  Education and practice development is key to ensuring that there is a knowledgeable and skilled workforce available to meet the needs of the population now and in the future. While challenges exist, Queen’s University, the School of Nursing and Midwifery has important roles to play in supporting the developments required across education, health and social care services across Northern Ireland to effectively meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and their families, now and in the future. 

Below are a selection of Professor Brown's publications:-

Brown, M., McCann, E., Webster-Henderson, B., Lim, F., & McCormick, F. (2023). The inclusion of LGBTQ+ health across the lifespan in pre-registration nursing programmes: Qualitative findings from a mixed-methods study. In Healthcare (Vol. 11, No. 2, p. 198). MDPI.

Linehan, C., Birkbeck, G., Araten-Bergman, T., Baumbusch, J., Beadle-Brown, J., Bigby, C., Bradley, V., Brown, M., Bredewold, F., Chirwa, M. & Cui, J. (2022). COVID-19 IDD: Findings from a global survey exploring family members’ and paid staff’s perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their caregivers. HRB Open Research, 5.

Linden, M.A., Forbes, T., Brown, M., Marsh, L., Truesdale, M., McCann, E., Todd, S. & Hughes, N. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family carers of those with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities: Perspectives from UK and Irish Non-Governmental Organisations. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1-12.

Brown, M., MacArthur, J., Truesdale, M., & Higgins, A. (2022). The transition from child to adult health services for young adults with intellectual disabilities: An evaluation of a pilot of an online learning resource for Registered Nurses. Nurse Education in Practice, 64, 103424.

McCormick, F., Marsh, L., Taggart, L., & Brown, M. (2021). Experiences of adults with intellectual disabilities accessing acute hospital services: A systematic review of the international evidence. Health & Social Care in the Community, 29(5), 1222-1232.

McCann, E., Marsh, L., & Brown, M. (2019). People with intellectual disabilities, relationship and sex education programmes: A systematic review. Health Education Journal, 78(8), 885-900.