Dr Sarah Vicary

Professional biography

As an experienced practitioner and academic Sarah’s interest in social work with adults, especially in mental health, is long standing. Qualifying in 1987 and still registered as a social worker (SW81040), Sarah’s practice roles have included frontline work such as an Approved Social Worker under the Mental Health Act, 1983, the development, creation and management of an innovative multi-disciplinary mental health crisis service and service manager for inner city emergency mental health services.  Sarah worked for ten years as an Area Commissioner for the Government appointed body that oversees the operation of the Mental Health Act, the Mental Health Act Commission. Moving into academic posts in early 2000, Sarah was Associate Head of School until 2022 holding strategic and operational responsibility for academics based in all nations of the United Kingdom in health and social care, social work, nursing and other professional programmes. She is now Professor of Social Work and Mental Health

Qualifications

• PhD ​(University of Manchester)
• MA Social Work (University of Nottingham)
• BA Hons (History) University of Lancaster
• Senior Fellow Higher Education Authority (HEA)
• Practice Teacher Award (University of Keele)
• Certificate of Qualification in Social Work, Central Council for the Education and Training of Social Workers       

Research interests

Interested in the way in which practitioners understand and undertake professional mental health work, Sarah is widely published in this field. Sarah's research is based on the generation, dissemination and application of new understandings of legal roles in Mental Health Social Work. This knowledge exchange is at the forefront of explorations of regulatory practices that restrict human behaviour. One particular focus, concerning the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), is defined in mental health legislation and entails real-life decision -making about the deprivation of liberty. Current research concerns the impact of interpreter-mediation in Mental Health Act Assessments Interpreters For Mental Health Act Assessments | Our project (manchester.ac.uk)

Sarah is also interested in encouraging practitioners to undertake research and, with colleagues, runs an AMHP Research network. An inaugural conference was held in 2019, a fourth is to take place in 2025. Two special issues of a journal have been commisioned as a consequence.

Sarah has a particular interest in qualitative research methodologies inclduing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and uses visual research methods to collate data. Her latest book concerns Social Work Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: A Methodological Approach for Practice and Research (mheducation.co.uk)

Her other primary research interests lie in the history of social work. Sarah coordinates the Social Work History Network | NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit | King’s College London (kcl.ac.uk)  and edits its e-bulletin; bulletin-of-the-swhn-2023-vol9-iss1.pdf (kcl.ac.uk), which she inaugurated.

Editorial work

Guest editor of special edition:

           Vicary, S., Stone, K. Hemmington, J. and Leah, C. (2020) 

            research informed practice; practice informed research (a special edition of papers on Approved Mental Health Professional 

           research) Practice: Social Work in Action Vol 32. Issue 4

Guest editor of special edition:

           Vicary, S. Cree, V. and Manthorpe, J (2018) Social Work education: a local and

           global challenge Practice: Social Work in Action. Volume 30 Issue 4

Guest editor of special edition:

           Vicary, S. Copperman, J. and Higgs, A. (2018)

           Social work education through distance learning: challenges and opportunities.

            Social Work Education: the international journal Volume 37 Issue 6

Article reviewer for the following journals:

• Qualitative Social Work;
• British Journal Social Work;
• Journal of Social Work;
• Journal of Mental Health;
• Journal of Social Work Education: the international journal;
• Practice: Social work in Action.

Book proposal reviewer for publishers Policy Press, Open University Press and Routledge.

Inaugural and current editor of Social Work History Network Ebulletin,bulletin-of-the-swhn-2023-vol9-iss1.pdf (kcl.ac.uk)

Teaching interests

Sarah’s teaching interests lie in mental health, social work and social work law. She supervises doctoral students in all related areas. These currently include the lived experience of visual impairment, and the lived expeeince of carers of an adult child with a learning disability. Previous topics include the experience of AMHPs as decision-makers and the expereince of students with mental health problems studying online.

Sarah also convenes the doctorate for social work : PhD Health and Social Care (DHSC) | Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (open.ac.uk)

External examining:

MSc Social Work University College Birmingham

PQ Social Wok Manchester Metropolitan University

MSc Social Work Birmingham City University

BSc Hons Social Work University of Northumbria

Health Care Professions Council and College of Social Work Validation University of Chester

BA Hons Social Work Goldsmiths University, London External Examiner 

BA Hons Social Work Studies Duale Hochshule Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany Revalidation 

MA Social Work University of Central Lancashire External Examiner 

Impact and engagement

Sarah's impact and engagement includes:

• Coordinataion of the Social Work History Network http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/scwru/swhn/index.aspx and is joint covenor of the Europen Research Association Special Interest Group on the history of social work research and from which a book on the History of Settlements ipublished in 2020
• Member of the European Social Work Research Association Board and chair of Election Committee and Awards Committee
• Joint convenor of European Social Work Research Assocition Special Interest Group on Mental Health Social Work which held its inaugural meeting in 2019
• Advising parliamentary researchers on breifing notes for MPs 
• Academic advisor on the award winning BBC documentary Psychosis and Me
• Member of the editorial board for Practice: Social Work in Action https://www.basw.co.uk/practice-social-work-in-action/ and has been guest editor for a special issue on the history of social work education and a scond special issue on practitioner research in mental health.
• Member of editorial board for Open University Press
• Member of the Mental Health Thematic Group, British Association Social Workers
• Appointment as specialist social care advisor and vice chair for NICE guidance on transitions between hospital and community care and act a specialist advisor on Quality Advisory Committeee for the same: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-scwave0711/documents
• CCP expert adviser, Mental Health Faculty NICE.

International links

Sarah is a member of the European Research Association and chairs its committees for elctions to the Board and for its Awards.

Sarah has delivered lectures at a number of international conferences for the European Conference on Social Work Research in Denmark, Belgium, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Vilnius and at the International Academy for Law and Mental Health in Vienna, Prague, Rome and Milan.