Patricia Flynn

Title of Research Project: Parent-Infant Sleep as Co-Occupation: A Meta-Ethnography of Parent Perspectives and Experiences

Academic Supervisors: Dr. Michelle Spirtos & Dr. Deanna Gibbs 

Biography

Since graduating from TCD with a BSc in occupational therapy in 2001, I have worked in a range of settings internationally and across the lifespan, with my experience primarily being in mental health services.  From 2016 to 2023, I lived with my family in Brussels where I worked with an antenatal and early childhood community.  It was during this period, inspired by new parents’ concerns (and in no small part by my own experience as a new mother) that parent-infant sleep became an area of interest of mine.  I noticed that while new parents are bombarded with advice and opinions on their infant’s sleep, there are few guidelines based on lived experience or robust evidence.  It was this quest, to find out what parents could tell us about the relationship between their own and their infant’s sleep, and how best to support both, that started my current research journey.