People_

Professor Brendan McCormack

D.Phil (Oxon.), BSc (Hons.), FRCN, FEANS, FRCSI, PGCEA, RMN, RGN, FAAN, MAE
Head of The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery
(inc. Sydney Nursing School) and Dean
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Professor Brendan McCormack

Extraordinary Professor, Department of Nursing, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Professor of Nursing, Maribor University, Slovenia; Visiting Professor, Ulster University; Adjunct Professor, Zealand University Hospital/University of Southern Denmark; Professor II, Østfold University College, Norway; Honorary Professor of Nursing, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Brendan’s research focuses on person-centredness with a particular focus on the development of person-centred cultures, practices and processes. He has engaged in this work at all levels from theory development to implementation science and through to instrument design, testing and evaluation. He is methodologically diverse, but is most at home in participatory/action research. Whilst he has a particular expertise in gerontology and dementia practices, his work has spanned all specialities and is multi-professional. Visit www.cpcpr.orgfor further info. He also has a particular focus on the use of arts and creativity in healthcare research and development. Brendan has more than 600 published outputs, including 240 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and 12 books. He was the founding editor of “International Journal of Older People Nursing” and is currently ‘Editor Emeritus’ of the journal. Brendan is a Fellow of The European Academy of Nursing Science, Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2014 he was awarded the ‘International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame’ by Sigma Theta Tau International and listed in the Thomson Reuters 3000 most influential researchers globally. In 2015 he was recognized as an ‘Inspirational Nursing Leader’ by Nursing Times (UK nursing magazine) and in 2019 was listed in the New Year ‘Top 100 outstanding nurses’ by the Twitter Group #wenurses. Most recently, Brendan was featured in the Wiley Publishers ‘Inspiring Minds’ short films series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13c5C-tbcT4In 2022 Brendan was selected as a member of The Academia Europaea.

Ageing and Gerontological nursing; person-centred care and the development of person-centred cultures; implementation science.

My teaching focuses mainly on the conceptual, philosophical and theoretical dimensions of person-centredness. In addition, my teaching engages learners in understanding culture change and person-centred leadership as a strategy for creating effective healthcare practice. I teach across all levels and across all healthcare disciplines. I have supervised 28 doctoral candidates to completion and currently supervise 11 doctoral candidates internationally.

  1. [PI] Erasmus+ Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices Programme. Person-centredness in Healthcare Curricula (with partners in Ireland, Slovenia, Norway, The Netherlands)
  2. [Collaborator] National Institute of Health Research [NIHR] End of life care in care homes: supporting the workforce and reducing hospitalisations
  3. [Collaborator] Chief Scientists Office (CSO) Scotland. Supporting recovery from illness experienced in isolation due to a pandemic context: survey and development of recommendations for practice
  4. [Co-PI] Life Changes Trust Scotland. Development, implementation and evaluation of the Life Changes Trust Leadership School and Policy & Practice Forum for people affected by dementia in Scotland
  5. [CO-PI] Chief Scientists Office Scotland. We walk: development of a person-centred behavioural intervention to support regular outdoor walking after stroke
  • Member Academia Europaea
  • American Academy of Nursing
  • European Society for Person-centred Healthcare
  • European Academy of Nursing Science
  • Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing
  • Gerontological Society of America
  • British Society of Gerontology
  • CARN (Action research network)
  • All-Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association
  • 2022: Member Academia Europaea
  • 2019: Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
  • 2018: Listed in ‘We Nurses’ Twitter Group #100 outstanding nurses
  • 2018: Honorary Fellow, Queens Nursing Institute Scotland
  • 2017: Fellow of The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
  • 2017: European Society for Person-centred healthcare 2017 Book Award Person-centred Healthcare Research – ‘the person in question’: The Person-centred Research Handbook, (2017) Wiley Publishers, Oxford (with for Eide T, Skovdal K, Eide H, Kapstad H and van Dulman S)
  • 2016: Fellow Emeritus, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
  • 2015: Distinguished Fellowship – European Society for Person Centered Healthcare (ESPCH)
  • 2015: Inspirational Nursing Leadership Award, Nursing Times
  • 2014: International Researcher Hall of Fame, Sigma Theta Tau International
  • 2014: Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing
  • 2014: Ranked in the world’s top 3,000 researchers by the Thompson Reuters.
  • 2008: Fellow of The European Academy of Nursing Science [EANS]
  • 2011: Senior Distinguished Research Fellow, Ulster University
  • 2011 (with Professor Bridie Kent): Sigma Theta Tau Book of the Year (Kent B and McCormack B (2010) An enabling context for evidence-based practice. Blackwell Publishing and Sigma Theta Tau International, Oxford).
Project titleResearch student
Understanding the international Mad movement and its history of activism and influence towards addressing psychiatric oppression and Mad liberationMatthew JACKMAN
Evaluation of a Nurse-led Hospital Avoidance Intervention for Aged Care Home ResidentsElsie MARI

