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4. Mary Cronin

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Biography

Dr. Mary Cronin is a psychologist and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of General Practice UCC. Mary’s research focuses on developing a guideline and form for referring patients with suspected cognitive impairment and dementia from primary care to secondary care. The PRIMED project involves a sequential mixed methods design incorporating a scoping review, a Delphi study, development of a referral form and guideline and a mixed methods evaluation in general practice and specialist secondary services. The project is funded by a Health Research Board (HRB) grant awarded to the principal investigator, Prof Tony Foley. Mary holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology from the University of Derby, UK and a PG Dip in Adult Guidance and Counselling from Maynooth University. After many years working in career and community services, Mary completed her PhD at the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research (CMHCR) in the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University. Her PhD thesis, “Promoting a ‘Think Carer’ Approach in General Practice/Primary Care”, involved collaborating with Family Carers Ireland (FCI), the national NGO supporting family carers in Ireland. The project's final phase was supported by a New Foundations Grant from the Irish Research Council (IRC) awarded to supervisor Prof Sinéad McGilloway as PI. The methods included a scoping review, a quantitative survey, qualitative interviews and the development and small-scale evaluation of resources for GPs and family carers. Mary has worked closely with FCI to facilitate the integration of one of the research outputs, a workshop entitled “Communicating with Doctors”, into the services provided by FCI.‍

Research Interests

Mary’s research interests include psychological well-being, health services, communication in healthcare settings, health literacy, dementia, disability, health promotion and caregiver health. She is keenly interested in incorporating public and patient involvement (PPI) in research. She is a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland.   ‍

Publications

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	'Guideline recommendations on the role of the general practitioner in the diagnosis of dementia: a protocol for a scoping review of clinical practice guidelines' Cronin, M., Jennings, A., Perry M., Hartigan, I., O'Dowd, S., Cornally, N., Timmons, S., Walsh, K., Foley, T. (2024) 'Guideline recommendations on the role of the general practitioner in the diagnosis of dementia: a protocol for a scoping review of clinical practice guidelines'. HRB Open Research, [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'Supporting family carers in General Practice: A scoping review of clinical guidelines and recommendations' Cronin, M., McLoughlin K., Foley, T., and McGilloway S. (2023) 'Supporting family carers in General Practice: A scoping review of clinical guidelines and recommendations'. BMC family practice, [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Supporting family carers in Ireland: the role of the general practitioner' Cronin, M. & McGilloway, S. (2022) 'Supporting family carers in Ireland: the role of the general practitioner'. Irish Journal Of Medical Science (1971 -), [DOI] [Details]

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Other Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2022)	'Addressing the needs of family carers' Cronin, M., Foley T. & McGilloway, S. (2022) 'Addressing the needs of family carers' Vol 39 (No.9) . [Details]
	(2020)	'Promoting a ‘Think Carer’ approach in health and social care services: Identifying as a carer – Why is it important?' Cronin, M. & McGilloway, S. (2020) 'Promoting a ‘Think Carer’ approach in health and social care services: Identifying as a carer – Why is it important?' .   [Details]

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Manual

	Year	Publication
	(2022)	‘Raising awareness of family carers in General Practice: Facilitator Workshop Guide’. Cronin, M., Foley, T. & McGilloway, S. (2022) ‘Raising awareness of family carers in General Practice: Facilitator Workshop Guide’. Centre for Mental Health and Community Research, Maynooth University Department of Psychology and: Manual [Details]
	(2022)	‘Communication with doctors - Empowerment workshop for family carers: Facilitator Workshop Guide’. Cronin, M. & McGilloway, S. (2022) ‘Communication with doctors - Empowerment workshop for family carers: Facilitator Workshop Guide’. . Centre for Mental Health and Community Research, Maynooth University Department of Psychology and: Manual [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	Psychological Society of Ireland.	Member	01-SEP-09 /

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Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2021)	Carers in Research: FamilyCarers Ireland Autumn Research Conference, Cronin, M. & McGilloway, S. (2021) Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the development of learning resources for GPs and carers. [Oral Presentation], Carers in Research: FamilyCarers Ireland Autumn Research Conference, Online . [Details]
	(2020)	Care Alliance/UCD conference - Toward a refreshed national carers strategy – from research to policy, Cronin, M. & McGilloway, S. (2020) Promoting a ‘Think Carer’ approach in Ireland’s health and social care services: First steps. [Oral Presentation], Care Alliance/UCD conference - Toward a refreshed national carers strategy – from research to policy, UCD . [Details]

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

Mary is experienced in teaching Psychology at level 1 (classic and contemporary psychological theory and research across the core disciplines of social, cognitive, developmental and biological psychology) and level 2 (theory, quantitative and qualitative research methods, SPSS and thematic analysis) with the Open University. ‍

Research Information

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Internal Collaborators

	Name	Institute	Country
	Dr Aisling Jennings	Department of General Practice, University College Cork	IRELAND
	Prof Tony Foley	Department of General Practice, University College Cork	IRELAND

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External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country
	Dr Irene Hartigan	School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork	IRELAND
	Dr Kieran Walsh	Senior HTA Analyst in HIQA	IRELAND
	Dr Marieke Perry	Radbound University Medical Centre	HOLLAND
	Dr Nicola Cornally	School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork	IRELAND