Previous Projects

The review involved extensive, participatory engagement with approximately 150 stakeholders across national, regional, and local levels — including Traveller Community Health Workers, PHCTP coordinators, Traveller organisations, HSE staff, senior policy stakeholders, and people from within Traveller communities. Methods included national workshops using creative methods, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and surveys across several stakeholder groups.

The final report presents detailed findings on the value and impact of the peer-led PHCTP model, the structural challenges affecting sustainability, and the implications for monitoring and future development. It also includes an outline monitoring framework to support accountability and evidence-based decision-making going forward.

The review was endorsed by the National Traveller Health Implementation Group in February 2026, with a foreword from the TD Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Public Health, Well Being and the National Drugs Strategy, and the HSE Chief Executive Officer. The findings and recommendations were presented at a national stakeholder webinar in March 2026, attended by approximately 200 staff from the HSE, the Department of Health, Traveller organisations, and wider sector stakeholders.

Read the report →

The following work was carried out in my role as Project Specialist at the Centre for Effective Services (CES)

The Independent Guardian Service (IGS) was established in Northern Ireland in 2018 to provide dedicated support to separated children — including those who are victims or potential victims of human trafficking. Delivered by Barnardo’s NI and commissioned by the Health and Social Care Board, the service assigns an Independent Guardian to each eligible child to advocate for their welfare, facilitate coordination across agencies, and ensure their voice is heard in decision-making.

CES was commissioned to conduct an independent evaluation of the service across all five Health and Social Care Trust areas in Northern Ireland. My role on the evaluation team covered evaluation design and execution, including the application of Proctor et al.’s typology of implementation outcomes as the theoretical framework, design and delivery of qualitative and quantitative research, coordination of peer researchers and translators, presentation of findings to a Research Advisory Group, and lead responsibility for the methodology and findings chapters of the final report.

The evaluation drew on a rich mixed-methods design, including interviews and focus groups with children and young people, Independent Guardians, Barnardo’s management, Health and Social Care Trust staff, and wider stakeholders, alongside stakeholder mapping, case file auditing and analysis, and a rapid evidence review.

Image © Ursula

The following work was carried out in my role as co-principal investigator and postdoctoral fellow at UCD

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects approximately 40,000 people in Ireland and is often described as an invisible illness because its impact on daily life is frequently hidden from others. This study set out to understand the patient experience of self-managing RA, using Photovoice: a participatory action research method that uses photography, group dialogue, and photo-captioning to give voice to lived experience.

The project was conducted in collaboration with the UCD Centre for Arthritis Research and UCD Health Systems. Ethical approval was obtained from the Mater Hospital and UCD. Twelve people living with RA took part. Participants attended group workshops and individual in-depth interviews, selecting their own photographs to explore their thoughts, feelings, and daily experiences of the condition. The project was conducted with a Research Advisory Group of people living with RA, who shaped the study design from the outset, and a visual artist who provided training and creative direction.

The work culminated in a public photo exhibition — I’m Here But I’m Not — held in Dublin in September 2019, followed by a series of public engagement activities to raise awareness of RA, such as Culture Night. Deidentified transcripts and photographs from the study are archived with the Irish Qualitative Data Archive for future research and teaching.

The study generated a peer-reviewed systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis published in Health Expectations (2020), and an empirical paper presenting the photovoice study in Plos One (2021). A poster presentation at the 2019 UCD Arthritis Research Conference won the Clarity in Research Medal, judged by patients and members of the public.

View the exhibition booklet →

Read the systematic review →

Read the findings →

Publications and presentations

The following is a selected list of presentations and publications from research I have led, or substantially contributed to, over my career:

