Martha Ward
Postgraduate researcher

Profile

Biography

Martha is a second-year Social Policy and Social Work PhD student funded through the NIHR Three Schools Dementia programme. Her project focuses on co-producing a training resource for home care workers supporting people living with dementia who are reluctant to engage with care services.

She has a background in Education and Psychology, holding first-class degrees in BA (hons) Education, Culture and Childhood and MSc (Conversion) in Psychology and Education. Alongside her PhD, she works as a Research Trainee, working on research projects within the OSCaR Centre, including Curious about Care and the Curiosity Partnership.

Research

Overview

Thesis title

‘HOPES for Homecare:’ Developing Reflective Learning for Homecare Workers Supporting People with Dementia.

Research topic

Co-production of training for home care workers supporting people living with dementia.

Research interests

Martha is interested in applied research, which aims to make a practical difference to the lives of those delivering and receiving care. She is particularly interested in co-production methodologies to improve the implementation success of resources and training.

Her previous research has focused on improving education for autistic children and young people by focusing on lived experience, teacher training needs and practical approaches to overcoming barriers to implementing changes.

Her current PhD project focuses on training home care workers who support people living with dementia who are reluctant to engage in care services. She is passionate about working directly with home care providers, unpaid carers and people living with dementia to gain a wide range of perspectives to inform future training development. This project aims to co-produce a prototype training programme alongside home care workers, managers and trainers.

Supervisors

• Dr Mark Wilberforce
• Professor Yvonne Birks

Publications

Selected publications

Runswick-Cole, K., Douglas, P., Fogg, P., Alexander, S., Ehret, S., Eves, J., Shapley-King, B., Ward, M. and Wood, I. (2024). ‘When Father Christmas Is the Gaslighter’ : How Special Education Systems Make (M)others ‘Mad’. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 18(4), pp.475–493.

Ward, M. and Powell, L. (2025). The lived experiences of primary and secondary education for autistic university students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, pp.1–17.

Ward, M. and Powell, L. (2025). Supporting mainstream school staff in England to meet the needs and address educational inequalities in autistic girls. International Journal of Inclusive Education, pp.1–17.

Ward, M., Phipps, O., Wilberforce, M., and Birks, Y., (under review). Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Train-the-Trainer Programmes in Long-term Community Care: A Systematic Review.