Publications

Selected Grants

2025

  • The general practice and residential aged care study of Telehealth augmented best-practice care exploring safety, quality, acceptability and sustainability: "The GRACE-Telehealth Study, Makeham M, Baysari M, Von Huben A, Tyagi V, Luscombe G, McCormack B, Chen T, Russell H, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Ensuring the quality and safety of telehealth 2023
  • Improving community and health care navigation for culturally and linguistically diverse refugee and migrant women in South-Western Sydney experiencing mental health concerns, McCormack B, Ramsay Hospital Research Foundation/2024 Social Determinants of Health Innovation Grant

2024

  • Establishing Standards for the Governance, Program Elements and Practice of Infection Prevention and Control in Residential Aged Care in Australia, Shaban R, Curtis K, McCormack B, Fry M, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/TCR: Improving infection prevention and control in residential aged care homes
  • The General Practice and Residential Aged Care Study of Virtual Care Models (The Grace-VC Study): Implementing safe, person-centred virtual care for residents, Makeham M, Baysari M, Luscombe G, McCormack B, Robinson F, Chen T, Russell H, Chua A, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal - administered by NHMRC)/MRFF CRI 2023 Clinician Researchers: Applied Research in Health

Further Books

Further Book Chapters

Research and Development Grants

  1. PI] Erasmus+ Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices Programme. Person-centredness in Healthcare Curricula (with partners in Ireland, Slovenia, Norway, The Netherlands) £305, 991
  2. [Collaborator] National Institute of Health Research [NIHR] End of life care in care homes: supporting the workforce and reducing hospitalisations £597,564.28
  3. [Collaborator] Chief Scientists Office (CSO) Scotland. Supporting recovery from illness experienced in isolation due to a pandemic context: survey and development of recommendations for practice £25, 000
  4. [Co-PI] Life Changes Trust Scotland. Development, implementation and evaluation of the Life Changes Trust Leadership School and Policy & Practice Forum for people affected by dementia in Scotland £2, 500 000
  5. [CO-PI] Chief Scientists Office Scotland. We walk: development of a person-centred behavioural intervention to support regular outdoor walking after stroke £250, 000
  6. [Collaborator] Alzheimer’s Society (England). Maintaining independence through goal-oriented cognitive rehabilitation: GREAT into Practice (GREAT-iP) £399, 923
  7. [Co-PI] DFID/ESRC/MRC/Wellcome Trust Health Systems Research initiative. Whole systems care for post-stroke management in older adults: exploring the options for integration of health and social care systems in China £ 100, 610
  8. [Co-PI] MS Society - SNOFLAC-MS - Scoping the Needs of Families and Carers of people with Multiple Sclerosis (with Bulley C, Baer G, Stewart D, Gillespie D and Lugton K) £47, 947
  9. [Collaborator] Developing a programme of knowledge exchange: Understanding, forming and fostering a culture of transformative innovation in health and social care (with Kroll T, Davies Hannah M, Entwistle V, Dewar B, Leicester G and Gray N) £16,000
  10. [PI] Marie Curie Cancer Care - Developing Person-centred Practice in the Edinburgh Hospice £29,990
  11. [PI] Age UK/Burdett Trust for Nursing – The Listening and Learning Project in acute care services for older people £80, 000
  12. [Collaborator] Northern Ireland HPSS Research Funded Project – Person-centred Supported Housing for older people living with a dementia £380, 000
  13. [Collaborator] Northern Ireland HPSS Research Funded Project – ‘Care Passports’ for improving continuity of care for older people with a dementia £330, 000
  14. [Co-PI] UK National Institute of Health Research – Reducing hospital admissions of older people from care homes £1, 000000