• Donnelly, S. (2026) Review of Primary Health Care for Travellers Projects. HSE & Dept of Health. Prepared for the National Traveller Health Implementation Group (NTHIG). Available [here].
• Tubridy A, Donnelly S, Duggan C (2025) A practical guide to facilitate implementation of national standards in health, mental health and social care. Presented by C Duggan at European Implementation Collaborative (EIC) Event, Newcastle UK, 4–6 June 2025.
• Health Information and Quality Authority and the Mental Health Commission (2024) How to Put National Standards Into Practice: an implementation guide for health, mental health and social care services. Dublin: HIQA & MHC. [Project lead (latter stages): contribution to writing and editing of publication, patient partner sense-checking, and management of launch and dissemination.] Available here.
• Brereton M, Wade R, Montgomery A, Donnelly S, McGovern A, and Brophy M (2024). Evaluation of the Supporting Traveller and Roma (STAR) Pilot Final Report. Dublin: The Centre for Effective Services. Available here.
• Cartwright A, McGrath K, Martyn D, Redmond R, O’Donnell N, Stallard R, & HaalsBrosnan, M (2024). Evaluation of the Better Start Quality Development Service: Final Evaluation Report. Dublin: The Centre for Effective Services. [Project lead (initial phase): contribution to research design, stakeholder management and oversight of ethics application.] Available here.
• Burns A, Allen C, McGrath K, Onyegiri A, Cartwright A, Donnelly S, Barry S and Burke K (2022) Evaluation of the implementation of Community Healthcare Networks in nine Learning Sites. Dublin: The Centre for Effective Services.
• Barry S, Donnelly S, Sheehan A., Kennedy LA., Allen C, McGrath K., O’Conor A. (2021) Community Healthcare Networks in Ireland: The role of stakeholder engagement from a realist lens. Realist Evaluation Conference, 16 February 2021.
• Donnelly S, Allen C, McGrath K., O’Conor A., Barry S and Burke K. (2021) Evaluation of the implementation of Community Healthcare Networks Learning Sites: Lessons from early and pre-implementation. Dublin: The Centre for Effective Services.
• Donnelly S, Wilson AG, Mannan H, Dix C, Whitehill L, Kroll T (2021) (In)Visible illness: A photovoice study of the lived experience of self-managing rheumatoid arthritis. PLOS ONE 16(4): e0250451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248151
• Broder J, Donnelly S, Slane D, McCusker K, Hickey C, McCloskey M, McHugh S, O’Kane M, Stone M (2021) Evaluation of the Independent Guardian Service for Separated Children who are victims or potential victims of human trafficking. Belfast: The Centre for Effective Services.
• Somanadhan S, Nicholson E, Dorris E, Brinkley A, Kennan A, Treacy E, Atif A, Ennis S, McGrath V, Mitchell D, O’Sullivan G, Power J, Lawlor A, Harkin P, Lynch SA, Watt P, Daly A, Donnelly S, Kroll T. Rare Disease Research Partnership (RAinDRoP): a collaborative approach to identify research priorities for rare diseases in Ireland. HRB Open Res. 2020 Nov 11;3:13. doi: 10.12688/hrbopenres.13017.2. PMID: 33299965; PMCID: PMC7702160.
• Donnelly S, Reginatto B, Bane S (2020) ‘Webinar: How to build empathy in research”. Elsevier Researcher Academy. Online [Available] https://researcheracademy.elsevier.com/communicating-research/social-impact/build-empathy-research
• Donnelly S, Manning M, Mannan H, Wilson AG, Kroll T. (2020) Renegotiating dimensions of the self: A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of the lived experience of self‐managing rheumatoid arthritis. Health Expectations. 2020; 00: 1– 24. doi: 10.1111/hex.13122.   
• Donnelly S, Reginatto B, Kearns O, Mc Carthy M, Byrom B, Muehlhausen W, Caulfield B (2018) The Burden of a Remote Trial in a Nursing Home Setting: Qualitative Study. J Med Internet Res 2018;20(6):e220. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9638
• Donnelly S Reginatto B., Kearns O (2017) Capturing the lived experience of tinnitus patients: using Photovoice to develop patient personas for industry. 7th International Action Research Colloquium, 29th–30th June 2017, University College Dublin.
• Donnelly S (2017) ‘The Learning Curve of Clerical Child Sex Abuse: Lessons from, Ridgely (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion and Childhood, pp. 339-347.
• Donnelly S (2016) Sins of the father: unravelling moral authority in the Irish Catholic Church. Irish Journal of Sociology, 24(3), 315-339.
• Inglis T & Donnelly S (2011) Local and National Belonging in A Globalised World. Irish Journal of Sociology. 19. 127-43. doi: 10.7227/IJS.19.2.9.
• Donnelly S & Inglis T (2010) The Media and the Catholic Church in Ireland: Reporting Clerical Child Sex Abuse. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 25(1), 1–19. doi.org/10.1080/13537900903416788

Orchid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-3232

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susie-Donnelly