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Biography

Awarded her PhD from Waterford Institute of Technology, Mary is a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities and Arts. Graduating as a Registered Nurse in Intellectual Disabilities (RNID) from Waterford Institute of Technology, she has over twelve years experience working with people with ID and their families. She has worked with adults with ID and Autism in day service settings.

Dr Reidy was also awarded a Certificate and Diploma in Safety, Health and Welfare at Work from University College Dublin, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning from SETU. 

Mary teaches across a broad range of social care and early childhood modules both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She also engages with the Multiple Intelligence Teaching Approach (MITA) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

She has previously held a lecturing position in Intellectual Disability Nursing at the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery in UCC and the Department of Nursing and Healthcare at SETU and a lecturing position in Disability Studies at ACE@UCC (Psychology of Disability).

Dr Reidy’s research interests are primarily in the area of health inequalities and marginalised groups. Her doctoral research explored the breast and cervical cancer and screening awareness of women with intellectual disabilities and their carers. Most recently, this has led to research networks with NHS Scotland and the Golisano Institute for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Rochester, New York. Previously she held the post of Research Lead for the CARE Collaboration from 2018-2019.

Funded Research projects which attracted funding of approx. €350,000

· MeCHanic Study exploring the engagement of men over the age of 40 with low literacy levels with cancer prevention information (Irish Cancer Society/ UCC)

· Service Reform Fund exploring the recovery orientation of the Mental Health Services in the South East Region (Genio/ HSE/WIT)

· Three year Regional Strategy (South East Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force/WIT).

· SSTeMM exploring student stress among nursing students in Ireland, Slovenia and Spain (Erasmus+/ WIT)

· HRB Summer Student Scholarship 2020 and 2021 (Academic Supervisor)

 

Publications

Commissioned Reports

Denieffe S, Byrne D and Mc Carthy M et al. (2017) Traveller Cultural Awareness Training Programme Evaluation. Waterford Health Service Executive/Waterford Institute of Technology

Drummond FJ, Reidy M and Saab MM et al. (2016) Men’s Cancer Prevention and Health Literacy (MeCHanic) Study. Cork: Irish Cancer Society/ University College Cork

Foley M, Reidy M and Wells JSG. (2020) Challenge and Change. The South East Regional Drug and Alcohol strategy 2020-2023. Waterford SERDATF/ Waterford Institute of Technology .

Hegarty J, Murphy A and Hanan T et al. (2018 ) Acute sector cancer survivorship services in the Irish context: A mixed methods scoping study. Cork National Cancer Control Programme/ University College Cork

Peer Reviewed Publications

Drummond FJ, Reidy M, Von Wagner C, et al. (2019) Health Literacy Influences Men's Active and Passive Cancer Information Seeking. HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice 3: e147-e160.

Kelly F, Reidy M, Denieffe S, et al. (2019) Older adults' views on their person-centred care needs in a long-term care setting in Ireland. British Journal of Nursing 28: 552-557.

Reidy M and Denieffe S. (2014) Breast cancer in younger women from diverse cultural backgrounds. British Journal of Nursing Oncology Supplement.

Reidy M, Denieffe S and Foran S. (2014) Cancer screening in women with intellectual disabilities: An Irish perspective. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities 18: 51-60.

Reidy M, Denieffe S and Foran S. (2015a) Cancer Awareness among Women with Intellectual Disabilities. Research Matters. Waterford: Waterford Institute of Technology.

Reidy M, Denieffe S and Foran S. (2015b) Cancer awareness and screening in women with intellectual disabilities- an Irish perspective. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities 28: 57-57.

Reidy M, Denieffe S and Foran S. (2018) Exploring breast cancer and screening awareness among Irish women with intellectual disabilities. British Journal of Learning Disabilities 46: 193-201.

Reidy M, Hegarty J, Drennan J, et al. (2016) The MeCHanic Study: Can an electronic survey be used to investigate the effect of low health literacy on the engagement of men with cancer prevention information. Psychooncology 23: 3-192.

Reidy M, Saab MM, Hegarty J, et al. (2018) Promoting men’s knowledge of cancer risk reduction: A systematic review of interventions. Patient Education and Counseling.

Saab MM, Reidy M, Hegarty J, et al. (2018) Men's information-seeking behavior regarding cancer risk and screening: A meta-narrative systematic review. Psychooncology 27: 410-419.

Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann

Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing

Fellow by Examination Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland