Mr Dan Redfearn
School of Health & Society
Room C603 Allerton Building
University of Salford
Salford
M6 6PU
Current positions
Lecturer
Biography
As with a lot of learning disability practitioners that I speak with, I kind of fell into working with people who have a learning disability and once I did, I never wanted to do anything else. It is a wonderful career in which you work with some fantastic people who it is a privilege to support and who I learn from just as much as I could possibly teach or support.
After working in, and then managing a day centre for adults with learning disabilities, I trained as an integrated learning disability nurse and social worker and went on to work in Community Learning Disability Teams across three different boroughs.
I initially worked to provide health focused support to adults with a learning disability – promoting health and inclusion through assessment and intervention of physical, emotional and behavioural needs, including supporting access to primary and secondary healthcare services.
Following this, I worked as a behavioural specialist supporting services and families to understand and meet the needs of individuals whose behaviour was complex, and considered to present a challenge to those involved in their care. Working within the principles of Positive Behaviour Support I completed specialist assessment and intervention programmes as well as individual support and training.
I subsequently worked as an autism specialist, developing a service for people who had typically not been able to access health and social care support. I provided individual and group support, advocated for access to diagnostic and support services, and coordinated the boroughs response to the National Autism Strategy including developing and implementing training across health and social care organisations.
I have additional experience leading a project to deliver learning disability training to GP practices as part of a Directed Enhanced Services initiative, and serving on a panel of experts providing oversight for model of physical intervention used extensively in services across the North West and hosted by Mersey Care NHS Trust.
All my practice work included a focus on providing support and education to other workers and students and my interest and expertise in this area developed through two secondments to university teaching posts and completion of a teaching qualification.
Having moved to full-time teaching, I have taught extensively across nursing and social work programmes in two higher education institutions. I have have held roles of admissions tutor, module leader, and programme leader including leading on all aspects of curriculum development and review of a complex, integrated programme for internal and regulatory body review.
I have extensive interprofessional and collaborative experience particularly through my dual professional qualification, working in interprofessional teams and investment in teaching on an integrated nursing and social work programme. I have also contributed to the development and implementation of interprofessional simulation learning experiences in higher education and worked extensively with partners in practice and the broader higher education sector.
I have a strong value base and my work with people with learning disabilities, with students and with colleagues has demonstrated my commitment to inclusion and empowerment using person-centred approaches. I have always been passionate about including people with learning disabilities in my professional and educational practice whether as partners in the development of personal support plans, collaborators in the training of care staff, or colleagues in the recruitment, teaching and assessing of students in university, as well as in research practices.
Areas of Research
Learning / intellectual disability
Positive behaviour support
Health inequalities
User involvement
Participatory approaches
Professional practice in learning disabilities
Learning / intellectual disabilities
Communication
Positive behaviour support
Empowerment
Health inequalities
Mental capacity
Qualifications
-
PhD in Nursing & Midwifery
2019 -
Academic Practice
2011 - 2012 -
Adults with Learning Disabilities who have Significant and Complex Needs
2008 - 2009 -
Professional Studies in Nursing & Social Work
2000 - 2003 -
Communication Studies
1994 - 1997