Discuss your research aspirations with an experienced mentor in healthcare.
About
My name is Amelia, I am a children’s social and have been since 2020. For the last three years I have specialised in working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children. During my career as a social worker, I have stayed committed to championing using research to inform frontline practice to achieve the best outcomes for the communities we work with. However, social work is a busy job, and it can be very hard to find the time to do so! I have always worked with children and families and this is reflected in the research I am interested in, such as, children and families experiencing poverty, asylum and migration of children and families and community building. The research I have completed so far has been qualitative, and I am particularly interested in participatory and creative research methods with children and young people.
Full Name: Amelia Curtis
Current Role: Social Worker
Organisation: Manchester Children’s Services
Research Interest and/or Mentoring Expertise: Children’s Social Work, Children and Families Experiencing Poverty, Asylum and Migration, Community Identity and Belonging
Academic Qualification: Pre Doc
Email: amelia.curtis@manchester.gov.uk
Research Experience and Background
I have an undergraduate degree in Child Development and a Master of Social Work, during both I completed a dissertation undertaking qualitative primary research. While working as a social worker, I completed the NHS Research and Development North-West programme, producing a report and conference poster exploring community and identity building for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, I have experience in writing conference proposals and I am currently working towards writing a review for publication. At the moment, I am completing a pre-doctoral fellowship with the National Institute of Health and Care Research, as part of this I am completing a post graduate diploma in health and social care research, expanding my skills for both qualitative and quantitative studies. I also hope to write a PhD proposal this year so I can continue my research journey! This has given me good experience in writing applications for fellowships and turning ideas into project designs.
Clinical Experience
I have been a registered social worker since 2020, first starting on a children’s duty and assessment team before moving to the New Arrivals team in 2022, working with children who are seeking asylum in the UK without their families. Therefore, I have experience of child in need, child protection and cared for children practice. I am a practice educator and have had 2 social work students who have then stayed on to work at the local authority. I really enjoy being part of a social work team, sharing knowledge and reflecting on practice to keep improving.
What motivates you to become a mentor?
Social work is a unique and challenging role, and I think, as practitioners, we already have so many skills that make us good researchers. I want to work with other social workers or professionals working with children and families, who are early in their research journeys to explore their skills, help them grow in confidence and know about next steps they can take to continue building their expertise in research. I have been afforded opportunities to develop my own research skills and hope to be able to do the same for others. Hopefully, helping to develop skills in public speaking, producing written work, presenting at conferences, writing funding applications and most importantly trying to encourage research in practice to improve things for the children and families we work with.