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.

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.   

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.