Researcher Profiles
Each week we are profiling the research of a Trinity Psychologist. This week we are profiling Professor Malcolm MacLachlan of the School of Psychology.
Research Interests & Affiliations
I am a Professor of Psychology and the Director of Research in the School of Psychology; Director of the International Doctorate in Global Health (Indigo) and Associate Director of the Centre for Global Health. I am also Extraordinary Professor at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
My research has sought to develop the link between psychology and global health. The interplay between vulnerability and health is my particular interest, adopting a strongly inter-disciplinary approach. My work primarily concerns people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and those living in extreme poverty or experiencing humanitarian crises. I am also interested in how individuals, organisations and services respond to these challenges. My research therefore combines aspects of rehabilitation, health and organisational psychology and contributes to the development of a more inclusive approach to health and to a humanitarian work psychology.
I supervise research students in the area of inclusive global health and humanitarian work psychology.
Research Collaborations
My primary research collaborations are with universities in Ireland (DCU, NUIM), UK (Queen’s, UCL), Norway (SINTEF), USA (Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins), Africa (Ibadan, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Makerere, Uganda ; Chancellor College and College of Medicine, Malawi, Stellenbosch and HSRC, South Africa; University of Namibia, Namibia; Ahfad, Sudan), India (Institute for Studies in Industrial Development), China (Huazhong) and the Pacific region (Massey, New Zealand; UPNG; Papua New Guinea). I also have research collaboration with a range of Irish (e.g.Concern) and international (e.g. African Disability Alliance) civil society organisations; with national aid agencies (e.g. Irish Aid) and with multi-lateral aid organisations (e.g. WHO and ILO).
Research Publications
Some of my recent publications include:
- MacLachlan, M., Carr, S.C. and McAuliffe, E. (2010) The Aid Triangle: Recognizing the Human Dynamics of Dominance, Justice and Identity. Zed: London.
- Daly, M. & MacLachlan, M. (2011) Heredity Links Natural Hazards and Human Health: Apolipoprotein E Gene Moderates the Health of Earthquake Survivors. Health Psychology. 30. 228-235.
- MacLachlan, M, Mannan, H. and McAuliffe, E. (2011) Staff skills not staff types for community based rehabilitation. Lancet, 377, 1988-89.
- Amin, M., MacLachlan, M., Mannan, H., El Tayeb, S., El Khatim, A., Swartz, L, Munthalim A., van Rooy, G., McVeigh, J., Eide, A., Schneider, M. (2011) EquiFrame: A framework for analysis of the inclusion of human rights and vulnerable groups in health policies. Health & Human Rights 13 (2), 1-20.
- MacLachlan, M. (2012) Rehabilitation Psychology and Global Health. In P. Kennedy (Ed.) Oxford Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Research Utilisation
My work has impacted practice and policy. For instance the Problem Portrait Technique, which analyses cultural influences on health, is used in training aid workers in Europe; EquiFrame, which evaluates social inclusion and human rights in health policies, has been used in the revision of national health polices in Africa; the TAPES (Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales) is used in clinical practice world-wide and has been translated into 15 languages. My research has been presented to the world’s leading decisions makers, for instance, at the Global Ministerial Forum for Research on Health (Bamako), to the OECD’s Development Advisory Committee (Paris), to the African Union’s Social Welfare Ministers (Khartoum) and to the UN’s Commission on Social Development (New York).