  15. National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) HSDR 12/129/32: ‘Improving skills and care standards in the clinical support workforce: a realist synthesis of workforce development interventions’ (with Prof Jo Rycroft Malone, Dr Chris Burton, Dr Elizabeth Hall, Bangor University, Prof Sandra Nutley, St Andrews University) £145, 000
  16. Australian Research Council: Listen to me, I really am sick! Understanding patient and family perspectives in triggering responses to medical emergencies (with Prof Tracey Bucknall and Dr Alison Hutchinson, Deakin University, Melbourne) AUS$94000
  17. The Alzheimer’s Society UK PhD Studentship Grant: The impact of contextual factors on the prescribing of psychoactive drugs with older people: An analysis of treatment culture in nursing homes. (with Prof Carmel Hughes, School of Pharmacy, Queens University Belfast) £73, 847
  18. Research Council of Norway: Collaborative practices with older people living at home with mental health problems: A person-centred approach £740, 000
  19. NIHR Programme Development Grant: Developing an evidence-based intervention to improve health care for, and prevent avoidable hospital admission of, older care home residents with frailty or dementia (with Prof M Downs, Bradford University; Dr L Sampson, UCL; Prof L Clare, Bangor University; Prof J Young, Bradford Instituite of Health Research; Mrs S Nurock; Mrs B Woodward-Carlton; Prof L Robinson, Newcastle University; Prof K Cornelius, UCL; Mr M Green, ECCA; Dr C Bowman, BUPA; Prof J Wright, Bradford Institute of Health Research; Prof K Koopmans, University of Nijmegen; Prof J Ouslander, Florida Atlantic University) £94, 347
  20. Northern Ireland Public Health Agency Research and Development Office: A Rapid Review of Literature - What aspects of primary care work in the prevention, recognition and management of mental health issues across the lifespan, for whom does it work, in what circumstances and why? (with Prof Bunting, Dr Ryan, DR O’Neill, Prof McKenna, Dr Ferry, Ulster University) £35, 000
  21. Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (with Dr Erna Snelgrove-Clarke) Team Development Award - Facilitative Implementation strategies: The impact of context. $CAD 10, 000
  22. National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR)A Realist Synthesis of Health and Social Care [with Burton C, Bampfield K, Owen D, Rycroft-Malone R (Bangor University, Wales) French B (University of Central Lancashire) £15, 000
  23. Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) An evaluation of the inappropriate prescribing in older residents in long term care facilities in the greater Cork and Northern Ireland regions using the STOPP and Beers’ criteria. Byrne S, O’Mahony D, Hughes C, Parsons C, Patterson S, McCormack B, Finn F, O’Sullivan D, (2011) €23,953
  24. Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) A Comparison of the Care and Support Needs of Older Persons with a Learning Disability and their Quality of Life. McConkey, R; McTaggart, L; McCormack, B and Taylor, B (2009) £60, 000
  25. EU FP7 ‘The FIRE [Framework for Translating Research into Practice] Project’ (with Prof Kate Seers, Warwick University; Dr Jo Rycroft-Malone, Bangor University; Dr Gill Harvey, Manchester University; Dr Angie Titchen, Fontys University, The Netherlands; Prof Alison Kitson, University of Oxford; Dr Lars Wallin, Karolinska University, Sweden; Dr Karen Cox, Fontys University, The Netherlands; Prof Carol Estabrooks, University of Alberta, Canada) €2.9 million
  26. Department of Health (England) SDO Programme ‘Evaluating Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) in action: process, impact and theory development’ (with Prof Jo Rycroft-Malone, Bangor University; Dr Gill Harvey, Manchester University; Prof Carl Thompson, University of York; Prof Richard Baker, Leicester University; Prof Sue Dopson, University of Oxford; Dr Sophie Staniszewska, Warwick University; Prof Gavin Andrews, McMaster University; Prof Ian Graham, University of Quebec) £600, 000