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Professor Karen Healy

Professor

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
k.healy@uq.edu.au

Overview

Professor Karen Healy's research focuses on promoting a healthy start to life for vulnerable children, young people and families. In 2016, she was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to social work particularly in child protection, higher education and research.

Her research expertise includes:

a) international and national approaches to social policy and social work practice with vulnerable children, young people and families.

b) the participation of vulnerable children, young people and families in decision-making especially within child welfare services,

c) and professional education and organisation support systems for promoting job satisfaction, workforce retention and best practice among health and welfare professionals.

Research Impacts

Karen Healy holds senior advisory positions in industry and in her professional community. Professor Karen Healy is currnently National President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (the national accrediting body for professional social work in Australia), a position she has held since 2011, and is also National Director for The Benevolent Society, Australia's oldest not-for-profit community service organisations. Professor Healy is also Past National President for the Australian Association of Social Work and Welfare Education (a position she was held for the maximum two terms allowable). Professor Healy has strong links with the health and community services organisations, including having conducted several studies in collaboration with Micah Projects into best practice in family support work She has appeared as an expert witness at a variety of commissions of inquiry into child welfare service systems and workforce conditions in the community services sector and she was recently involved in an evaluation of the child protection operating model in Victoria - an innovative model of workforce support for frontline child protection workers.

Professor Healy has published 4 books on aspects of social work theory and practice. These works have been translated into several languages including Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Danish and Japanese. In addition, Professor Healy has published numerous international journal articles on social policy and social work practice especially in relaiton to vulnerable children, young people and families, and on education and organisational support systems to promote best practice among health and welfare professionals.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Social Work 1st Class Honors, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

  • Valuing complex and diverse career pathways: The career trajectories and career-related choices of early career practitioners

    (2017) Doctor Philosophy

  • The Non-Residential Parents Perspective of Supervised Child Contact After Relationship Breakdown.

    Doctor Philosophy

  • The use of Family Violence Assessments to support migrant women and their children who have experienced domestic or family violence to access the Family Violence Exception Provisions of the Migration Act 1958¿

    Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people: reflections on methodological challenges and solutions

    Healy, Karen, Julkunen, Ilse and Karvinen-Niinikoski, Synnove (2014). International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people: reflections on methodological challenges and solutions. In Sven Hessle (Ed.), Human rights and social equality: challenges for social work: social work-social development (pp. 114-117) Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.

  • Social sustainability and social work: problems and prospects

    Healy, Karen (2014). Social sustainability and social work: problems and prospects. In Sven Hessle (Ed.), Global Social Transformation and Social Action: The Role of Social Workers (pp. 161-164) Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.

  • Critical perspectives

    Healy, Karen (2012). Critical perspectives. In Mel Gray, James Midgley and Stephen A. Webb (Ed.), The Sage handbook of social work (pp. 191-206) London , U.K.: Sage. doi:10.4135/9781446247648.n13

  • Strategic challenges in child welfare services: A comparative study of Australia, England and Sweden

    Meagher, Gabrielle, Cortis, Natasha and Healy, Karen (2009). Strategic challenges in child welfare services: A comparative study of Australia, England and Sweden. In Kirstein Rummery, Ian Greener and Chris Holden (Ed.), Social policy review 21: Analysis and debate in social policy, 2009 (pp. 215-239) Bristol, United Kingdom: The Policy Press.

  • Social Work Practice Theories Frameworks

    Connolly, Marie and Healy, Karen E. (2008). Social Work Practice Theories Frameworks. In Marie Connolly and Louise Harms (Ed.), Social work: Contexts and practice 2nd ed ed. (pp. 37-52) South Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Oxford University Press.

  • Asset based community development

    Healy, K E (2006). Asset based community development. In A. O'Hara and Z. Weber (Ed.), Working with Individuals, Communities, and Organisations (pp. 247-258) Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

  • Community education

    Healy, K E (2006). Community education. In A. O'Hara and Z. Weber (Ed.), Working with Individuals, Communities, and Organisations (pp. 259-266) Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

  • Under Reconstruction: Renewing Critical Social Work Practices

    Ife, J., Healy, K. E., Spratt, T. and Solomon, B. (2005). Under Reconstruction: Renewing Critical Social Work Practices. In S. Hick, J. Fook and R. Pozzuto (Ed.), Social Work: A Critical Turn (pp. 219-230) Toronto, Canada: Thompson Educational Publishing.

  • Working with young people

    Healy, K. E., O'Regan, M. and Tansky, M. (2005). Working with young people. In M. Alston and J. Mckinnon (Ed.), Social Work: Fields of Practice 2 ed. (pp. 95-104) Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • The Reprofessionalization of Social Work: Collaborative Approaches for Achieving Professional Recognition

    Healy, K. E. and Meagher, G. (2004). The Reprofessionalization of Social Work: Collaborative Approaches for Achieving Professional Recognition. In Linda Davies and Peter Leonard (Ed.), Social Work in a Corporate Era First ed. (pp. 91-107) UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

  • Social Work

    Rosenman, L., O'Connor, I. and Healy, K. (1998). Social Work. In Challenges for Social Sciences in Australia (pp. 215-221) Canberra, A.C.T.: Australian Govt. Pub. Services.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Creating community capacity in urban and rural communities

    Healy, K. (2004). Creating community capacity in urban and rural communities. In: ACOSS Papers. Proceedings of: ACOSS 2003 Congress: Piecing It Together: Equity, Empowerment and Change. Selected papers from the ACOSS Congress 13-14 November 2003 Canberra. ACOSS 2003 Congress. Piecing It Together: Equity, Empowerment and Change, Canberra, Australia, (34-39). 13-14 November 2003.

  • Social work research in Australia

    O'Connor, I., Healy, K. and Rosenman, L. S. (1999). Social work research in Australia. In: Decha Sungkawan, Enhancing social integration: structure, process and intervention for social development. 1997 Asia and Pacific Regional Conference of APASWE and IFSWc, Bangkok, Thailand, (226-235). 1997.

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • The Non-Residential Parents Perspective of Supervised Child Contact After Relationship Breakdown.

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • The use of Family Violence Assessments to support migrant women and their children who have experienced domestic or family violence to access the Family Violence Exception Provisions of the Migration Act 1958¿

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Residential care as an effective out of home intervention

    Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Stability in Statutory Kinship Care Placements

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • How can public inquiries enhance accountabilities and mechanisms for redress? Assessing the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Care.

    Doctor Philosophy — Joint Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Implementing and evaluating family inclusive practice in adult eating disorders: A stepped care approach to working with families of adults affected by eating disorders.

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Where are the Social Workers? Assess the systemic issues or influences that impact on the professional identity of social work in community based neuro-rehabilitation

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

  • Good work, decent wages - a case study of the 2009 pay equity campaign in Queensland's community services sector

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

Completed Supervision

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Child protection work, Child abuse, Social welfare organisations, Social work, Education - social work, Social work education, Teaching social work, Child protection systems - national and international practice, Professional identity

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

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